Buddy Bearing Issue

Got a question. I have tandum axle trailer with Buddy Bearings. All of them seem find except one. It keeps slinging the grease out and I have to refill it after every trip. It fills up fine and seems to do the job other then making a mess on the rim. The others do not do this. This is not on the braking tire. What is the issue? Thanks

The seal is shot.
Johnny

Here's my oppion on buddy bearings. They are an easy way to get the hub full of grease. After that......you cause your own problems. Follow me on this and see if you don't agree. Even though it might get a little long. Once you have exhausted all the air out of the hub by using the buddy bearing, why are you still greasing the bearing? You don't do that on your truck or even do it on the stock trailer or utility trailer, do you? When the hub is full, the seals are good, no water can get in, nor can grease get out. By re-greasing the buddy bearings you now take a grease gun that can exert up to 3500 psi and "blow" the seal out. Now here comes the grease, there goes the water. Once water enters into the system, it gets heated by the bearing and will expand up to 10% it's volumn. That expansion helps push the grease past the seal. Now you back the bearing into 70 degree water and the grease/water mixture contracts pulling more water in. Now that happens a couple of times and,,,,,poof!. The bearings get rusted, start overheating, grease gets hot and slings more out and you are setting on the side of the road with smoking wheel bearings.
This is what I do. Jack the wheel up and spin it. IF you hear a sound, replace the bearings and seals. Pack the area between the inner bearing and the shaft seal with grease. Place the hub with packed bearing and seal on spindle. Remove the tip from the grease gun and insert it into the space betweent the spindle and hub. Fill area with grease rotating while doing so. Try to get as much grease as possible inside that area. Now pack outer bearing, incert into hub. Replace washer, nut, tighten till you see hub come to a sudden stop. Back off nut, 1/8 to 1/4 turn, install cotter pin. Tap on buddy bearing and grease until spring in cap begins to collapse. Install bra over bearing, and run it like you stole it. On ocassion. Check inside of wheel for grease. If you don't see grease, you don't have bad bearins.
This is the way I have packed bearings on boat trailers for 30 years. I came to this realization one day when my father-in-law gave me his boat; and the trailer had made monthly trips to the lake and monthly trips (165 miles one way) to the coast for some 20 years and was still running the same bearings. WHY? He had dust caps and the seals were like new on the spindle. No grease ever was slung out of the hub. After i releized what I was doing. I repacked my bass boat trailer, and in the next 5 years that trailer made 3 trips 200 miles north of Toronto Canada and back as well as monthly trips from San Marcos (home town) to Lake Fork, Lake Amistad, and Lake Falcon, not to mention the local lakes like Canyon, Bastop, Travis, etc, etc, Toronto and back is a little over 3000 miles, do the math.......So to end this,,,,Grease, Check, and leave the grease gun on the wall. Do not over grease, you will blow the seal. Causing bearing failure. I guarantee it.

agreed.......

agree 100%

I repack my bearings once a year and it never sees the grease gun again. I don't have bearing buddies. I read of people cranking grease into there tires after every trip and think why would you need to do that. If the grease has escaped out wouldn't the water have entered in.

Thanks for all your inputs now the work begins on the bearings. I will redo it the way you said. What type of grease should I use? Just want to cover all the bases. Thanks