wheel bearings

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woodduck

New member
Greetings, Our trailer is equipped with "bearing buddies" which allow me to grease the wheel bearings periodically without removing the hub from the spindle. What is the necessity for greasing the bearings by removing the hub from the spindle and actually pressing grease through the bearings? And considering our trailer has "bearing buddies" what is the suggested frequency for the hub to be removed from the spindle and greasing the bearings by hand? Thanks in advance for any suggestions/comments.
Ken aka: Wood Duck
 
I'll chime in. One of the reasons to remove the hub is to inspect the bearings and surfaces for wear and tear. You pre-lube them by " packing" them with grease and reinstalling . The bearing buddies do not replace the action of packing the bearings , but their job is to maintain the lube without removing the hub. I usually make sure that when I do lube using the bearing buddies, that I just pump enough to see that there oozing of grease around the visible area as I pump. Frequency for me is every time I get ready to pull the trailer on a trip. Hope this helps.
Jim
 
As I recall once the bearing buddy is pumped up the Zert plate moves outward, periodically inspect the Bearing Buddy to see if additional grease is needed to keep it pumped up. The only time you should ever have to pull the hubs is when wheel play requires you to tighten the hub nut, or when the rear seals are shot.

Always hand pack with grease before reassemble.

Hope this helps,

Jay
 
We see a fair number of bearing buddy equipped trailers with wonderful looking outer bearings. The inner bearings, not so much. Too many people think that having bearing buddies mean never having to service the bearings. They still neeed service, but the bearing buddy will help prevent water intrusion. Be careful not to over presurize the bearing buddy, as it will blow out the inner seal, and you'll have grease all over the inside of the fender and on the boat hull.
 
I have just spent $500 to redo bearings on my Road Runner trailer that came with Bearing Buddies. I have 300 miles on my trailer as my boat is an '09. Last launch it was making a big rumble back there and I thought to service the bearings. When my mechanic pulled the bearings off, he found the spindle had not been machined at the factory and the bearings had been hammered on over a lip and badly distorted. This allowed water into the back and destroyed my bearings and pitted the spindle. I got the boat and trailer new from our BC dealer and so far I have not had any help with the cost. Just because you have a new trailer doesn't mean your bearings are good. Road Runner says "tough" as it's over a year old. Personally will run another make of trailer on my next C dory. Maybe another dealer also. (likely)

You don't always get what you pay for. Forget who said it but true sometimes. :thup
 
Hi,
If you don't travel much no biggie, for me I do them once a year as I put a couple thousand miles a year on my trailer and we mostly boat in salt water. I do new seals, check the bearings, remove all grease, repack the bearings, look at the the brake pads grease the pins on the caliper that the calipers float on. Better safe then sorry, does not cost that much.
D.D.
 
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