Help understanding my bearings?

gtochris

Senior Chief Petty Officer
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Aug 4, 2010
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This trailer came with my used boat I bought in the spring, I'm only using it local only and storage as I am increasingly finding it to be a piece of junk.
It's a 2006ish Tidewater single torson Axle with disc brakes. The cap has a zinc fitting, I and when I popped it off, it just feeds grease to the spindle nut area... No bearing buddies or anything of the sort. Is this low tech/ doesn't grease the bearings themselves?
I pumped them full and grease easily (not much pressure) came out the relief holes in the back (2nd photo).
What should I make of this system? I towed it 5 miles for gas and both hubs were rather hot to the touch. Anyone else have a hub/ spindle like this?


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oldjeep

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I would have thought that there would be a zerk in that back side hole. Is it threaded? The first thing I would do is take the bearings out and look at them, buying an 8 year old trailer and not servicing the bearings and seals is just asking for trouble.
 

UncleWillie

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Oct 18, 2011
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I think he meant to say the Cap has a Zerk, Not Zinc, fitting.

Pumping grease into the cap with the wheel in the air will allow you to spin the tire while pumping the grease.
What you have is very similar to the E-Z Lube system, only pumping the opposite (Front to Back) direction.
If you spin the tire until fresh grease appears out the relief hole on the back side, the grease would be 100% replaced.
A hub completely filled with grease will not have any room to allow water to enter.
Overall it does not look like a bad system.

The hubs will get warm during operation. The heat from the brakes are also a consideration.
If you can keep your hand on the hub, it is not too hot.

In any event, it would be recommended to pull the hubs to inspect the bearings and get the pre-load correct just for piece of mind.
You may be the first person to add any grease in the last 8 years. It should have been done at least yearly.
 

gtochris

Senior Chief Petty Officer
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Aug 4, 2010
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I'm trying to understand what that backside hole is all about It doesn't appear threaded. Could it a relief for too much grease? My last trailer (5 Star) had bearing buddies but a similar torson axle design and I don't ever remember grease coming out the rear. If My rear bearing seal was shot- wouldn't I have the grease coming out the hub (behind wheel/ near brakes?
I'll try and pop the hubs off at some point soon to inspect further.

This thing is definitely a local only trailer- real disappointed in this Tidewater from nearly every perspective I've encountered , Add to the fact that the boat manufactured dry weight is exactly the capacity limit (and we all know boats only get heavier), I'm just going to stay in my neighborhood and to the gas station with this.
 

gtochris

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Aug 4, 2010
Messages
742
I think he meant to say the Cap has a Zerk, Not Zinc, fitting.

Pumping grease into the cap with the wheel in the air will allow you to spin the tire while pumping the grease.
What you have is very similar to the E-Z Lube system, only pumping the opposite (Front to Back) direction.
If you spin the tire until fresh grease appears out the relief hole on the back side, the grease would be 100% replaced.
A hub completely filled with grease will not have any room to allow water to enter.
Overall it does not look like a bad system.

The hubs will get warm during operation. The heat from the brakes are also a consideration.
If you can keep your hand on the hub, it is not too hot.

In any event, it would be recommended to pull the hubs to inspect the bearings and get the pre-load correct just for piece of mind.
You may be the first person to add any grease in the last 8 years. It should have been done at least yearly.


Thanks for the clarification, I actually did that exact procedure (wheels in the air) when I was trying to figure this out a few weeks back. They turn freely with no wobble or slack (felt good) It just seems very stone age as essentially the dust cap has a "Zerk" fitting and that is the only thing different than a utility/ camper trailer and this goes under water.

I'll get the wheels off soon and inspect further and re-pack the bearings.
 
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Snowfish

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Jul 3, 2009
Messages
234
That is a Sure Lube Hub.

surelube_axle.jpg


There is a specific grease cap that goes with it. The one, on your trailer, must have fallen off. Previous owner put a grease fitting in a standard cap. It's doing the same thing, as the original, actually.

On a non-torsion axle, the excess grease gets pushed in the axle tube. Yours comes out the hole. I would not be afraid of long distance runs. This will work great as long as the hub is full. Much better system than a bearing buddy.
 

UncleWillie

Captain
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Oct 18, 2011
Messages
3,995
Thanks for the clarification, I actually did that exact procedure (wheels in the air) when I was trying to figure this out a few weeks back. They turn freely with no wobble or slack (felt good) It just seems very stone age as essentially the dust cap has a "Zerk" fitting and that is the only thing different than a utility/ camper trailer and this goes under water.
I'll get the wheels off soon and inspect further and re-pack the bearings.

The devil is in the details.

The significant difference from a standard utility hub/spindle is not just a fancy dust cap.
Just behind the Rear Bearing but in front of the Grease Seal is a hole that leads to the opening in the rear of the spindle.

There is no need to hand pack the bearings.
Pumping grease into the Zerk on the cap will force grease through both bearings and completely fill the hub.
While spinning the wheel continuously, Keep pumping until you see new grease coming out the rear hole.
Expect to use almost all of a 14 oz. grease cartridge to fill both sides. Yes! It is a lot of grease! Maybe 100 pumps for each side.
 
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bruceb58

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Mar 5, 2006
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30,454
I have an EZ-Lube hub and I still hand pack the bearings before I put them in. I believe Dexter still recommends hand packing the bearings before installation.
 

UncleWillie

Captain
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Oct 18, 2011
Messages
3,995
EZ-Lube bearing here also!

I just spin and pump. The geometry of the hubs forces the grease through the bearings.
Pre-greasing certainly won't hurt, and little on the bearings just to provide some lube before the full pack would also be judicious.
Either way, the end result is the same.
 

Saline Marina

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Sep 9, 2014
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162
If you have ever had a brand new roller bearing in your hand you will see that there is a lot of space where grease is not. Hand packing adds the verification step that all the rollers are coated in grease and there is a "reservoir" of extra grease internally as I believe it softens by design under normal heating and flows a little bit (in a molasses-style way) to help the spots which need it. I've seen many bearings fail in an industrial environment which weren't initially hand packed, the dry rollers get very hot and damage the rolling surfaces very quickly.

The problem with simply pumping it into a hole is that grease will find the path of least resistance to the other side which doesn't necessarily coat all the rolling elements and the races fully. Pumping into an already-packed bearing is sort of a like a diffusion process, you have a volume of old grease which gets mixed with the new-incoming. Even if you pumped in until pure new grease was coming out there would be a large volume of "old" grease still inside. Its not a complete "push" where there's an imaginary dividing line travelling between "old" and "new".

So best practice in my thought would be to grease the zerk very regularly, several times per season, that does the best job of making sure fresh grease is always available and mixed inside the bearing at a high percentage. I have an inkling over the offseason to pull my hubs and send them into the parts washer for awhile, dry, handpack, and start fresh next season with a known good quantity.
 

bruceb58

Supreme Mariner
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Mar 5, 2006
Messages
30,454
Just spoke to Dexter. They recommend hand packing the new bearing and not rely on pumping thru the zerk to pack the bearing.

Makes sense. Would seem to not be a good thing to be rolling non greased bearings at all.
 
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