Bad Bearing Buddies letting water in

mike64

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Apr 10, 2008
Messages
1,042
I repacked my bearings not long ago, and after the very next dunk in the lake the bearing grease is milky-looking & emulsified from water. I have fake bearing buddy knockoffs that are clear plastic, so I could see the grease was a lighter color, and removing one confirmed it. So I took off both wheels, repacked the bearings again, replaced the seals, and after another trip out same thing happens, this time to only one wheel.

I determined it was from the fake bearing buddys piston spring being tired and permanently all the way in-- so it doesn't push out and equalize pressure when the hub hits the water. Then water gets sucked in through the pressure relief hole (that lets excess grease out) in the fake bb.

So my old worn-out fake bbs are really just dust caps now. Can I just seal up the pressure relief holes, or will that cause me other problems?
 

robert graham

Admiral
Joined
Apr 16, 2009
Messages
6,908
Re: Bad Bearing Buddies letting water in

Maybe time for a pair of new stainless steel bearing buddies, and add a pair of the rubber "Bearing Buddy Bras" that cover them up and provide an extra seal to keep out water.
 

jeffnick

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
May 24, 2004
Messages
695
Re: Bad Bearing Buddies letting water in

I'm not a fan of Bearing Buddies. A hub full of good marine grease is all you need. I use WalMart cartridges that say "Marine" on them. I've logged over 50,000 trailer miles without a grease/water related failure by only servicing the bearings yearly.
 

dockwrecker

Lieutenant
Joined
Mar 10, 2006
Messages
1,392
Re: Bad Bearing Buddies letting water in

No don't seal up the pressure relief holes, they're there for a reason. Fall off your wallet and change the stupid things! They always leak and collect dirt which gums up the spring and diaphragm without the proper covers over them. The diaphragm without grease behind it will always leak water, and it sounds like you're not using a proper marine grease with water resistance. Pull them off again, repack with marine grease and spend the 26.00 for new ones.
 

mike64

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Apr 10, 2008
Messages
1,042
Re: Bad Bearing Buddies letting water in

No don't seal up the pressure relief holes, they're there for a reason. Fall off your wallet and change the stupid things! They always leak and collect dirt which gums up the spring and diaphragm without the proper covers over them. The diaphragm without grease behind it will always leak water, and it sounds like you're not using a proper marine grease with water resistance. Pull them off again, repack with marine grease and spend the 26.00 for new ones.

Thanks for giving me an answer to my specific question.

Yes, I am using proper marine grease. Stuff is hard to find, and everybody tells me I don't really need it, but I make a point to get it anyway.

As for buying new bearing buddies, I've already spent this season almost half of what I originally paid for the boat. I have no problem spending for critical things-- I just replaced the leaf springs on the trailer. But bearing buddies are starting to seem like more trouble than they're worth. I figured if I can just seal these broken bearing buddies and use them as simple dust caps, that's an extra $26 in my pocket. I'm fine with repacking the bearings every spring, and I don't know how much longer I'm going to keep this boat and trailer anyway. I just don't want to have to repack the bearings after every trip. Maybe I'll just buy some cheap dust caps.
 

dockwrecker

Lieutenant
Joined
Mar 10, 2006
Messages
1,392
Re: Bad Bearing Buddies letting water in

You can do that, the bearing buddies are more of a convenience than anything. I'd still pull the caps now and then to check for water intrusion.
 

robert graham

Admiral
Joined
Apr 16, 2009
Messages
6,908
Re: Bad Bearing Buddies letting water in

Get the Bearing Buddy Bras for $5, will help seal out water. A bearing failure on the side of the interstate highway is not good!
 

mike64

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Apr 10, 2008
Messages
1,042
Re: Bad Bearing Buddies letting water in

I replaced my non functioning bearing buddies with good old fashion grease caps

http://www.iboats.com/Grease-dust-Caps/dm/*******.679117430--**********.312084388--view_id.40533

By the way, I discovered that my hubs had zerk fittings :)

The price is right on those...

also I found these cheap BBs on iboats-- at that price I might get a new pair...:rolleyes:

http://www.iboats.com/Trailer-Buddy...0225748--**********.220068284--view_id.484745
 

Lrider

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
May 19, 2010
Messages
631
Re: Bad Bearing Buddies letting water in

When I removed the bra I found this. Apparently the bra leaked, kept the water in, destroyed the bearing buddy spring, filled the hub with water and nearly smoked the bearings.

I replaced the bearings and put the cheap caps on for now I am still thinking about using bearing buddies again, by the way, the trailer came that way, the po didn't look at the bearings after he greased them once
 

Attachments

  • my Buddy.jpg
    my Buddy.jpg
    94.4 KB · Views: 0
Top