Re: Bearing buddy question
Super Lube Hubs...will never use bearing buddies and traditional hubs again. Super Lubes removes all doubts on the condition of grease in hub. No chance of blowing the rear seal. Any grease coming out the rear seal of a hub means the seal is bad. Caused by over pumping grease into the bearing buddy.
Newer versions of Bearing Buddies are designed so that excess grease is expelled around that little blue ring that floats out to tell you the hub has all the grease it needs. I doubt you would experience a failure due to too much grease using that version of the product.
. . . and when I say newer, well, they were the newer version when I swapped out previous Bearing Buddies for this new and improved product some, gosh, 7 years ago. . . . haven't had occasion to remove wheels or replace bearings since. I just keep 'em full of grease and keep going on.
The poster who mentioned grease flying all over his wheel may have the same Bearing Buddy product that I have. When full, the grease comes oozing out around the outer blue ring with each subsequent squeeze of the grease gun trigger. You can wipe most excess grease away with a rag, but some will remain and ooze out as you drive, and that grease will be thown onto your wheels. The solution is a rubber or vinyl cap that you can buy to cover the Bearing Buddy. Slide that on, press it in the center to expel air. This creates a vacuum that holds the cap onto the hub.
No more grease-soiled wheels. Works like a charm.
Like other posters, I am a huge fan of bearing buddies. Before installing them, I was always faced with having to pull the wheel to re-pack the bearings. Not a hugely difficult or time consuming chore, but certainly more time-consuming than simply sliding off that cap, hooking up my grease gun, and working some new grease into the Bearing Buddy system.
This whole discussion brings back memories of me and my dad when he was just a about the age I am now. I don't know if he was going through one of those late mid-life crisis, whether he was drinking too much (bless his heart, he did drink some (so do I)), or what, but as we hooked up our 20-foot Dorseet runabout to the back of the station wagon, I asked him if he had greased the hubs yet this (that) year (I had just completed my freshman year in college). He told me it was self-lubricating, LOL. Not wanting to spoil our trip (and Lord knows I had spent enough time arguing with him over the years over who knows what), I just didn't challenge that statement.
We pull the boat some one-hours drive up to the lake, back her in, and one of the trailer wheels comes floating to the top.
The bearing had obviously overheated due to lack of lubrication, scoring and probably heating up the axle as well. When the assembly hit that cold water, the axle spindle just snapped right off.
I let Daddy spend the day fishing from the shore while I ran around gathering necessary parts to make the repair (an activity that was no less fun that would have been the fishing).
By the end of the day, all was well, he had another drink - one in which I joined him. I am so glad that I didn't turn "told-you-so" smart aleck that day. We always loved each other, and he always supported me 100% in whatever I chose to pursue. The trip was one of only a few trips we would take together, mainly because pursuing a career saps that precious commodity of time. He would live another 20 years, but I would not have the luxury of time in the summers to spend fishing with him.
These days, while I have my own growing family to keep me company, my immediate family of that era is no more except for me - so hard to believe.
Daddy had a stroke at age 71 back in '87, and Mom just passed away April of '09 at '93, twin sis gone at the hands of Leukemia back in '97, so its just old cast-iron me these days - no infirmities, just fond memories.
Who would have thought a posting about Bearing Buddies would turn out like this. I guess grease can do that to you.
Happy boating.
Caruso
