Newbie question about having bearing buddies installed

[frosteeone]

I don't know (and I don't trust) myself to pay too close attention to grease in the hubs. I have an older set up and it just occured to me that I haven't done anything to them in the two years I've owned the boat. I've read so many horror stories about leaving boats on the road side that I'm very concerned. -- It's a smaller jon boat (14') so the trailer is really small (no brakes).<br /><br />I've got a small boat motor shop close to my house and it would be easiest for me to drop it off there and have him work on it. He suggested bearing buddies (which I've read so much about), but he threw out the number $100 - $150 to swap out my older style (dust caps?) to install the all new bearing buddy system. Am I nuts to pay this amount?<br /><br />I purchased the whole sha-bang (boat, 9.8 merc, trailer) for $800 a couple years ago. It's all older, but it looks okay and the motor runs well.<br /><br />Thanks.

 

[mulv80]

Re: Newbie question about having bearing buddies installed

Go to the auto parts store and buy yourself a grease gun for about 10 or 15 bucks and grease those bearings after every couple of trips to the water. If your interested in buddy bearings they are relatively cheap, I think under $20.

 

[craze1cars]

Re: Newbie question about having bearing buddies installed

If you're not inclined to do this project yourself, I recommend you ask the mechanic this question...<br /><br />Does the $100 to $150 INCLUDE repacking and adjusting your existing bearings, replacing with new seals, replacing the bearings themselves (only if necessary) as well as installing the Bearing Buddies?<br /><br />If the answer is yes, then I say the price sounds fair for his labor and the parts. If no, then he's soaking you. Keep in mind that after Bearing Buddies are installed, it doesn't change the fact that you need to disassemble and repack your wheel bearings at least every 2 years, if not annually. Pumping grease into the zerk every so often helps, but very little because there is no place for the old grease to purge out. You're adding a squirt of fresh grease, so 5% of the grease is now clean and fresh, and the other 95% is still in there and full of metal shavings. <br /><br />It's no different than adding a 1/2 quart of oil to your car's engine every 5,000 miles, and then saying you don't need to change the oil anymore. <br /><br />The grease has gotta be changed periodically, just like oil changes on a car. And for boat trailers, it's even more critical because water submersion is added to the mix. The only purpose of a Bearing Buddy is to prevent water from entering the bearing by maintaining positive pressure inside the hub. The grease zerk on the Bearing Buddy is NOT a method of greasing your bearings, as many people seem to think, it's just a way to keep the positive pressure up.<br /><br />My other advice is to get a second and/or third quote. ANY auto mechanic can do this simple job for you. Doesn't have to be a boat mechanic. Most mechanics should easily estimate this price over the phone for you.

 

[frosteeone]

Re: Newbie question about having bearing buddies installed

Thanks for your comments. -- No I'm not handy at all. -- Remembering to mix the oil with the gas is the extent of my knowledge (not totally exagerating). -- I only use it for a small lake that's about 4 miles from my house, but I'll take it on about an 80 mile trip about once a year.<br /><br />I know the in's/out's about boating, fishing (enough to stay out of the serious fisherman's way on the boat ramps & not buzzing them when they're in their favorite fishin' spots), but when it comes to the mechanical stuff (trailer wheels, boat motors), I'm the guy who keeps the guys who work on these types of things employed. I liked to share my $ with the "little man" who works near the lake instead of the big corporate companies that don't really need it.<br /><br />I'm still wondering about spending that type of $$ on the wheel section when I haven't priced a newer trailer that would have all new features.<br /><br />Thanks guys.

 

[Realgun]

Re: Newbie question about having bearing buddies installed

If your really going the new trailer route then please tell the next guy you have done no maint to trailer and he should service the bearing. Knock of 50 dollars and he will be happy and so will you. Just do the bearings once a year and check the bearing buddies periodically.

 

[chuckz]

Re: Newbie question about having bearing buddies installed

craze,<br /><br />Why are there metal shavings in your wheel bearings?<br /><br />Frostee,<br /><br />If you can mix oil, you can install Bearing Buddies. The hardest part of the job is getting off the old dust caps. It's tricky to get them off without damaging them, but since you are replacing them with Bearing Buddies, it doesn't matter. <br /><br />I disagree with craze1, if you keep you Bearing Buddies pumped up, there is no reason to repack the bearings annually. The full Bearing Buddies prevent water intrusion.

 

[QC]

Re: Newbie question about having bearing buddies installed

Anybody else have an opinion on the repack or keep going with Bearing Buddies discussion? I swear I go back/forth on this one all the time. Makes me crazy: Angel "you should repack your wheel bearings" Devil "nah, you got Bearing Buddies man, repacking is for paranoid knuckleheads" New guy "convert to fluid type hub".<br /><br />BTW, short story. A few years ago I had my trailer bearings repacked by a decent tire shop I have used for my cars and trucks over the years. I get it back and like always pulled the little bras and checked the Bearing Buddies to see if the spring is compressed. They had packed the OUTSIDE of the Bearing Buddy too, ya know couldn't see the zerk!!! ARRRRRGHHHHH This is why I usually do my own work . . .

 

[frosteeone]

Re: Newbie question about having bearing buddies installed

Man, Quietcat, that would make my day if I didn't have to deal with the wheel issue every year or so. I thought the point of swapping them out to bearing buddies was to maintain them less.

 

[QC]

Re: Newbie question about having bearing buddies installed

Mr. Freeze,<br /><br />Let's just see what kind of consensus we get on this. I am not sure I am ready to pack up the packin' plan just yet.

 

[chuckz]

Re: Newbie question about having bearing buddies installed

From Bearingbuddy dot com<br />

3. With Bearing Buddy® installed, how often do I need to repack my bearings? We don't recommend inspecting your bearings more frequently than once every 5 years, provided you properly maintain the grease level in the hubs, and your bearings and seals are in new condition when you install genuine Bearing Buddy®. The Bearing Buddy® system maintains a constant pressure of 3 p.s.i. on the grease inside the hub. Since the hub is always full of grease (with proper maintenance) there is no need to repack your bearings. Some customers have reported that their Bearing Buddy® units were removed for the first time after 10 to 15 years of use, and the bearings still looked like new.

 

[QC]

Re: Newbie question about having bearing buddies installed

Great! Take that off of this year's to do list. I can't touch grease without throwing it all over the place.

 

[tommays]

Re: Newbie question about having bearing buddies installed

i would not risk a breakdown to avoide doing a 2 or 3 hour a once a year job which if not done could cost me my boat or much worse<br /><br />tommays

 

[rottenray6402]

Re: Newbie question about having bearing buddies installed

I disagree with the Bearing Buddy recommendation. I used them for a number of years before I switched to the oil filled hubs and every time I removed the hub / bearing package there was water in both of them. I always used new seals on reassembly but the water would get in from the constant dunking. I have read that wwhen you back in cold water with warm hubs that changes the inner pressure to neutral or even vaccumn but I have no idea if it's true.

 

[craze1cars]

Re: Newbie question about having bearing buddies installed

I'm just from the "better safe than sorry" crowd. I repack mine every other year, takes me about 1/2 hour, maybe 1 hour if I'm being real picky, and costs $10 max in materials. It's just a small part of my end of season routine when I am winterizing my boat. I also do frequent 1,000 mile vacations with various trailers in tow so maybe it's more critical for me than some others here who just run to their local lake and back for day trips. But my precious vacation is the LAST time I ever want to find myself as one of those many, many poor souls who have frozen a bearing or worse yet actually lost a wheel while running 70 mph down the interstate.<br /><br />Edit, I'm adding a story from last summer. I have partial ownership in small tow company that services a major interstate. We make LOTS of money off failed trailer bearings on Labor Day and Memorial Day weekends. Tow 'em in, let one of the drivers replace the hub while the customer waits (frequently there's a line), and they fork over about $300 to $400-ish for a tow and new hub. CASH COW. The business normally does not do repairs, but trailer hubs are so easy it's actually the only line of parts they keep in stock. Those waiting in line for an overpriced new hub are the lucky ones...the unlucky ones have their boats/RV's upside-down in the ditch because the wheel fell off at high speed and their vacation has taken a horrible turn for the worse. I don't spend a lot of time there, but I did last Labor Day weekend. My unscientific guestimate of watching the line of people waiting for their new hub that weekend would say that about 80% of these failures were on hubs that had Bearing Buddies installed. Nothing wrong with the product, but I stand by my recommendation that they don't replace regular maintenance.<br /><br />Everyone can make their own decision, our tow trucks will be ready and waiting either way...

 

[QC]

Re: Newbie question about having bearing buddies installed

See, here I go again, back to the packin' croud. Our trips always total 500 miles and usually run in over 100 F ambient at least part of the way. I feel the same way about our vacations/trips. The amount of cash we have tied up in these trips doesn't make any avoidable problem worth it.

 

[BillP]

Re: Newbie question about having bearing buddies installed

My 02...I've been trailering the same boat for the last 20 yrs...and trailering boats approx 30. All with Bearing Buddys and the boat gets dunked maybe 20 times a yr. I tow maybe 2000 mi a yr and longest annual trip is 300 one way. 99% of my boating is in saltwater. I used to check and repack every yr until I saw there was no need for it. Now I'm pulling every 4-5 yrs and they still look new. All I do is follow the BB instructions.<br /><br />Some people say not to fill the hub with grease. BB says to fill them and I do it. Then I run the trailer a few times and add grease until the BB spring is in the middle with wiggle room. In the beginning with BBs I pumped too much in and kept breaching the rear seal. <br /><br />About a hot hub sucking in water. I think it is more scare than reality. I'm in Florida heat and the hubs get a LITTLE warm. If you check the BBs spring location before and after trailering it doesn't move enough to measure on mine. <br /><br />One thing I found on my BBs. Keep the springs clean. Grease that squeezes out around them collects dirt and gradually gets hard. Then the springs don't slide out easily. You start pumping to bring the spring out and grease goes out the back seal instead. This is a downside of extended repacking/checking.<br /><br />I'd say most of the rigs that get stranded with BBs are the ones who don't pack the hubs full. Rear bearings are normally the first to go...and then cause uneven loads that trash the outer bearing. It takes a long time for the BB to fill the hub and get grease to the rear bearing. You will be pumping them up every trip until full. By then water may have entered and the damage done. Air compresses, grease doesn't.

 

[am_dew]

Re: Newbie question about having bearing buddies installed

I had Bearing Buddies installed on my single axle trailer a few years go. The marine service guy who installed them said that I would need to only squirt grease in them a couple times a year and to put enough grease in so that the end of the zirk fitting was almost flush with the end of the BB. In order to keep the zirc fitting almost flush with the end of the BB, I've had to put grease in them more than a couple times a year (my longest trips are about 400 miles round trip a few times a year, 3-4 trips are 200 miles round trip, and the rest are 30 miles round trip). Even though I know I've pumped a lot of grease into them, I see no signs of grease coming out the back or the front of the wheel/axle areas. Any ideas or suggestions as to what's going on? And is there a better way to tell if I should add grease than looking at the zirc fitting's location?<br /><br />Thanks.

 

[am_dew]

Re: Newbie question about having bearing buddies installed

Since my post above, I found this FAQ:<br /><br /> http://www.bearingbuddy.com/faqs.htm#7 <br /><br />Any comments on it?

 

[am_dew]

Re: Newbie question about having bearing buddies installed

So then, since I see no signs of grease on the tires/rims, I wonder where all the grease I keep putting in is going?

 

[tommays]

Re: Newbie question about having bearing buddies installed

well i can tell you that if you have good seals and to much grease the bearing buddies will eject them selfs from your hub<br /><br /> or at least the ones that dont have a great press fit<br /><br />tommays