Trailer Bearings / Grease Gun

[dd716ted]

For the past 17 years, I had been using a big old herky grease gun to keep the bearing buddy / wheel bearings well lubricated on my boat trailers. This year I finally decided to get one of those small hand held guns that use the small cartridges to apply the grease to the wheels when needed. I can't get the darn litle grease gun to work. I put in the cartridge as directed, puncture the foil seal, withdraw the plunger and so on... I get about 4 or 5 good shots of grease out of the head when the handle is pulled and then nothing else.. no matter what I do. I took the gun back and got a new one and the same thing happened.. It must operator error (me) as it just won't work. Anyone have any experience with these little guns or have the same problem? All comments will be appreciated...

 

[gspig]

Re: Trailer Bearings / Grease Gun

Probably have an air bubble in the grease tube. My larger grease gun has a screw in the pump head to release air bubbles. I have also left the plunger tensioned and slowly unscrewed the barrel until grease oozed out of the top.

 

[gss036]

Re: Trailer Bearings / Grease Gun

Try pushing the plunger in and out several times.

 

[reddog349]

Re: Trailer Bearings / Grease Gun

I hate those - I trashed mine and got a big grease gun.

 

[craze1cars]

Re: Trailer Bearings / Grease Gun

Gspig has it nailed...Sounds like it's not bled completely. Also is likely a cheap auto-parts store grease gun...you get what you pay for. They can be very difficult to get primed but should work fine once you get it flowing and get the air out.<br /><br />Even though China-made grease guns can be had for $5 to $10 all day long, I've found that a high quality $60 grease gun from one of the big names (Snap-On, Matco, MAC) is worth the cash. The cheapos are a real pain the patootie to bleed when you refill 'em. The good ones just work like they should...imagine that.<br /><br />Also...bulk refilling without using the cardboard cartridge is a much more foolproof way to do it, but will probably take a trip to a friendly auto tech as most shadetree mechanics don't have the equipment to do it that way. Those cartridges from from the auto parts stores just don't always load very easily.

 

[G-Daddy]

Re: Trailer Bearings / Grease Gun

I've got a Lincoln that I purchased in 1968 for $7 and it still works great. I had just bought one of the little hand-held kits with three tubes of grease for $5 and never did get it to work in almost 40 years. Of course, it has been sitting on a shelf in the corner of my garage collecting dust for the last 35.

 

[dajohnson53]

Re: Trailer Bearings / Grease Gun

Another voice for "lose the tiny grease gun". I've had a couple (and still keep on on the boat for roadside "emergencies")(1) it's a pain to load and get to work and (2) the capacity is so small that you need to go through that mess too frequently.<br /><br />For at home/normal use, I use a regular large grease gun. It lasts so much longer and works so much better. Possible down side is that the longer handle allows potential for over-pressure; I just take it easy when pumping.

 

[BillP]

Re: Trailer Bearings / Grease Gun

I use a large gun for normal use but carry a small cartridge type in my "trailer box" for road trips. I don't know if it is a cheap one or not (I bought it at least 30yrs ago)but it works ok. I like the small size for traveling.

 

[craze1cars]

Re: Trailer Bearings / Grease Gun

I should have mentioned there is a very good use for those tiny little grease guns...I own a few. ESPECIALLY if you have a Mercruiser Sterndrive that requires Gimbal bearing and Ujoint grease, 4-2-C grease (at least I think that's what it's called), and who knows what other kinds of greases. Mercruiser sells them all for the all so reasonable price of $8 per tiny little tube. So for someone who owns just one boat with the drive, yet still needs all these different greases for annual maintenance, a handful of those cheap little grease guns each labeled with the appropriate expensive specialty grease is very convenient to have laying around the shop. But for everyday wheel bearing and high usage grease, I still say forget the little guns and invest in a good one.<br /><br />Another great tip...get a pneumatic grease gun for your shop at home. They work great and aren't that expensive.

 

[KaGee]

Re: Trailer Bearings / Grease Gun

Has anyone tried one of those battery operated guns yet??<br /><br />For the sake of the thread... I own the little gun and the big gun and both work fine.