Trailer Bearings question

[zippy83]

Hi,

I think I am douing this wrong. I was told by a guy who works with me to grease the bearings but he told me to apply some of the grease on my index finger and remove the cap, then apply around it. That is what I did but I also noticed that when I took the cap off there is a valve. I am asuming this is for the grease?

Picture is attached.




Thanks
Zipp

 

[roscoe]

Re: Trailer Bearings question

They guy that gave you that advice is not to be listened to.
There is NO bearing that can be greased in the manner described.

Your hubs have "bearing buddies attached. More on this latter.

If the bearings have a "sure-lube" system, they can be greased without disassembling them, yours is not.
All other bearings must be disassembled to grease both sets of bearings.

After the bearings are greased, the bearing buddy is attached to the outside.
And a small amount of grease is pumped in.
The bearing buddy only serves to apply a small amount of positive pressure to the hub, to keep water from being sucked inside when hot hubs are backed into cold water at the launch.

Proper greasing of the hub and bearings, requires disassembly, cleaning, inspection, new seals, and possibly new bearings.

There are many videos on youtube that show you how.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMX3m-uZcr8



How to grease & change trailer wheel bearings - YouTube

Feel free to ask more questions if need be.

 

[phillyg]

Re: Trailer Bearings question

I think Roscoe misunderstood your first question. The advice you received, to run a small bead of grease around the cap before installing it, is wise. Since the bearing cap has neither an o-ring nor any gasket, that little bead of grease will help seal the cap to the hub assembly. Nothing wrong with that. And yes, the bearing buddy grease fitting is where you put the rest of the grease.

 

[zippy83]

Re: Trailer Bearings question

They guy that gave you that advice is not to be listened to.
There is NO bearing that can be greased in the manner described.

Your hubs have "bearing buddies attached. More on this latter.

If the bearings have a "sure-lube" system, they can be greased without disassembling them, yours is not.
All other bearings must be disassembled to grease both sets of bearings.

After the bearings are greased, the bearing buddy is attached to the outside.
And a small amount of grease is pumped in.
The bearing buddy only serves to apply a small amount of positive pressure to the hub, to keep water from being sucked inside when hot hubs are backed into cold water at the launch.

Proper greasing of the hub and bearings, requires disassembly, cleaning, inspection, new seals, and possibly new bearings.

There are many videos on youtube that show you how.



Changing Boat Trailer Bearings - YouTube



How to grease & change trailer wheel bearings - YouTube

Feel free to ask more questions if need be.

If you are telling me that I need to disassemble the the entire hub grease the bearings from inside, then assemble back the way it was, then what is the purpose of the valve that is there ?

 

[roscoe]

Re: Trailer Bearings question

The zerc fitting you see, is used to apply a small amount of grease between the bearing buddy, and the bearings.

The bearing buddy only serves to apply a small amount of positive pressure to the hub, to keep water from being sucked inside when hot hubs are backed into cold water at the launch.

Take the time to watch the videos.

 

[zippy83]

Re: Trailer Bearings question

The bearings are less then 1 year old. I got them replaced last may. I didnt do it the local mechanic did. He just told me to make sure that there is grease in them every year or so

 

[zippy83]

Re: Trailer Bearings question

The zerc fitting you see, is used to apply a small amount of grease between the bearing buddy, and the bearings.

The bearing buddy only serves to apply a small amount of positive pressure to the hub, to keep water from being sucked inside when hot hubs are backed into cold water at the launch.

Take the time to watch the videos.

Ok so if thats the way to check it each year then I dont see why not replace it with a new one every time. if I was to do this myself how would I go about finding the right wheel bearings for my trailer?

 

[tomdinwv]

Re: Trailer Bearings question

There are numbers stamped on the bearings. Take those numbers or the bearings to a local auto supply (like NAPA) and they can hook you up. There is no need however, to replace the bearing ever year. When you pull the bearings, check them for scarring, pitting or signs of running hot (they'll have a bluish color) to properly disassemble the hub, you will need new seals unless you can remove them without damaging them. They are usually about $5-$10 each.

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: Trailer Bearings question

Here is where I start an argument. Greasing bearings opinions are like a** holes: Everybody has one. With Bearing Buddies there is no need to disassemble the hub and bearings AS LONG AS THEY WERE GREASED PROPERLY when installed. Simply pump in grease until it starts to issue from the weep hole in the side of the Bearing Buddy. If there is no weep hole, stop when the spring is fully compressed. No, it will not destroy the rear seal unless the seal is bad to begin. The spring keeps pressure on the inside of the hub to hopefully keep out water and eventually, the grease you pump in will entirely fill the inside of the hub, forcing out any air pockets.

I say hopefully keep out water because nothing is certain in this life except death and taxes and I'm not so sure about death!

Lots of guys go through yearly rituals and rigamarol about inspecting and re-greasing and It makes them feel good about how they are maintaining their equipment--That's all it does! Think of this: Although automobile wheel bearings are not immersed in water, they are sealed and usually (unless the brake rotors and hubs are unit designed and removed for state inspection) the grease lasts for the 100,000 to 200,000 miles lifetime of the car.

I have both Bearing Buddies and Posi-lube grease systems on my trailers. I have not disassembled and greased them for well over ten years. I simply pump grease into them and they have been trouble free.

So, with yours, knowing you have had new bearings installed recently, do what you think best. But remember: According to the gloom and doomers, if you don't disassemble, inspect, and re-grease the hubs and bearings, your trailer WILL explode, spreading your boat all over the highway.

As far as putting grease on the index finger and cap, what your friend meant was this: If you fill the steel cap (which you don't have) with grease, it will hydraulic lock because of the spindle nut and you won't be able to push it back into the hub. SO, you put a good dollop of grease on your finger and coat the INSIDE of the cap with it. This provides a reservoir of oil which will weep out of the grease yet provides room for the spindle washer, nut, and cotter pin. This is standard procedure on auto bearings since they always have a steel cap.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Trailer Bearings question

To counter Frank's argument, I just bought a pontoon trailer that had ez-lube hubs and every inner bearing needed to be replaced because of water intrusion on a 7 year old trailer that was dunked twice a year. All 4 inner races and bearings were pitted and 2 outers. This was fresh water...imagine salt water!

They need to be looked at occasionally. It takes a very short amount of time to check them vs being on the side of the road dealing with a bearing failure.

Pretty easy to pull the hubs and take a looksey. You don't have to take it all apart. Just look to see if the grease has emulsified near the inner bearing. Doesn't have to be every year but I would at least jack up each wheel and spin them once a year to listen for noise. It costs you a new cotter pin to pull the hub.

As far as Bearing Buddys are concerned. Grease until the piston just barely moves. That is plenty of grease. If you grease until the grease comes out the weep hole, that's too much. Overfilling these things risks blowing out the rear seal. Make sure you use the same type(base material) of grease that is already in there. Some grease types are NOT compatible.


http://www.bearingbuddy.com/faq.html

7. How do I check the grease level in the hub?
Grease can be added to the hub through an easily accessible grease fitting located in the center of the Bearing Buddy? piston. Lubricant level can be checked by pressing on the edge of the piston. If you can rock or move the piston, the hub is properly filled. If the piston won't rock or move, add grease until piston moves outward about 1/8 inch. When adding grease, always use a hand grease gun. An automatic grease gun will destroy the hub's inner seal.

 

[gm280]

Re: Trailer Bearings question

To counter Frank's argument, I just bought a pontoon trailer that had ez-lube hubs and every inner bearing needed to be replaced because of water intrusion on a 7 year old trailer that was dunked twice a year. All 4 inner races and bearings were pitted and 2 outers. This was fresh water...imagine salt water!

They need to be looked at occasionally. It takes a very short amount of time to check them vs being on the side of the road dealing with a bearing failure.

Pretty easy to pull the hubs and take a looksey. You don't have to take it all apart. Just look to see if the grease has emulsified near the inner bearing. Doesn't have to be every year but I would at least jack up each wheel and spin them once a year to listen for noise. It costs you a new cotter pin to pull the hub.

As far as Bearing Buddys are concerned. Grease until the piston just barely moves. That is plenty of grease. If you grease until the grease comes out the weep hole, that's too much. Overfilling these things risks blowing out the rear seal. Make sure you use the same type(base material) of grease that is already in there. Some grease types are NOT compatible.


Welcome to BearingBuddy.com

I'll second bruseb58's advice. Very good indeed. Most people think the more grease you pump in Bearing Buddies the better. But that will most certainly cause the rear seal to rupture... And for the grease contamination, I recently had to do my hubs (they were new) and decided to use "Red N Sticky" grease that IS recommended for marine hubs. BUT, my pneumatic grease gun was already partial filled with some other type grease that I forget what it was. SO, I open that grease gun up and removed the old grease cartridge (being Valvoline blend but little remaining) I completely disassembled the entire gun and cleaned every section to remove all the old grease before installing the new cartridge. That took some time, but now I know for certain what type grease I am using and will continue to use in my trailer hubs... Any marine grease is good for boat trailer hubs, but only IF you keep an eye on the hubs before there is any issues. This is just my 2 cents worth, use it at your discretion...

 

[zippy83]

Re: Trailer Bearings question

So did some maintenance today. Pulled the trailer up and rotated the tire. Didn't hear anythin abnormal when both tires were turned both directions.

Then on the hub cap it stated to check the grease levels in the bearings to simply take off the cap and push on the side. If it moves that means there is grease in there. So it did. I ended up putting a bit more grease in. Checked behind each tire to see if there was any indication of a leakage. Didn't see anything, everything seems to be clean just dirty from some of the mud.. Cleaned that up and didnt see anything.

Since these were installed new last may and I only have about 250 miles on it since then I didn't see the need to disassemble everything.