Grease those trailer bearings!

DallanC · Site Admin Joined: Jan 18, 2005 Posts: 3572 Location: Utah

Took family fishing Saturday (it was fantastic), as I pulled up at my home I smelled something burning. I noticed grease all over one wheel and figured the dust cap fell off (it has before). Took a closer look and noticed the axle nut was off-center inside the hub... uh oh!

Jacked it up and the entire tire could move back and forth 2" at the edge. Both inner and outer bearings were gone, it was metal on metal and had worn almost 1/4" through the bottom of the axle. Crazy! Coulda lost the hub and tire both on the freeway. Kindof surprised the tire tracked straight with nothing to hold it in place as there was no odd wear on it and there was no shaking.

$5 worth of grease would have saved alot of headaches and $$$! Mad

Picked up a new axle, hubs and bearings on my lunch break today, will R&R it one day when I get bored enough. Smile

-DallanC

dhc4ever

Yep,
The repacking of your trailer bearing is something that should be done yearly on a trailer that gets a lot of use (or goes through a lot of water crossings), For your garden trailer that does a monthly trip to the tip every 2 years should do.
Dont forget to check the condition of the tyres while you're there, its even more spectactular when you delaminate one of them at 100 kph.....

Ominivision1

Been through that, I have since used Bearing Buddy. it;s specially made so you do not have to take apart the hub to grease the wheel bearings. --> www.wholesalemarine.co...-B-1781SS/

They are not cheap but last a lifetime.

English Mike

At least you didn't lose the wheel at speed - saw that happen once & it was a waste of a nice boat.
I've done a lot of salt water launches & even expensive ss bearings take a beating without regular maintenance.
It's not just the corrosion problem but also the suspended particles of sand that find their way in.

RePete

Ominivision1 wrote:

Been through that, I have since used Bearing Buddy. it;s specially made so you do not have to take apart the hub to grease the wheel bearings. --> www.wholesalemarine.co...-B-1781SS/

They are not cheap but last a lifetime.

They are good but you still need to take the hubs apart and clean the bearings and replace the seals about once a year (at the begining of the season).

They force the old grease and dirt out through the seal, but water can still enter the hub, or dust can too.

gelandangan

Dallan,
I am glad that you are relaxed enough to go fishing, I take it the fire does not affect you much. Thats good news!

Agreed axle bearings need to be greased regularly.
My Landcruiser was squeaking when I got back from a hunting trip, turns out that the front right bearing seal was broken due to whatever, and all the grease is gone.
Lucky I am already home.

PaulS

I have a permanent fix for those trailer bearings.
1. get new bearings and seals
2. pack them very well with grease - don't care what kind - and grease the lip of the seal too.
3. put some Loc-Tite #518 around the outside of the dust cap that goes into the hub.
4. fill the cap with a 50/50 mix of Hilton Hyper-lube and the same grease you packed your bearings with. (It should be more liquid than solid and flow slowly)
5. Put the cap quickly in place and tap in into the hub.
Now, I ran a small utility trailer with 8" wheels for ten years. I traveled at 70 MPH with it fully loaded and all the way across the state several times. I wore out three sets of tires but never even heated those bearings up - even though it was overloaded to the point where the tongue bent.

Hilton Hyper-lube is like STP oil treatment but a bit runnier.

Vince

Very lucky Dallan, I'm glad you got home safely. I've seen a trailer that has lost a wheel tip over and take the towing vehicle with it on more than one occasion. Now, the big question...did you get any fish mate...if so, where are the pics mate. Laughing

From the sounds of things, most of us here have had trailer bearing or axle woes...I know I have.

As the rest of the guys say...regular maintenance will prevent these problems...but how many of us actually do it, know I am guilty of not paying enough attention to my box trailer and my Coleman Campervan running gear. Your timely warning may just correct that problem.

OV1...I've seen those Bearing Buddy fixtures (or similar) out here...guys who put their trailer in water regularly swear by them, but you still need to be proactive with your maintenance mate.

Cheers, Vince

Ominivision1

Vince wrote:

OV1...I've seen those Bearing Buddy fixtures (or similar) out here...guys who put their trailer in water regularly swear by them, but you still need to be proactive with your maintenance mate. Cheers, Vince

Yup, the trailer bearings get cleaned and repacked with grease and new seals every fall when boating season is over.

Elvis

Ive heard the same things on the bearing buddies and are too cheap to fork out for them. our "boat trailer" is also the firewood trailer, go to the rubbish tip trailer, shift house trailer etc etc etc. we have had noisy bearing issues from the packing of grease not being done right so Im padantic about it now.
the biggest thing to remember is to let the bearings cool down before poking them into water or they just suck it in. 10 mins wait to sort the gear lifejackets etc is not long to wait and makes a big difference.
I too have seen tyres go bowling down the road when bearings have let go.
indeed Dallan how whent the fishing???

DallanC · Site Admin Joined: Jan 18, 2005 Posts: 3572 Location: Utah

I had bearing buddies on it... and thought they were all greased and in good shape, obviously not. Nothing beats a visual inspection I guess.

Fishing was great, we caught our limits, a mix of big trout and utah Salmon (they introduced a fresh water species called Kokanee that are thriving)

-DallanC

Bushmaster

I have had 20 years of experience with "Bearing Buddies" (the company I worked for swore by them). Get rid of them and use plain dust caps and inspect your hubs at least once a year. Preferably in the winter after the season is over.

DallanC · Site Admin Joined: Jan 18, 2005 Posts: 3572 Location: Utah

Bushmaster wrote:

I have had 20 years of experience with "Bearing Buddies" (the company I worked for swore by them). Get rid of them and use plain dust caps and inspect your hubs at least once a year. Preferably in the winter after the season is over.

Yea thats my new plan. Do you recommend any bearing greaser tools? I've done the hand method for years but I'd rather keep them clean(er) and get a good packer tool.

-DallanC

Bushmaster

I've used several types of bearing packers. Any of them would work quite well as long as they push the new grease through the bearing pushing out the old grease. The best one is still your hands. With a glob of grease in your left hand push the open end of the cone and rollers into the glob until it pushes through the assembly. run a thin coat around the rollers. Install. Add no extra grease to the hub between the inner and outter bearings. Insure the hub grease seal is in good condition.

Best I can offer.

dhc4ever

After 30+ years working on aircraft, motorcycles and cars/4wds the hand grease method IMO is the best.
I've used a few bearing greasers but they weren't as good as the slow hand method.
These days I wear these gloves to keep the hands clean;
www.ansellpro.com/prod...ductId=331
due to the fact I have little resistence to industrial dermatitus these days caused by oils and greases and I hate really greasy hands.