trailer bearings

How often should a person worry about re-packing the bearings on a trailer. I’ve had mine for a couple of seasons now. I put 4 to 500 hundred miles a season on trailering. I’m pulling my boat to Lac Suel next August and want to make sure I don’t have a problem. Is this something that can easily be done at home or should I take it to where I bought my boat? I’ve kept grease in them. Dealer’s advice was to “Give ’em a little squirt every now and again.” Never noticed them getting hot or anything.

Stevo
Went five years without repacking bearings on my trailer, had buddy bearings on it. Gave them a good shot three times a year. Put on a couple thousand miles a year with no problems’s what so ever. Had them repacked anyway because I dint want to have a problem at the wrong time. The mechanic said the bearings where in good shape and with the buddy bearings should stay that way as long as you grease them regularly.

great. guess I got at least two more years maybe more since I don’t trailer it that much. Nice living only 8 blocks from the ‘Croix.

Steve,

I’m a trailer bearing nutcase! Lose a wheel going 70 MPH down the highway and you will come down with the same affliction!

For me, it’s not just an annual re-pack, it a total removal of the old bearing, races and seals and replacement with new parts. I’ll be doing this in the next few weeks as I have my boat stored in my tuck under garage. If you do the work yourself, the cost is less than $10 bucks a wheel. (Most shops will run about $80 an axel.)

I am no fan of bearing buddies. The first thing I did when I got my new boat home was take a hammer to them then immediately tossed them in the garbage! I replace the BB’s with 50 cent dust caps. The idea here is keep the water out and BB do not do a good job of that.

Let me go on to also say that the total weight of the boat has a big influence on why I do a total replace. I’m running a fairly heavy load on a single axel trailer. (17.5 ft. Glass boat, 150Hp motor and kicker) I have no doubt that a lot of guys go years without much maintenance. Most of those guys are running a lot lighter load. Another factor to consider, and I believe this factor is much more important than total miles, is the number of launch/landings you do in a season. My total number of “Trailer Dunkings” a season is well into the 100’s.

Lastly, the very worst thing you can do to bearings is let them sit over the winter with even a small or minute amount of water in there. The bearings/races will rust and pit over the winter and that’s the biggest reason bearings fail. (And why you see so many rigs on the side of the road come spring.)

Jon J.

I am also a believer in repacking/replacing bearings every year. But it is a dirty, greasy job. This spring both of my trailers are getting the liqua lube system put on.
Here is the link http://www.liqualube.com/

I don’t have the bearing buddies either. It’s a Shorelander and came with the dust caps. i’m having the boat winterized this Sat. maybe I ‘ll just have him do it to be on the safe side.

It seems this conversation pops up about twice a year. NOTHING has changed my mind about the importance of once a year complete disassembly, cleaning, inspecting, and hand repacking trailer bearings. This is true whether or not you have (and use) bearing buddies. Bearing buddies do NOTHING for inspecting condition of seals or bearings. Seals are cheap and annual replacement will virtually gaurentee that you will never get moisture into hubs. It’s basically making the choice between lucky and good. I prefer good – puts the odds of never having a failure in my favor

Guess it doesnt hurt to be safe if you feel that way. I pulled a Tyee 350 on a dual axel eagle lots of put ins and outs, no problem. Also a ProV 175 on single axel thousands more miles no problem. There is a definate difference in buddy bearings, you want the kind with overflow pressure hole in them so you dont blow out your seals. They are presurized and full of grease and that keeps the water out. I know they had some trouble with older ones but these work great. Kind of like a car?

OOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH!

You said the Lac Suel word. I love that word.

Where are you going out of? I go out of Hudson twice a year… Dave and Irene at Lac Suel Floating Lodges. If you haven’t been there you will have the time of your life. It’s the closest to heaven I’ve ever been.

I run Bearing Buddies on my trailerand repack my bearings every fall. I have never had a prblem with my bearings.

Gator Hunter

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I don’t have the bearing buddies either. It’s a Shorelander and came with the dust caps. i’m having the boat winterized this Sat. maybe I ‘ll just have him do it to be on the safe side.

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hey steve,

bearing buddies are easy to put in and they save on your bearings. it would be a good idea to put a set of them on there, that way you can grease your bearings every month with a shot of grease. that way they don’t get hot and wear out.

shane

I need a keep my fingers crossed Graemlin. I notice some of you guys never respond to any Ranger comments but anyway…..My Ranger trail dual axle is still the grease system. Ranger has drilled the end of the spindle and has holes inside between the bearings where the grease comes out when pumped into the end with a needle point attachment. This system work great with a once or twice a year application of a little grease. You do not blow any seals cause the outside cap is off and the old grease (most of it)is pushed through the outside bearing, to be just wiped away, then replace the cap, you’re good to go. I always watch the color of the grease for evidence of water or rusting. I submerg the wheels and have not had a problem with this system in 15 years of use on two different rigs.

I use bearing buddies because when i shoot a little grease into the bearing reserviour it pushes some of the old grease out through the seal on the back side of the spindle assembly, a few squirts of new grease with minimum effort is easy to do to keep fresh grease in the bearings and races and like someone mentioned theres no room for water then. I check my inner seals every three years and by then its time to replace them anyway to avoid dryrot to the outer side of the seal because i don’t trust some of the synthetics they use with the rubber that holds the coil spring snugly around the inner part of the spindle. Repacking a full load of good axel grease manually when changing bearings to me is a must then put bearing buddies on then a full pump or two from a grease gun works for me.