Trailer Maintenance???

As a new boat owner I’ve been doing some research on trailer maintenance, but most of the info I’ve found is forum posts from a long time ago that have people contradicting one another. So I thought I’d throw it out here, for some advice on maintaining my trailer. It’s a Shorelandr with bearing buddies. How often should I be repacking them? Can I pack it by hand or do I need a grease gun? I’ve seen a lot of pro-liquilube posts, should I be using that, and if so why? Sorry in advance if these are stupid questions, just trying to be proactive as I plan on putting a lot of miles on this summer. Thanks!

I appreciate this post as I have the same questions and the same trailer setup. one forum post I found in doing research suggested that bearing buddies are actually not your friend. I don’t understand much about he mechanics of bearings ext but the argument said something about how while using bearing buddies you only grease the outside part of the bearings which leaves the inside portion ungreased. I could be butchering what the guy said but basically he said it leaves on part of your bearing components ungreased and so people get a false sense of confidence when really they haven’t done a complete grease job. Hopefully some people that are more informed about this can respond. Personally, I haven’t done anything with my trailer in the year that I have owned it, and I don’t know if that is good or bad, but I only haul the boat a few blocks to the landing on most days so I might be only putting 30 miles a year on my trailer.

People tend to vastly over-complicate this and they tend to cook up a lot of armchair theories that don’t match mechanical reality.

I’ve been doing my own trailer bearings and my father’s trailer bearings and bearings for friends and bearings on trailers at jobs I held in college, etc, etc for over 30 years. I have never had any bearing set that I’ve worked on fail while on the road, at any time, and for any one.

To BigWerm:

IMO, there is no benefit to repacking bearings if by “repacking” you mean simply taking the dust caps / bearing buddies off and adding fresh grease on top of the grease that’s already there.

Bearings on boat trailers most often die from water contamination that causes rust and from particle contamination that causes abnormal wear and failure. Repacking does nothing to address either of these failure points. Repacking is just a way to ensure that the bearings have sufficient lubrication. The point is that repacking alone does not ensure your bearings will never fail.

If you have Bearing Buddies, they are essentially accomplishing the repacking process for you by giving you a way of easily adding fresh grease to ensure enough grease is constantly available. Beyond that, the bearings continue to wear due to the other 2 factors above.

I would completely replace your bearings and seals so you know that it’s been done. Inspect all races and axle running surfaces and address any issues that are found. Then use the bearing buddies per instructions.

IMO, with conventional trailer bearings in a marine use situation where the hubs are getting wet, I completely overhaul the bearings at least every 3 years under normal use. Reduce to every 2 years if putting on more then 3000 miles per year and/or if using in salt water or extreme dust environments such as extensive dirt road use.

Crappie, what bearing buddies do is allow you to fill a reservoir of grease and in the process this grease is placed under pressure within the bearing buddy. This accomplishes 2 things.

First, it provides positive pressure within the hub that can help minimize the amount of water that enters the hub when it is submerged. This “benefit” has a * behind it, it is dependent on the condition of the rear seal and other factors that are too long to go into here.

The second benefit is that it’s basically the trickle down theory of grease. If the bearing buddies are installed properly and the hubs are properly packed with grease, that pressure slowly forces fresh grease from the bearing buddy through the outside bearing and eventually the inside bearing will receive additional grease as well. It is not optimal, but it is better than what most trailer owners USED to do, which was basically nothing.

When used properly, Bearing Buddies provide an added measure of protection that IMO is well worth it. Nothing mechanical is failure proof.

Grouse

Grouse has good advice. I always did mine each fall. Not exactly a fun job, but once you get the hang of it, it goes quickly. Make sure to replace your seals and use the correct size seals.

Bearing Buddies or not…your call. My last trailer had them, then I lost one in transit and decided to go without them after that. As long as you don’t neglect your trailer, I don’t think they’re a necessity, but some guys swear by them.

How about trailer brakes? Don’t mean to hijack, but the boat we purchased (used) looks like it was never kept up real well.

Is there something specific one should use to flush the brake lines before putting in new fluid? I have a bleeder, and have seen people say to simply keep adding new fluid until the bled out fluid is clean. Is it that simple? Should I use something else like mineral spirits, or some sort of cleaning agent first, then flush with clean fluid? At what point do I just install new lines?

Thanks in advance.

@TheFamousGrouse if I am understanding you correctly, if you have bearing buddies properly installed (as I believe I do) they are self maintaining but you should add grease via a grease gun periodically and replace every 2-3 years. Correct?

looks like a good instructional video for redoing your bearings. doesn’t look too complicated but perhaps time consuming

BigWerm wrote:

@thefamousgrouse if I am understanding you correctly, if you have bearing buddies properly installed (as I believe I do) they are self maintaining but you should add grease via a grease gun periodically and replace every 2-3 years. Correct?

Correct.

Here are Bearing Buddy’s instructions. Fill the bearing buddies with grease from a grease gun using the grease zerk per the instructions.

Since you have acquired a used boat/trailer, and if you do not know with reliable certainty when the last bearing overhaul was done, I would say a complete overhaul should be done ASAP. All the grease in the world won’t save a bearing that is failing from corrosion or contamination.

Grouse

crappie55369 wrote:

looks like a good instructional video for redoing your bearings. doesn’t look too complicated but perhaps time consuming

Overhauling trailer bearings is not complicated or horribly time consuming. It’s more messy than anything else.

The #1 factor seems to me to be how easily do the races come out of the hubs. If they come easily, it’s a cake walk. If not…

Since the topic of oil bath hubs has been introduced, guys should understand that there are pros and cons to every mechanical system and bearings are no exception.

Oil bath hubs are NOT a solution to every problem, nor are they failure -proof. The fact that over the road truck trailers use them is often put out there as proof of their “superiority”, but when’s the last time you saw a trucker back a semi trailer into the water 20 times a year?

All trailer bearing systems share a failure point: They all have a rotating seal that keeps the lubricant inside the hub.

If an oil bath hub experiences a seal failure, the entire bearing will experience a catastrophic failure and melt down within seconds. Seal failures are far more likely in boat trailer applications because the bearing is being submerged in sediment-laden water. Also, the submerging of heated bearings in water causes a pressure difference that can draw water into the hub, contaminating the oil and beginning the failure process.

Oil bath hubs have advantages, it is easy to check the lubricant levels and to add lubricant as needed. They also offer consistent lubrication to both inside/outside bearings which under optimal conditions leads to a longer life with relatively low maintenance. Their disadvantages are cost, and that they fail almost instantly if the seal goes bad, whereas a grease-filled bearing will continue indefinitely.

Grouse

cant add a lot to what Grouse has already mentioned,however concerning bearing buddies,I will offer this.
wheel bearing grease becomes semi fluid with heat and it will move to the inside bearing easy enough,no worries here.
the problem is over greasing,enough so that you can push the seal out of its bore and then you are committed to removing the hub to either reinstall it or replace it,the latter being the best option.

another problem with bearings that get submerged is this,if you have traveled a long distance and the hubs are very warm and you back it into the water,the quick cooling can cause water to be sucked into the hub through a weak seal or the outer plate of a bearing buddy if its seals are weak.
if you can,let them cool while loading your stuff into your boat or hang out for around ten minutes while they cool a bit,I know,you drove a long ways and you want to be on the water,have done it myself.

I jack up my trailer every spring and give the wheels a spin,if there is no noise and they dont feel loose,I am comfortable repacking every year as I only put two thousand miles a year on my trailer and I use Lucas marine grease.
however,the third year I replace the bearings and seals,I dont want to be that guy along side of the road with a toasted bearing and hub assembly as they are only about forty bucks to do both sides.
forty bucks is nothing compared to a break down along side of the rode five hundred miles from home on a saturday afternoon when all of the parts stores are closed as well as most repair shops.

Tim,as far as replacing brake fluid in your brake system,good brake fluid is the only answer as some of the brake cylinder parts are not solvent tolerant.

X2 on everything grouse said.

If you use the boat often, I’d suggest putting in new rear seals, checking the bearings, race’s and repacking them every fall. Then they are ready for the spring/summer every year without any surprises. It’s easy preventive maintenance that goes a long ways to reducing issues. Gotten to the point it’s just easier to do it annually. Been able to use the same bearings and race’s for a very long time on a lot of trailers by replacing the seals and grease annually. Overkill? Probably. But had one good lesson with my first boat and trailer 30 years ago and it left a lasting impression. If anything seems in doubt, replace it. It helps if every ounce and speck of old grease gets removed from the bearings and hub. A good marine grease is helpful too.

Bearing buddies are helpful, but you aren’t technically packing a bearing when you’re putting a shot or 2 of grease on the front side of the hub assembly when it’s on the shaft. Some trailer zerc’s lubricate the back bearing, but it’s still not packing it. Bearing buddies give some people a false sense of security or confidence that the bearings and hub is being properly maintained, when it isn’t.

X3 on what Grouse said… Think of bearing buddies as you, with a grease gun in your hand, hitting it with a squirt here and there… as you roll to the lake, when it is needed. As stated, they keep a little bit of Positive pressure (and grease) in what would otherwise be voids and keep the water/dust out… period. I won’t go without bearing buddies on any trailer I own, snowmobile, utility or otherwise…I have NEVER replaced a bearing because of failure… in fact, not even as preventative on my boat trailer, it is a 1991.

Great thread.

I had new bearing buddies put on my boat trailer a couple of years ago by local boat shop. One of the mechanics warned me against greasing the Bearing Buddies at all. He said most guys over grease bearing buddies and they really shouldn’t need any grease after installed. I have no idea if this is accurate, and it seems odd that they’d put a zirk on if it didn’t occasionally need grease.

I used to check repack or replace bearings and seals every fall. Nowadays I just buy the hub kits you can go to Northern tools fleet farm… For about 10 bucks more than a bearing and seal kit it’s a lot easier Imo

shockers wrote:

Great thread.

I had new bearing buddies put on my boat trailer a couple of years ago by local boat shop. One of the mechanics warned me against greasing the Bearing Buddies at all. He said most guys over grease bearing buddies and they really shouldn’t need any grease after installed. I have no idea if this is accurate, and it seems odd that they’d put a zirk on if it didn’t occasionally need grease.

The zerk is there to pump grease in during the initial installation. In a perfect world where the seals would seal 100% all the time all day long, what your mechanic said is true. One starts with fresh grease, looses no grease nor gains no water intrusion, equals no grease needs added. Only need to repack due to the grease breaking down over time. In the real world, seals usually leak ever ever so slightly such that some grease is lost and some water gets in. Having grease under slight pressure allows the grease to escape while minimizing the water intrusion.

I do a full inspect and repack every other year. In between I might give the bearing buddies one or two pumps over that two year span. YMMV

Good info. Thanks, Dave

Btw what would you guys recommend to have for an emergency repair that you could do quickly/ in dark etc? I haven’t had to do a bearing change on side of the road and wonder if a pre assembled kit etc is best even if a bit more.

I’ve used Bearing Buddies for at least 20 years and never have disassembled and repacked my bearings. At every pit stop, I feel my tires and hubs to see if they’re overheating. I check the bearing buddies a couple times a season as instructed by the manufacturer. It ain’t rocket surgery. If no water gets inside the hub, the trailer bearings will last as long as your car or truck wheel bearings. Properly maintained, bearing buddies keep positive pressure on the grease in the hub, preventing water from entering the hub. Read this:

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

Ron wrote:

I’ve used Bearing Buddies for at least 20 years and never have disassembled and repacked my bearings. At every pit stop, I feel my tires and hubs to see if they’re overheating. I check the bearing buddies a couple times a season as instructed by the manufacturer. It ain’t rocket surgery. If no water gets inside the hub, the trailer bearings will last as long as your car or truck wheel bearings. Properly maintained, bearing buddies keep positive pressure on the grease in the hub, preventing water from entering the hub. Read this:

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

Yep in a perfect world that is how it is supposed to work. Just a question for you; If you never disassemble and inspect, how do you confirm that water has not entered your bearings?

It’s easy to over-do it with Bearing Buddies. To much grease pumped in and you can blow out the rear seal, which will let a lot of water in.

I block up my trailer over the winter to keep the weight off the tires. When I do this, I give the tires the “wiggle test”. I grab the tire and wiggle it to see if there is excessive slop or play, indicating the bearings are becoming worn.

As far as on the road emergency repairs, I carry a set of bearings that are greased up and ready to go in a plastic back. If I have a failure I can swap out the bearings and limp home. This isn’t optimum, since bearings and races wear out as a set. But it will get you home.

And finally I have an old Spartan trailer. The part of the axle that the rear seal rides on rusted out and became pitted. Brand new seals failed almost immediately because of the rough surface. I replaced the whole axle with one made by a company called Dexter. This axle has a zerc on the end of the spindle that feeds grease out through ports between the rear seal and the inner bearing. In other words, I can pump grease into the hub from the back and push the old grease (and any contaminants, dirt, and water) out past the outer bearing. It works really well.

Lots of good advice here, IDO rocks

SR

Huntindave wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Ron wrote:</div>
I’ve used Bearing Buddies for at least 20 years and never have disassembled and repacked my bearings. At every pit stop, I feel my tires and hubs to see if they’re overheating. I check the bearing buddies a couple times a season as instructed by the manufacturer. It ain’t rocket surgery. If no water gets inside the hub, the trailer bearings will last as long as your car or truck wheel bearings. Properly maintained, bearing buddies keep positive pressure on the grease in the hub, preventing water from entering the hub. Read this:

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

Yep in a perfect world that is how it is supposed to work. Just a question for you; If you never disassemble and inspect, how do you confirm that water has not entered your bearings?

Confirmed by common sense. If there is positive pressure inside the hub caused by the spring-loaded Bearing Buddy, water can’t enter the hub. Confirmed by careful monitoring of my Bearing Buddies while traveling. Confirmed by zero bearing failures over many years.
Apparently you didn’t read my original post, so I’ll repeat it. Maybe it will sink in if you read it.

I’ve used Bearing Buddies for at least 20 years and never have disassembled and repacked my bearings. At every pit stop, I feel my tires and hubs to see if they’re overheating. I check the bearing buddies a couple times a season as instructed by the manufacturer. It ain’t rocket surgery. If no water gets inside the hub, the trailer bearings will last as long as your car or truck wheel bearings. Properly maintained, bearing buddies keep positive pressure on the grease in the hub, preventing water from entering the hub.

Interesting?

What kind of trailer and how heavy is the boat?

How many times a year is the trailer dunked in the water and how many miles annually are put on the trailer?

I’ll preference this by saying, I don’t know everything. Grease does brake down over time though, and I’d be hard pressed to trust the same grease for 20 years, but more power to you if that works for you.

With the non-pressed or not completely sealed marine hub application, combined with the quick cool down of a rear seal being dunked in a lake after being pulled down a hot asphalt highway in mid July, the swelling and contracting I just can’t trust constantly jamming new grease in it and having a lot of faith something is not going to eventually fail. Plug into play the grease collecting foreign debris on the rear of the hub and the grease eventually covering and spraying the rear side of the hub, wheel, fender, etc would be fairly concerning over a couple decades.

I’ve seen the rubber on the seals go bad. As that is cracked, split and aged, foreign debris is going to eventually enter the hub. I just have no faith a rear seal could last 2 decades without some failure somewhere in the hub on my rigs, but hats off to you that it’s worked for that long.

Ron,
I too have used bearing buddies for many years. You and I obviously handle trailer maintenance in differing ways. I’m glad you have not had any issues.

basseyes wrote:

Interesting?

What kind of trailer and how heavy is the boat? Shoreland’r trailer, Alumacraft Classic 165. Also, I don’t overload the trailer. It’s not meant to haul all your worldly possessions on a trip. The heavy stuff goes in the truck.

How many times a year is the trailer dunked in the water and how many miles annually are put on the trailer? Dozens of times, 4,000 to 5,000 miles a year the last 8 years since I retired. Less miles before that, but probably more frequent dunkings.

I’ll preference this by saying, I don’t know everything. Grease does brake down over time though, and I’d be hard pressed to trust the same grease for 20 years, but more power to you if that works for you.
OK, I gave you the wrong impression. I haven’t run the same rig more than 10 years but I’ve used Bearing Buddies for over 20 years. My current rig is on its 6th season. But I’ve owned cars more than 20 years old and never packed wheel bearings. I doubt that I’m in the minority.

With the non-pressed or not completely sealed marine hub application, combined with the quick cool down of a rear seal being dunked in a lake after being pulled down a hot asphalt highway in mid July, the swelling and contracting (Don’t panic, it’s not that extreme and the spring loaded Bearing Buddies maintain positive pressure inside the hub so water can’t enter.) I just can’t trust constantly jamming (NOT what happens) new grease in it and having a lot of faith something is not going to eventually fail. Plug into play the grease collecting foreign debris on the rear of the hub and the grease eventually covering and spraying the rear side of the hub, wheel, fender (You’re exaggerating. The grease is under slight spring pressure and a small amount oozes out. Clean it off and go on with life.) , etc would be fairly concerning over a couple decades.

I’ve seen the rubber on the seals go bad. As that is cracked, split and aged, foreign debris is going to eventually enter the hub. I just have no faith a rear seal could last 2 decades without some failure somewhere in the hub on my rigs, but hats off to you that it’s worked for that long. If that happens, I’ll address the issue, but so far not a problem. And again, I apologize for my poorly written statement that led you to believe I’ve run the same rig for 20 years.

Thanks for clearing up the 20 years comment. Just didn’t want guy’s getting into owning their first rig thinking they could expect to get 20 years out of hubs, seals and grease just because they used bearing buddies.

A hub and wheel bearing on a vehicle is a different application, with a different design and different maintenance needs.

On my car hauler and other utility trailers I barely worrying about the grease. But I still pull them apart around the 5 year mark, repack them and replace the seals.

On my dual axle trailer under the prov they get inspected annually and repacked with new seals.

As far as having excess grease, most guys I know, myself included, don’t really like the mess excessive grease leaves on the rim, hub and the mess it can create. Plus it’s not a great resale issue. Again just personal preference.

Have seen what happens all to often when people “think” they have no issues because they are filling their bearing buddies. Most issues start happening after the 3rd year going into the 4th year of this type of scenario from what I’ve seen and earlier in some. Preventive maintenance is how I prefer to go about it vs gambling and pushing the limits. Again, just what I’ve learned and my personal preference. Like grouse and others I get the privilege of helping maintain family and friends rigs. I’d never in my right mind tell someone to go past 3 years on a boat trailer without spending a little bit of time checking everything out and changing the grease and seals. Overkill? Maybe, but I don’t like working on stuff on the side of the road or taking stuff into a shop 500 miles from home. Again just personal preference. Learned from an old mechanic who dealt with this stuff day in and out and had seen everything that can and does happen. Learning from someone like that taught me an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure with trailer hub maintenance. But that’s just how I’ve learned what works for me over the last 25+ years of working on my trailers and the rigs of family and friends that I wrench on.