Why did my bearing go out on my newish trailer?

Felt and sounded like something was stuck in the wheel well, have never had a bearing go out, thought you hear a steady hiss-so I pulled over and it looked to me like the bearing buddy thingy was off- hub was hot and I had 50 more miles to go! Got home alright had just asked a mechanic if I was ready for a repack, he looked at the grease (other side) knowing the trailer was only on year 3 told me to wait ’till next year. Did the Bearing Buddy get knocked off? Does this happen? So my trusty shade tree dude will fix it any reccomendations of brands? May as well do both sides fully-Is the Bearing Buddy brand the best? Best Grease????
Thanks

Imho bearingbuddys are a huge joke, grease can not get pushed through the outer bearing, between the bearings and into the inner bearing the way that system is built. I would not waste my money.

Depending on how often you dunk your trailer and miles driven I strongly suggest that a boat trailers bearings and seals get done every other year. Maybe longer if you only put boat in and out once a year…
As far as grease, I really like Lucas red n tacky. I will try to link a great youtube video about testing this grease.

Various possibilities for bearing buddy coming off. I lost one once and suspect theft or vandalism while parked at ramp that time. Could brush a curb or driveway corner and knock one loose. Rough roads, temperature changes, loose tolerances etc. I carry spare set just in case. Did find one laying in the street a few years ago. They do fall off.

If you put the boat in the water once there is a good chance water got in the hub.I think bearing buddies give people a false sense of security.
If you use your boat at all clean and pack the bearings EVERY YEAR.I do mine yearly and put new bearings in every 2 or 3 years.I know that may be overkill but i don’t want to be stuck along side the road.

Repack your bearings with new seals every fall before storing and you will never have a problem. Peace of mind and good to go come spring.

I don’t spend the money on bearing buddy’s. I just buy a new set every year and pack em good. I don’t trust bearings on boat trailers, especially one that gets used regularly.

Bearing Buddies are NOT for greasing the bearing they are designed to keep positive pressure inside the hub area. So when the bearings are under water it will not let water into the hub area if seals are good. Most people do not use there Bearing Buddies properly, you are only suppose to put grease in until you start to see the spring compress.

Me personally would not have a boat trailer with out them if they are grease style hubs..

I’ve used Bearing Buddies since the mid 1970’s (yes I’m that old). They are great if used correctly, I have never lost a bearing and I’ve driven many thousands of miles.

Use only “marine” bearing grease* and be sure to completely fill the hub to get out any air etc. Then only put enough grease in to move the piston half-way back to the lock ring. If and when the piston moves back add more as needed.

*unaffected by water

mark-bruzek wrote:

Imho bearingbuddys are a huge joke, grease can not get pushed through the outer bearing, between the bearings and into the inner bearing the way that system is built. I would not waste my money.

X2

Tom P. wrote:

Bearing Buddies are NOT for greasing the bearing they are designed to keep positive pressure inside the hub area. So when the bearings are under water it will not let water into the hub area if seals are good. Most people do not use there Bearing Buddies properly, you are only suppose to put grease in until you start to see the spring compress.

Me personally would not have a boat trailer with out them if they are grease style hubs..

This ∆∆∆

The whole reason a Bearing Buddy works is that if there are no voids in the grease, there is no place for water and grit to enter and stay in the first place. BBs are not for greasing. A properly installed and packed bearing doesn’t need grease.

I have put BBs on every trailer I’ve owned. Zero bearing issues despite thousands of miles towed on US and Canadian roads.

Grouse

The new boat has oil bath hubs. It will be a little bit of an adjustment for me but interested to see how they perform and maintenance required.

mark-bruzek wrote:

Imho bearingbuddys are a huge joke, grease can not get pushed through the outer bearing, between the bearings and into the inner bearing the way that system is built. I would not waste my money.

X3.

Repair/replace bearings and tap on a regular dust cap. Problem solved!

-J.

Didn’t think I was starting a big thing with the BBs-have heard with those things you want to fill but not overfill. The pro BBs outvote the anti-so BB it is.
What I’m more concerned with is my shade tree mechanic said I should get some spindles, dealership said replacing spindles in my Bear trailer is a big deal requiring welding-Got the impression that if the spindles had gone out the wheels would have completely seized up-True? Any other opinions on Red’nTacky?

I use red and tacky for all my trailers. No issues at all. If the bearing face spun on your spindle for any significant amount of time it may need to be replaced. I would look into a new axle if the spindle needs to be welded on. Axles are cheap compared to welding services.

New axle does not sound cheap or easy, but thanks Dave.

BB’s do get knocked off. Did your mechanic say to wait until next year before or after this incident?

tim hurley wrote:

New axle does not sound cheap or easy, but thanks Dave.

You would be surprised. They are relatively inexpensive and typically just held on with a couple of U bolts.

It does sound like separate problems. The cap being knocked off won’t make the bearing hot unless there is a bunch of dirt immediately worked in there.

How does the guy know the spindles are bad? Has it been apart yet? Axles are a couple hundred $ and that way the spindle isn’t welded on crooked.

I’m not saying BB are bad.I am saying people think you just pump them full of grease a couple times a year and call it good.
I can’t count how many times i’ve heard,i don’t have to pack my bearings i’ve got BB.They still need to be cleaned and packed with new grease.
I know most of you have seen the trailers along the road with one wheel on and one off.I bet before he left on vacation he shot some grease in them and said were ready to roll.

SuperDave1959 wrote:

The new boat has oil bath hubs. It will be a little bit of an adjustment for me but interested to see how they perform and maintenance required.

My new trailer has the oil bath hubs as well. Per the specs no maintenance required for a few years. As long as the oil don’t leak out somehow everything should be good to go.

Anyone want to give an educated guess on if my spindles are bad?
Thanks

The only way to tell is inspect them, remove the hub(s), clean the spindles and see if they are discolored (from over heating) or scratched (from a spun bearing). Other wise it’s just an UN-educated guess!

Thanks Charles, this could get spendy.

tim hurley wrote:

Got the impression that if the spindles had gone out the wheels would have completely seized up-True?

No, the spindles are just a smooth surface for the bearings to rotate around. The grease packed in keeps that spinning from damaging the spindle or bearings. A damaged spindle won’t necessarily lock up but it won’t be a nice smooth surface anymore and will wear the bearings.

You MAY be correct but the last time I had to clean/remove my boat trailer((s) I have more than one) wheel bearings they were built with an inter-race that the bearings ran on. But when we had to change the wife’s rear axle wheel bearing on her Jeep they had cheapened the bearing by manufacturing it without that inter-race and running it on the axle. This required us to replace BOTH the bearing and the axle. Luckily none of my trailers have these cheap setups.

A damaged spindle-bearing does not “lock up”, the bearing is destroyed causing the hub/wheel to come off. We all have seen trailers on the side of the road missing the wheel/hub.

I have BB on 1 trailer and a grease zerk on the center of the spindle of my Bear trailer. I always pack the bearings using the BB only to help keep water out I do many short trips and every year I end up replacing the bearings at least once in the summer. Drives me nuts but bearings are cheaper than an axle because of short trips if any water seeps in the rust and get rough fast however the red and tacky looks good I ashamedly have used the walmart boat grease. I always use double lipped seals and still they get water in they don’t get enough heat to burn it out of the spindle 10-15 mile trips. I spindle is cheaper than welding one on.

Axles are fairly cheap only if they are straight and are a standard size. If they are bent and custom they are not cheap. I have had to replace two axles over the last 20 years. One on a EZ loader that had a Pro V on it and the other a ranger trail. Both torsion axles, and both were over $1000 each.

SuperDave1959 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>tim hurley wrote:</div>
New axle does not sound cheap or easy, but thanks Dave.

You would be surprised. They are relatively inexpensive and typically just held on with a couple of U bolts.

Thank You Mark, just watched the the grease video. I will be changing out to red and tacky this fall when I put the boats to bed. What a difference.

Grease video
Worth repeating. Yup I’ll probably buy that stuff, sucker for snake oil. Hope I don’t have a 1000 dollar axel, first boat and trailer I bought was 200bucks

Have never had a bearing problem, these bearing were not even that old, anyway just kind of ‘powered threw’ when I knew I had the problem-mistake, I now have a messed up spindel, we took off the axel cutting and welding will have to happen. Good thing I have a smart and reasonable shade tree dude. So anyway pull over if you think you have a bearing problem, get AAA Rv coverage and glance at that hub when you fill up at the gas station, could even feel if its warm. My 2 cents