Why would bearing buddy come off?

Repacked the bearings on my 2020 ShoreLand’r trailer last week for the first time. Been doing my own for 30+ years. First off getting the disc brake rotor bolts off was a pain in the a$$. After that it was same old, same old. Took if for a 20-mile test drive and everything looked and felt good.
Yesterday, I did a day trip from Minnetonka to Alexandria area. One the way home I stopped at the wayside rest by St. Joseph to give my dog a potty break. Noticed the driver side bearing buddy had come off. Passenger side was fine. Put a dust cap on (I do have a spare bearing buddy, but didn’t want that thrown too) and limped home stopping at 5 miles a few times, then got it up to 15 miles checking at each stop to make sure the cap was still seated and the hub wasn’t overheating.
Why would it come off? Too much play in wheel? Too much grease? When I repack bearings with bearing buddies I pump grease in until the spring cap is half-way out because I know there’s a void in the hub to fill up. Maybe that’s too much.
I know I need to replace everything: bearings, races and seal. My last question is when I get the races out, what do I clean the inside of the hub with to make sure it’s clean and dirt/crap free?

It’s possible someone took it

They are press fit, so maybe it hit something and started the process at that time ?

I’ve been seeing this with the newer bearing buddies, one of two things is happening, one, the bore of the hub is too big and the press fit tolerance isnt as tight as it should be.
Or, two, the bearing buddies themselves are not sized properly for the bore.
I will say when I remove them these days it doesnt seem like it takes the Herculean effort it used to nor does it seem like it takes as much effort to drive them back in.

They come off easy enough . Lost one day of a Canada trip scrambled to get another .

I lost one once. I hope it bounced harmlessly into the ditch.

I started loosing dust covers on my snowmobile trailer and found a tire out of balance.

I had both come off when my boat trailer was brought empty to a downstream access. I figured the bumpy roads with no weight made them fly off.

fishingstar wrote:

I started loosing dust covers on my snowmobile trailer and found a tire out of balance.

Dave maze wrote:

I had both come off when my boat trailer was brought empty to a downstream access. I figured the bumpy roads with no weight made them fly off.

I can believe this but I have to wonder, how lousy was the fit of the hubs that this could happen??
I have seen trailers come in with severely bent rims and the bearing buddies were still in the hubs.

On my own trailer years ago I had the bearing buddies out at least three times, each time the fit got more and more loose, it was after the third service that I lost one, so, in my mind, it still has to do with the fit of the bearing buddie to the bore of the hub.

Netguy wrote:

I know I need to replace everything: bearings, races and seal. My last question is when I get the races out, what do I clean the inside of the hub with to make sure it’s clean and dirt/crap free?

Like others have said, perhaps it’s a tolerance problem between the Bearing Buddy and the hub. And apparently it’s not uncommon to lose one. I know I lost one years ago. I haven’t used Bearing Buddys in over 25 years. I just use the dust caps. I don’t think Bearing Buddy’s are needed.

Just because you lost a Bearing Buddy doesn’t mean you’ll need to replace the bearing, races, and inner seal. If the hub wasn’t getting hot, that indicates there was enough grease to keep things lubricated and no damage was done. For your peace of mind, pull the hub off and inspect the bearings and repack. Replace the inner seals as that’s easy to do and inexpensive. It seems like I damage the inner seal when I remove it so it can’t be reused anyway.

To remove all the grease from the hub, I just use a putty knife to scrape most of it out. Follow that up by wiping with paper towels. Finally, WD40 cuts the grease pretty well or you can use a can of brake cleaner.

I’m pretty certain you won’t need to replace the bearings. But when the time comes that you do, use Timken bearings.

Good Luck

An / or it was caused by Murphy’s law?

Cat dung happens?!

To answer some of the comments:
I guess it’s possible someone took it but never had issues at this small farm country lake before.
I didn’t hit anything but the dirt road had some soft, dippy spots and some washboard, maybe that started backing it out.
I’ve trailered this rig for two seasons with no issues. It just happened after I repacked the bearings the first time so the bearing buddies went through a remove/install cycle. I do agree these bearing buddies (a different brand) did seem to come off and go on easier.
Well, we all used dust caps before bearing buddies. Maybe that’s really all you need.

The only other time I had this happen, after setting the bearings, I backed the nut off too far and left too much play in the hub. It threw a bearing buddy and two dust caps before I did the roadside repair to tighten the nut.
Well at least I know how to get the brake caliper off now.
Thanks guys

I just checked my bearings today and added a bit of grease. I did the passenger side then the drivers. When I did the drivers side, I noticed the plunger moving out compressing the spring. I didn’t remember seeing that on the passenger side so I went back to check it. I noticed the plunger was a bit cockeyed and the bearing buddy was pushing off the hub, so I straightened out the plunger and removed the buddy to take some grease out. I tapped it back on and it stayed flush to the hub so I pumped a bit more grease in to make sure the plunger moved freely. That was the first time I had seem too much grease actually push a bearing buddy off. Long story short, I’m betting on too much grease.

blackbay wrote:

I just checked my bearings today and added a bit of grease. I did the passenger side then the drivers. When I did the drivers side, I noticed the plunger moving out compressing the spring. I didn’t remember seeing that on the passenger side so I went back to check it. I noticed the plunger was a bit cockeyed and the bearing buddy was pushing off the hub, so I straightened out the plunger and removed the buddy to take some grease out. I tapped it back on and it stayed flush to the hub so I pumped a bit more grease in to make sure the plunger moved freely. That was the first time I had seem too much grease actually push a bearing buddy off. Long story short, I’m betting on too much grease.

Especially if the wrong seal is used in the hub.
To give you an idea of how powerful a hand held grease gun can be,,, When I use to restore hit-n-miss engines dating back to the early 1800’s and the piston was seized.
We drilled an old spark plug and threaded it for a grease zerk and screwed it into the ignitor/sparkplug hole.
Depending on how far down the bore the piston was and the horsepower of the engine it may take up to twenty tubes of grease and a grease gun using hydraulic force to push the piston out of a rusty bore.
And yes, I have broken a block or two when the piston would not budge.

Iowaboy1 wrote:

When I use to restore hit-n-miss engines dating back to the early 1800’s and the piston was seized.

Ah….have to say Sheldon, you are doing good for your age.

Had my bearings changed last year. Lost a bearing buddy this week. I discovered it after launching the boat. Luckily dealer was able to get me in next day.

Of course they didn’t show any love on the cost, considering they did the work last fall. Now I inspect they every time I hook up. Are there better solutions than bearing buddies?

Problem I’ve seen is that people that don’t know any better and kids tend to use the Bearing Buddies as a step to reach up and into the boat to get something or to climb up on the fender. This unseats the Bearing Buddy and makes it sit crooked so it is unbalanced and then off she goes on the next trip down the road.

They have to be seated absolutely straight and flat when installed. Any “wobble” from not being seated correctly is going to throw them off going down the road.

Also, I like the hub flange where it meets the bearing buddy to be clean and free of grease. IMO a little “sticktion” is a good thing with BBs to make sure they stay put.

I’m going out to do the repair in a few minutes. Then a test drive, although the test drive before my trip last week went fine. Tomorrow, to Mille Lacs. Boy, it’s nice to be retired!!

Water got in the bearing, bearing heated up and boiled the water. When the water flashed to steam it expands 1200 times and blew the bearing buddy off.

I have this happen before. I have noticed that it only happened to reused BB’s. Never had it happen to a new set.

I don’t know how water would get in, the rear seal was intact when I pulled the hub yesterday. There was some water in the hub which leads me to believe the hub came off before I launched or someone took it at the landing before I loaded. The name brand bearing buddy I put on fit much, much tighter than the knock-offs Shoreland’r uses.
On my old trailer I used the same set of name brand bearing buddies for over 10 years with no issues.

I had one take out my fog light on my truck around Garrison quite a few years ago. Came off the snowmobile trailer in front of me.

Peen the surface to allow the buddy to grab better.