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Bduck

Bduck

Flaming Gorge Forum MODERATOR
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Just a reminder with the new fishing season coming on, check over your boat trailer. I lost a wheel bearing yr before last. I was flagged down on the interstate that something was wrong. The only thing holding my wheel on was the washer with the nut. If that tire came off and hit another vehicle, I would have been liable for injuries, death, or damage. Instead it cost me a tow to get my boat & trailer back home. A $200 tow bill is getting off cheap. I'm sure some of you have experienced similar mishaps. Be careful no matter what your adventures are. GOOD FISHING thumbsup
 
Thanks. My trailer is old enough that I plan to replace the bearings this year. Is the changing out the Bearing Buddy any different that standard wheel bearings?
 
Fallriverguy said:
Thanks. My trailer is old enough that I plan to replace the bearings this year. Is the changing out the Bearing Buddy any different that standard wheel bearings?
Click to expand...

From my experiance its the same just a little harder to get the bearing buddies off....
 
knock the bearing buddy.. top-bottom-left-right...with a soft face mallet and it will pop off..

Internally the bearings are no diffrent then any other trailer. The most trouble will be getting all the old grease out of the hub.
 
Last year early in the season on the way to the Gorge, I saw 5 boats in one day that were off the side of the road with some sort of trailer problem.
One thing to check is how dirty the bottom of your brake fluid reservoir is on your surge brakes. I had always checked my fliud but never noticed the slug in the bottom. This slug will clog the surge blakes and will cause braking problems down the road.
 
This is an often overlooked topic. All the prep work we do to get ready to fish is for nought if you can't get your boat to the water. It's an important thing to remember to put a load of grease in your bearings through the bearing buddies before you launch. This keeps water out of the bearings. If you get water in the bearings for any length of time, they will fail. I also try to put grease in my bearings after retrieving the boat just to make sure I drive out any water. Another thing to do that can help is to buy an extra bearing set when you change the bearings and store it in your "road kit". If you have to, you can change a bearing at the side of the road.
 
Petty, Sounds like we need a section for safety issues. Safety is always a first no matter where you go and what you do. We all know the drill, we just need a boost as a reminder.
 
started my spring task last week. as for bearing make sure you clean them up good and inspect them for any problems, I have found a little needle for the grease gun for repacking the bearings is great, the mech at work showed me it , you get a real good pentration into the bearing rollers with this. As far as bearing buddys, the old style ,well suck, all they do is put pressure onthe rear seal until it blows out, the new style with the spindle (spindle lube) drilled so that the grease get to the rear bearing then pushs the old grease out the front is the cats meow. Don't forget the impeller in your outboard, I do mine every couple years. good time for new tires if needed also...
 
I repacked my bearings this time last year. It was my first time and it was a dirty job, but pretty simple, granted there weren't any major issues. I had grease building up on the inside of one of my rims which is a good sign my real seal was blown out. My bearings looked good so I soaked them in carb cleaner, and cleaned out every last bit of grit and grease. I got the seals and grease at my local marine shop. I get nitrile rubber gloves from work and I used a lot of them. The removing of the old grease is the worst part. Theres nothing like the smell of old grease. I cleaned everything out very good and finished off with brake cleaner I think. Hand packed the bearings, put everything together, then packed the hub. Hammered the bearing buddies back on. Toped off the grease with the gun and one year later still going good.

Topping off the grease is definately touchy. Not enough..no protection. Too much..blown seal. Takes a little trial and error. Its probably a good idea to recheck after driving, but before getting wet the first time to see if bearing buddy is still under pressure and therefore keeping water out.

I plan on repeating next year.
Old School
 
I need to replace my boat trailer. IThe one that I have now is a roller type and I hate it, I want to get one with Bunks. But I usually check the bearings before during and after every trip as part of my usual inspection. I usually check the bearing buddies every trip. I make it a habit to take them apart and clean them up so that the spring moves easily.
 
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After doing the bearing job once the next time is much easier and old school described the basic process. Definitely find yourself an inexpensive bearing packer as it is really worth it to re-load the inner and/or outer bearings with new grease with a packer. Here's a good article I ran into describing the overall process in more detail in case you have not done it before:

http://searchwarp.com/swa211385.htm

The wheel bearing packer I have is similar to this one but there are lots of them out there:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000PDQ3E4...ZADFE8G&tag=shopzilla_rev_123-20&linkCode=asn

or http://www.etrailer.com/pc-T~L70025.htm?utm_source=shopzilla&utm_medium=ppc

Kevin
 
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HTK, I have the same bearing packer and it works well. It has been a while since I used it so now I have to try and find it.

Thanks for the links.
 
HiTechKoke said:
After doing the bearing job once the next time is much easier and old school described the basic process. Definitely find yourself an inexpensive bearing packer as it is really worth it to re-load the inner and/or outer bearings with new grease with a packer. Here's a good article I ran into describing the overall process in more detail in case you have not done it before:

http://searchwarp.com/swa211385.htm

The wheel bearing packer I have is similar to this one but there are lots of them out there:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000PDQ3E4...ZADFE8G&tag=shopzilla_rev_123-20&linkCode=asn

or http://www.etrailer.com/pc-T~L70025.htm?utm_source=shopzilla&utm_medium=ppc

Kevin
Click to expand...
The wheel bearing packer is the same one I have. I picked one up at Harbor Freight for around $6.00. I think they still have them. I see there adds on a occasion.
 
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There are proper type tires to be using for trailers. They are labeled with a ST. They are not made to put on your vehicles. Also, they hold a higher inflation than regular auto tires. Pricing is reasonable.
 
bobco said:
started my spring task last week. as for bearing make sure you clean them up good and inspect them for any problems, I have found a little needle for the grease gun for repacking the bearings is great, the mech at work showed me it , you get a real good pentration into the bearing rollers with this. As far as bearing buddys, the old style ,well suck, all they do is put pressure onthe rear seal until it blows out, the new style with the spindle (spindle lube) drilled so that the grease get to the rear bearing then pushs the old grease out the front is the cats meow. Don't forget the impeller in your outboard, I do mine every couple years. good time for new tires if needed also...
Click to expand...

Can anyone provide a website that's got these new bearing buddys shown, part numbers and cost? Got the old style now, and replaced the bearings last year because of this exact problem...rear seal blew. Thanks in advance.
 
Well, I just put 2 new tires on my boat trailer. I was getting ready to replace the axle when I found someone that could realign mine. I was wearing out tires too easily. Lucky enough to get a season out of the tires. Hopefully this takes care of the problem which I'm sure it will. Watch your tire wear. The more pot holes you hit in the road, the more your going to tweak your axle. Single axles carrying a heavy load tend to do this. I've hit alot of pot holes going fishing everywhere here. The winters out here devestate some of our roads.
 
What a timely topic, as I just got done repacking my bearings. I do mine every two to three years,and keep a close eye on the bearing buddies. I have that type of bearing packer shown on the video. Very simple to use,but a word of caution about that type of bearing packer. Its only self centering when the packer is clean,after the first time you use it ,the grease on the bottom half will stop the bearing from centering. So always double check before packing the grease in the bearing. I always looked at having to repack bearings as cheap insurance against breaking down on the side of the road somewhere.
 

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