greasing trailer bearings?

[farmpond1]

Two questions actually:

1) I've got bearing buddies on my boat trailer-one of which won't accept grease.. period. Given up trying. Can't seem to get the bearing off. Do those bearing buddies have reverse threads on them? How do you get them off?

2) Sometimes my grease gun refuses to behave. It's the "plunger" kind where you insert grease cartridges. I remove the old cartridge, pull back the plunger, open a new cartridge and insert it, screw the top back on, and (drum roll please!)......Nothing! I can squeeze the trigger until my fingers numb and I don't get a thing. But I can unscrew the top and grease will come plooshing out.  At other times, the grease gun works fine. What gives???????? It's enough to drive me crazy!

[stubby]

On your bearing buddies first check and make sure that in the grease fitting.  There is a small ball bering in the middle of the fitting that will get trash around in and it will cause it not to open it up.  Just take a small point and push it in to make sure it is free.  Asfar as removing them the majority of them are harmmered in with a rubber mallet.  Just take a rubber mallet and hit the top of it untill you see that it is crooked.  then hit the sides and the bottom and work your way around untill it comes off.  Just dont hit it too hard.  sorry not sure about your grease gun.  sounds like it might be time for a new one!

[manveru]

not sure on the bearing buddies don't have them, have you tried taking off the grease zerk and using a small wire to see if anything got stuck?

on the grease gun your problem is air, you can either loosen up the top and pump it and see if that works, or loosen the top and pull the plunger part way or all the way back and pump it till it works.

[burleytog]

With a bearing buddy, you technically aren't greasing the bearings.  You're just filling the cavity with grease.  BB's are, IMO, one of the worst thing you can do to a wheel's bearings.

As for removing the BB, take a hammer and a 2x4 block.  Walk the BB out by using the hammer and wood on alternating sides of the BB until it loosens up.

[farmpond1]

I've tried clearing the zerk of debris with a tiny nail but with no success. Can't seem to remove Zerk as a metal plate covers it with a hole in the center just big enough to allow skinny end of zerk to poke through (I can loosen it but not remove it-thought I could simply replace zerk but no can do).

Thanks for advice on removing the bearing buddies. What's a better alternative than Bearing buddies? Any suggestions?

[fishfordollars]

With a bearing buddy, you technically aren't greasing the bearings. You're just filling the cavity with grease. BB's are, IMO, one of the worst thing you can do to a wheel's bearings.

As for removing the BB, take a hammer and a 2x4 block. Walk the BB out by using the hammer and wood on alternating sides of the BB until it loosens up.

X2, operator error and the BB are the cause of most bearing failures. you can blow the rear seal with too much grease. better off with a dust cap.

[donmac]

Bearing Buddies (or similar) combined with proper maintenance (checking often, repacking every year or so, and replacing when necessary) can only help IMO.

I think the only reason BB are occasionally associated with failure is that some folks think that because they have BB they do not have to worry about bearings. 

I picked up a project boat (Ranger on a galvanized trailer) last fall and had an 8+hr drive home.  I said 'Thank God' when I saw the Shore Lander trailer had BB.  I'd come equipped with a grease gun and was prepared to replace bearings along the way if necessary - but I'm a fan of BB.  I have had them on a bunch of trailers over the years.

Obviously not in the same league my Ranger Cool Hubs, etc - but IMO they work very well. 

[TrackerG]

I just re-packed the bearings and replaced inner seals on the boat trailer. Found out something interesting. The spindle on the Trailstar trailer (from Tracker) has a grease zerk in the end of the shaft. the exit hole is on the shaft near the inner bearing, so it does put grease to the bearings.

And yes I agree...bearing buddies just pump grease into the space on the outside of the spindle nut. Cant see that doing much good!!

[Long Mike]

I believe that Tracker's Trailstars use the Dexters, or something very similar. Trailstar has been using them on their trailers since at least the eighties. What a great lube system!  When you grease the bearings the old grease is pushed out from back to front.  Short of pulling the hubs and re-greasing by hand, it doesn't get any better than that.

[burleytog]

I believe that Tracker's Trailstars use the Dexters, or something very similar. Trailstar has been using them on their trailers since at least the eighties. What a great lube system! When you grease the bearings the old grease is pushed out from back to front. Short of pulling the hubs and re-greasing by hand, it doesn't get any better than that.

As far as I can tell, that feature is exclusive to Dexter axles.  Other than my Trailstar trailer, mine and dad's camper and dad's dual-axle trailer all have Dexter EZ-Lube axles.  My old boat trailer had the system as well.

[burleytog]

I just re-packed the bearings and replaced inner seals on the boat trailer. Found out something interesting. The spindle on the Trailstar trailer (from Tracker) has a grease zerk in the end of the shaft. the exit hole is on the shaft near the inner bearing, so it does put grease to the bearings.

And yes I agree...bearing buddies just pump grease into the space on the outside of the spindle nut. Cant see that doing much good!!

What size inner seals did you use?  I've been trying to get an answer from Tracker for the last three months as to the spindle size on the Trailstar trailers.  Everyone I've talked to doesn't have a clue.  One guy says 1 1/16", one says 1 1/16" x 1 3/8", been getting different answers from everyone I've talked to.

I need to repack & replace the seals on my trailer, just don't want to pull them to find out what I need.

[TrackerG]

the seals i bought from NAPA first were too big..so I took the hub in and they had a box of oddball sizes. The ones i used had an outside diameter of 2-1/4". Im not sure what the inside diameter was. I took them home and tried them on the shaft before putting them in the hub. I can probably find out in a day or two. It helped that I live about 5 blocks from NAPA and good friends own the store!!

[MichBassMan]

BEWARE, just a quick informative note here. When matching up wheel bearing seals at an automotive store; be sure they know the difference in regular trailer seals and a boat trailer seal. Boat trailers require a "double lip" seal to keep water out as well as grease in. Just because they fit the axel and the hub does not mean it the correct seal. The wrong seal will cause premature,and unexpected bearing failures.

[Fishbone]

I'm having my Bearing Buddies removed this week. My new trailer with 26 trips to the lake is slinging grease on the wheels. That's a seal failure.

My trailer mechanic had to change his Dad's boat trailer bearings every year due to failure with BB's. He now removes them and creates his own sealed (silicone) hub and eliminates bearing failure.

[TrackerG]

I double checked the seals i got from NAPA. they are double lipped with the inner retaining spring

[WVBassHunter]

As for the bearings i'm unsure IMO....

But for the grease gun I have the same issue from time to time and its not so much the air thats not getting purged out...but the plunger is not going up into the grease tube.  I use Lucas EP-2 and being a cardboard tube sometimes causes the pluger to catch and I have to fiddle with it to get it to start pushing grease up.  I use to use Morey's Red EP-2 but they quit selling it at NAPA and it was a plastic tube with no issues.

Good luck!

[shootnrats]

the hub seal number I use is a "national seal" # 473317...the spindle size at the seal is...1.65".....the seal size is 1.50" ID and 2.33" OD.

this is for my '93 nitro with trailstar trailer...hope this helps.

[tennwalkinghorse]

If you want to use Bearing Buddy's great ,but at least once a year you should pull the hubs to clean and inspect then re-lube the bearings. Going in and out of water when the bearings are heated up is hard on the steel. Think about it, a long trip then dunking them in to cold water its a peace of mind thing for me.JMHO 

[Al Wolbach]

I believe that Tracker's Trailstars use the Dexters, or something very similar. Trailstar has been using them on their trailers since at least the eighties. What a great lube system! When you grease the bearings the old grease is pushed out from back to front. Short of pulling the hubs and re-greasing by hand, it doesn't get any better than that.

As far as I can tell, that feature is exclusive to Dexter axles. Other than my Trailstar trailer, mine and dad's camper and dad's dual-axle trailer all have Dexter EZ-Lube axles. My old boat trailer had the system as well.

My 1998 Champion tandem axle trailer came with UFP axles and they have the same lube system you are talking about. Zerk fittings screw into the end of the axle. Works great for the inner bearing. I burnt up the outer bearing. The only way the outer bearing gets grease is when the hub is full to force it to the bearing. This is the same time the seal blows from the pressure of being full. No win situation....

I took the axle to the UFP plant since they are in Tennessee to have a new spindle welded on as a replacement. The employees were great, axle repaired and I was back on the road in less than an hour. They recommended that I remove the zerk fittings from the axles and install bearing buddies. They said the hole in the axle would allow grease to the inner bearing, as the BB pressurizes, and the BB would provide grease to the outer bearing. This way you are pushing grease to both bearings at the same time. Makes sense to me, but I still repack annually.But, I did the year they burnt up also. One note- if you fill the hub totally with grease you will eventually blow the seals so you need to empty the hubs when you repack the bearings...........I'm still not sure of the best method, but repack often............Al

[TommyBass]

The only way you need to repack annually is if your driving rather large distances to your lake- alot.

Personally I have had nothing but good luck with BB.  Simply make sure they have enough grease with your gun and your good to go.  Its not technically taking your bearing out and putting grease in every nook and cranny, but you'd be surprised all the places the new grease makes it under a little pressure.