Fish-Hawk.Net

Might be a little late in bringing this up , but there is always next Spring .


Just thought i would give a heads up on Boat Trailer Wheel Bearing Maintenance ..........

After Winterizing the Boat / Motor,, I just thought that I would take a quick look at the wheel bearings on the trailer , it being two seasons old now..

And man am I ever glad I did ....Here is a step by step breakdown of how things came apart and then re-assembled

When I removed one of those bearing buddy caps , about an 1/8 of an ounce of brown rusty water came out

Possibly from late season use of the trailer and the seals not performing as well in the cold water temps . Or from water leaking by the Bearing Buddy caps








Here are some close ups after cleaning the parts in Varsol

Inner wheel bearing race


Bearings taken apart to see the water and rust damage



Close up of inner race of the inner wheel bearing



Closer



Out with old ...



In with New..







The trailer was equipped with '' Bearing Buddies '' which I have no use for




I replaced them with the old style sealed cap


Before


After



Come on Softwater

Excellent report Paul!!!....it's hard to believe that those bearings were damaged that much over a 2 year period!....Now you have me wondering about my boat trailer...

That's next year's project

Thats some great info BA. I really know nothing about bearings. I had one that was making a lot of noise, so I replaced it with a new one. Next time I'll try taking it apart!

Easy Bradford...I would not recommend taking the bearings apart...BA did it cause he had new ones...It is not easy to re-assemble if do it at all. But giving the bearings a clean is a good idea.

Thanks BA for the report. I have done those too many times to remember

Good call BA
I always throw leaking bearing buddies in the garbage where they belong and install caps, problem solved

thats what i call usefull INFO!

a must to all trailer owners!

awesome report and pictures!

damn that canon can make some good close up pictures!

now all we need to do now is take care of my bearings.........

All bearings need to be checked periodically.
The most common problem with bearing buddies is that some people put too much pressure on the bearing assembly damaging the rubber seal. This causes water to flow into the bearing assembly creating rust and other bearing damage.
All the bearing buddies need is slight pressure to keep the bearing pressureized so nothing will infiltrate the assembly. I had a set on my trailer that lasted 12 years. I sold the boat and trailer, they could still be in operation.
...Larry

All bearings need to be checked periodically.
The most common problem with bearing buddies is that some people put too much pressure on the bearing assembly damaging the rubber seal. This causes water to flow into the bearing assembly creating rust and other bearing damage.
All the bearing buddies need is slight pressure to keep the bearing pressureized so nothing will infiltrate the assembly. I had a second set on my trailer that lasted 12 years. I sold the boat and trailer, they could still be in operation. The initial set I had pumped too much extra grease inside which caused the seal to fail.
With regular maintenance most things will last .
...Larry

Great info.

Myself, I like Bearing buddies. But they are not maintance free either.

Id like to try the new oil type bearings on the market. I know most of the larger heavy glass bass boats use them.

Has anyone out there installed them as a upgrade to there trailers?

http://www.tiedown.com/aturbo.html

just a reminder that there is great info here and to check your bearings before hitting the highway this spring

Hi Guys,
Just a reminder,
If you take your trailer wheels off, then make sure you tighten the bolts up vey tightly when you put them back on.
The bolts will work themselves loose on a trailer if they are not tightened completely.
And it is best to check the bearings every year.
My buddy thought every 2 years was good enough until we had a bearing go at 90 kph about 400 km from home
That was a pretty wild ride until we got stopped and we were very lucky the boat did not fly off the trailer.
Even luckier no one was coming in the opposite direction as the boat was using both lanes.
Besides the new bearing, we needed a new rim for the tire and a new axle for the trailer.
We lost a day and a half of fishing on that trip getting things repaired.
Super

for those that do not do mechanics;

Next time you take your trailer out ont he road... after about 30 minutes on the highway, stop and put your fingers on the hub;

If it feels cool... your good
If its warm to the touch ... better get the bearings replaced
If its HOT to the point that you burn your fingers ... you better not go any farther

True story, I removed trailer wheels to work on bearings. Tired of bolts rusting and difficult to remove nuts. Sprayed wd40 on bolts. Two days late going down the hwy. trailer tire comes off, I slow down and watch trailer wheel pass my car and end in the median. Funniest thing, if it wasn't scary having the trailer skip in the gravel in the bern.
So tighten those nuts and watch form free wheeling tires on the hwys.

Yes, we should all have a "check your nuts regularly" sticker on our dash boards

OK...so, bearing buddies some people don't like. Oil type on bass boats, my son has a new bowrider with little windows on the hub, behind which you can see oil...are they better than the "buddies"???....I was lead to believe that bearing buddies were a good retrofit, but some don't like them...what's the scoop? What are they supposed to do, and what's the problem with them...and why are the oil type supposed to be better?? how long before THEY aren't acceptable...any thoughts cuz I just had bearing buddies put on but they really didn't educate me as to how they actually work, and how to maintain them etc.....any thoughts appreciated...fishtraks