Re: Trailer Wheel Bearings - Bearing buddies don't always work -

bill payne (bilpayne@gte.net)
Tue, 20 Jul 1999 17:19:29 -0800


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West Wight Potter Website at URL
http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
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Richard,
Bought Hull 1075 in Phoenix in February of this year. Replaced the
bearings before I left the sales yard. Last Saturday I returned to Yucaipa
after a 9,904 mike circuit to Kentucky Lake, the Eria Canal, Penobscot Bay,
the Chesapeake, NC, Tenn, Texarcana, and back. Stopped every 150 miles +/-
and touched the bearing hubs - always cold. Gave them a shot of grease
after the trailer was dunked in the water and sometimes between. No
problem... Tires, that's another story...

>Having trashed a few bearing buddy equipped trailers due to bearing failure I
>would suggest (seriously now...) that you pull the suckers out at least once
>a year and repack them with fresh grease bearing buddies or not. Definitely
>repack before any trip over 100 miles.
>
>Best
>Solar Fry
>
>
> Richard,
>
> I don't have a lot of experience with salt water, but I do have some
> experience with Bearing Buddies, and all I can say is that there's a lot they
> don't tell you when you install them. I see lot's of boat trailers sitting
> along the side of the road here in Texas, and I would bet that most of them
> are suffering from bearing failure even though they have Bearing Buddies.
>
> The most important thing to know about Bearing Buddies is that you should
>keep
> them adequately filled with grease, and you should let them cool off before
> submerging them in water. The effect of the cool water on the warm hub is to
> create a vacuum which draws water into the hub. I always carry a grease gun
> filled with waterproof marine wheel bearing grease, so that I can make sure
> the hubs are adequately filled before submerging them. You don't want to
> overfill them, but you do want to make sure there is enough grease in the hub
> to tension the diaphragm on the Bearing Buddy.
>
> As for the salt water, I would rinse the trailer thoroughly with fresh water
> after each use. Even galvanized trailers can rust if not properly cared for.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Steve Eustace
> Euless, Texas
> P-15 # 1157, Kokopelli 2