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JLaw,
It really is not the mileage, though not leakage of water on the seals that causes the issues. The more it is used, to a point, the less problems we have seen. You should be fine for a couple more seasons based on your usage pattern. Plus the temp will increase on the hubs before the bearing fails. You are maintenance able, and you will be familiar with the temps your hubs run consistently. This you will notice the increased temps easily. Just touch them when you stop for fuel.
Also think about all the folks who frequent here and how few issues we see.
BCB
one of our club members just had his bearings repacked and new seals put in by a reputable trailer shop and while on his trip (250 miles) to our tournament site one of the new seals blew out the backside, so went spent several hours trying to make sure he would be able to get to the lKE nd back home safely (which he did). So I say if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. he was not having problems but felt like it was time to repack. Me I am on year 3 and will probably repack in december one day when I have nothing else to do and then monitor it until 2011!
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Treat everyday like it might be the last
There must have been a problem on the install. They don’t just fail like that and we suspect a grease gun is involved.
Do like I do pull to Guntersville once a year for SEBCOG ,then put The Cat in Cat House (boat house) trailer in garage. Flip switch 30 seconds later Cat is in water ready to fish .No problem’s
Good advice Mackey…attend SEBCOG! LOL
after reinstalling the mechanic pumped up the bearing buddies with grease and probably over did it.
DO NOT pump grease into the bearings. That has been suggested here many, many times. Hand pack them and reassemble.
BCB
Do you recommend not having the bearing buddy’s at all? My trailer has buddy’s on the back axle but not on the front. I suspect their aftermarket. If there’s a zerk fitting present someone is going to pump grease in it at some time or another. I haven’t yet but admit to having thought about it, LOL. Everytime I read this forum I find something that makes me more curious. Getting addicted. LOVE MY CAT
Thanks
Ed
2001 Pantera III
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“Political Correctness is a doctrine fostered by a delusional illogical minority, and rapidly promoted by an unscrupulous main- stream media which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.”
Either is fine, just don’t use the zerk.
I guess I’ve read too much about packing bearings and changing bearings and seals.
I recently removed my bearing covers and conducted a repack. I removed the bearing cover – using my hand to pack as much grease as would fit in the bearings on the trailer, and in the bearing cover. When I reinserted the bearing cover by using a hammer to tap it in, grease would leak out the sides of the inside base where a grease gun would normally connect.
My question is – how do you know if you’ve packed in too much grease? I don’t want to blow a seal.
Thanks in advance,
Kyle
Kyle- while I applaud your effort to repack the bearings, this was an incorrect way of completing the job. You need to remove the wheel and hub assembly. Remove the seal and the bearings from the hub, you need to inspect the bearings for roughness after cleaning out out old grease, to properly repack the bearing you need to put a few tablespoons of new grease in the palm/heal of your hand and take the bearing and push down forcefully against your palm till the grease comes through the bearing continue to rotate the bearing till you have completed the process for the entire 360 degress of the bearing, you need to do this for the inner and the outer bearing. Put the bearings back in the hub and put a NEW seal on and then reinstall the hub, and wheel. This will last you 3-4 years of use. Remember to check for excessive heat on the wheels a during your trip or when you get tot he ramp. Also remember that there should be no evidence of bearing grease being slung around the inside of you wheel, if it is present you are losing grease and will have a bearing failure. This job can be done in about 2 hours for a tandem axle and about an hour for a single, and as BCB says do not use the bearing buddies to pump grease in as a more then likely reusult would be a blown out seal.
*Edit- I reread your post and it sound as if you did this on the trailer- though i dont think it possible-, was the hub assembly removed? If so then you are on the right track, you only need to repack the bearing enough to where the new grease comes out of the top of the bearing when pushing down into your palm. If needed you can put a thin coat of grease on the rollers of the bearing as you see fit.
That is not the correct method. There is probably a descriptive how to on vehicle wheel bearings on line somewhere.
Though you break down the end unit, remove the hub, seal and bearings. T
hen you check the bearings and race for problems once you have cleaned them.
Next you hand pack the grease in the individual bearings.
Once they are reset in the hub, you hand insert grease between the bearings in the cavity, and this is not a full filler up job. Just a liberal amount. A good amount of air is fine.
Now you insert a new rear seal.
Reset the hub to the spindle (axle)
Then tension the nut to a tad loose. Not a torque it down. Spin the nut in to the bearings by hand (wrench) easily and back it off or leave it aligned with the cotter pin hole. Just cinch the hub down is a good view of it.
Be sure to verify if yours requires a outside washer.
Replace the Bearing Buddy Cap, you don’t use.
The main reason we are staying with Bearing Buddies is the O-Ring seal we gain by using the cap vs. a dust cap that would leak.
Hope this helps you along!
BCB
I recently re-packed all four on my tandem, and did not fill the ‘cavity’ you speak of, and this got me to wondering and second guessing that perhaps I should of slobbered a couple of handfulls of bearing grease into that cavity.
Many bearing re-pack instructionals I read online do not mention how to attend to the hollow cavity between front and rear bearings.
Good to know another pound of grease is not needed there!
Just my experience. I have had my Classic now for 8 years. While no pro angler I have spent more time on the water than most in that time frame and probably have in excess of 50,000 miles on my trailer. At the 5 year mark I put new bearings, seals, races and repacked my bearings per BCB’s suggestion. ( and if you all remember, I am a mechanical retard, so this ain’t hard to do ) Before that I was a big believer in putting a couple of squirts in with a grease gun before I made a trip. Since then I have not used a grease gun once and after 3 years I have no issues. For alot of people including myself it is hard to get away from habits like using the grease gun. This is one of those Items that I believe in the old saying “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.
Kyle, you’d be hard pressed to over-pack them by hand. It’s just the grease Zerk that over pressures the seals. A grease gun can apply in excess of 1200 pounds of pressure so imagine what that does to a rubber seal.
Chris Coupel
Paulina, La.
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Chris Coupel
Paulina, La.
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