bearing buddy advice

[yellahunter]

Hey guys,

I purchased my boat just on a year ago (explorer 3.85 dunbier small trailer) and thought i better look at the bearings.

Ive used it most weekends, but normally only a 10 min drive and drop in the freshwater lake. I have done a few saltwater trips as well.

i dont have bearing buddies on the trailer (didnt come with any and didnt know about them early on in the piece). Should i whack a set on...?

ive read all the threads on bearing buddies/durahubs on the forum and to be honest im pretty confused now.

some say bearing buddies, some say durahubs whilst others say nothing just strip em down every year.....to be honest i aint much of a mechanic either.

so my question is.....should i go fo bearing buddies or durahubs......?

and should i get them installed....or is it something i could do myself, keeping in mind my inexperience with bearings etc..

any help is appreciated and sorry to repost the same topic, just that im not clear on what to do after reading the others,

Cheers,

Ben

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[rayke1938]

I favour the dura hubs .Mainly because it makes sense to me to have the bearings running in oil instead of grease.I do around 15k a year with my trailers and submerge them reguraly.

They say you can see if there is a slight leak as the oil becomes discoloured with the water in it.The glass windows in mine are always covered in gunk so you have to wipe them clean to have a look.

They use a pretty good sealing system . I have never had a front seal let go but have had a rear one go. Its very easy to tell if the seal leaks as there is oil all over the inside of the wheel.If you do not submerge your bearings when you launch you should be ok with just the normal set up just make certain that you fit marine seals not the cheepo ones for a normal car trailer.

Bearing buddies ,I have had a couple fall out but could have been from kids using them as a step.

Cheers

Ray

[marty]

Hey Ben,

My first trailer didn't have anything except marine seals and I just checked/greased them once a year and they were fine. My current trailer has bearing buddies and I have had it a bit over a year and haven't checked them yet, but will do them soon.

In my opinion good marine seals are just as important as bearing buddies. But regular yearly inspections should be okay for your rig. I don't like the concept of durahubs as the oil can drain out if a leak develops, whereas grease is less likely to do that.

Very easy to fit and maintain. Besides the mess the only critical part is making sure the wheel nut is not too loose or too tight. Fitting new bearing cones is another story, but you should never need to that if things don't go bad.

Marty

[Old Scaley]

No expert on this, but have had bearing buddies on my current trailer for nearly 3 years and the bearings are still good. Use the boat on average once a fortnight and often drown the bearings. Need to replace them soon, though as one of the grease nipples has come out of the bearing buddy. I always wash down the trailer after use and check the play in the bearings every 6 months or before a highway trip. Spray innox around the axle and bearing area about once a month. Paranoid about a bearing seizing on the highway and causing a disaster that could have been prevented.

[AZZA]

Yeh I am the same as old scaley bearing buddies and regular maintainace if you have any doubt on how to do the job just sing out and I will give you a lesson over a beer or two. Also I think it was Ray that put a good thread on here with pictures and all on how to do bearings,

[noname]

to be honest, it's a piece of cake to check wheel bearings and fit a set of bearing buddies, the worst thing is cleaning all the grease out when rechecking , replacing or repacking the grease, whenever i feel like doing it.as for them falling off, give the hub a hit b4 installing the buddies, then a dollop of silicone if your really paranoid.

[rayke1938]

AZZA wrote:

Yeh I am the same as old scaley bearing buddies and regular maintainace if you have any doubt on how to do the job just sing out and I will give you a lesson over a beer or two. Also I think it was Ray that put a good thread on here with pictures and all on how to do bearings,

It was Feral.

Cheers

Ray

[ellicat]

Here's Feral's thread on bearing maintenence

/>http://www.australianfishing.com.au/forum/71-cars-and-trailers/43281-wheel-bearing-maintenance