kirbybear
Ft. Lauderdale Fl USA
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Get an infrared gun. Hubs should be about the same temp. Also the brake drums or discs should be about the same temp. If one is more or less , brake is too tight/or not or there is grease on the shoes etc. More tapered bearings are lost due to improper nut load adjustment than lack of grease.
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RJsfishin
Winston Or.
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Roy M wrote:Bearing buddys do not put enough grease to the inner bearing. I like them for keeping water out of boast trailer hubs but they do not remove the need to periodically remove the hubs and properly re pack them.
I do not know how in the world you arrived at this conclusion.
It is impossible for the grease to NOT get in both bearing when using bearing buddies. I mean, if greased is being squeezed out the seal, how do you suppose grease is not getting to the inner bearing ?
16 years towing a 25 ft Bayliner w/ BBs, 7,000 lb GVW and never a bearing failure.
Rich
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Bob Shaw
Newnan Ga
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Yep, I lost a Never-Lube wheel bearing on a 40 mile trip. Fortunately, at 4 1/2 years, it was still under warrantee, and Dexter took care of everything. It was not a pretty sight. It burned-up just about everything in the wheel, brakes and all. I actually had to remove the wheel, and limp into the campsite on only three wheels.
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bobofthenorth
Somewhere in North America
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RJsfishin wrote:It is impossible for the grease to NOT get in both bearing when using bearing buddies. I mean, if greased is being squeezed out the seal, how do you suppose grease is not getting to the inner bearing ?
16 years towing a 25 ft Bayliner w/ BBs, 7,000 lb GVW and never a bearing failure.
I don't think this guy actually understands what we are talking about. There is no way that a bearing buddie will push enough grease past the outer bearing, through the inner bearing and out the seal. Ain't gonna happen ever, not to mention the problem of filling the void inside the hub first in order for that to even have a chance of happening.
16 years of good luck doesn't mean that anybody should copy his example.
I use bearing buddies on my boat and I hate packing bearings as much as anybody but I do it anyway because I have seen what happens when you don't. If you put on enough miles towing a trailer you will almsot certainly have a bearing failure at some point.
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John H
Kansas City Mo.
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Yalp, twice in 40 years of pulling a boat. Once on a late Sunday afternoon in a very small town. Where as the Highway patrolman called the owner of the auto supply to open the store for the two bearings, races, grease & seals. Complete change over in a car wash drive. I was then and still now very picky on packing them. One thing here that no one has mentioned. Is that the cost savings of cheaply made foreign made bearings and the American manufactures need to be price competitive. 5th's, TT, boat and these 4' x 5' cheep small utility trailers, you don't know unless you check. Not all bearings are made the same. Once that thin metal bearing support co laps,or a poorly made bearing surface, thats it. Who makes them, what reputation do they have to try and keep, quality control. So what after a while they will just change the name and continue on, junk in junk out. I use to replace all my bearings when packed the first time with Timken, my far and away choice, the time I did not was the second failer. Also something that not everyone knows. On some seals you can get a double inside spring on that back seal. That small spring is what surrounds the inside ring of the rubber. Is what holds it tight, that rides against the rotation of the wheel to spindle. This double spring takes a lot whole more pressure to keep it from blowing under a over generous amount of grease/pumped. So, check them after the first trip or two and note who's they are as well as look closely do they compare to their over examination to a new set, if not ...now is the time and place.....
* This post was
edited 11/29/09 09:42am by John H *
John H
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Mile High
Lone Tree, CO
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I'll go out on a limb and say there is probably more risk of failure through unskilled repacking than there is just leaving them alone.
As said above, a lot of bearing trouble can be detected by just raising the wheel and checking for movement and sound, and pulling the cap to check condition of the grease.
Brad & Dory
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Fire5er
Port Orchard, WA
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Had a friend's wheel bearing go out on a vacation we took with both families. Let me tell you it almost ruined the vacation for both families. It took 2 days of the 5 day vacation to fix the problem. And in the middle of nowhere we were luck it only took two days. It cost much less to do the preventive maintenance then to have to fix the problem on the road.
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kakampers
Fulltimer
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RJsfishin wrote:I hate to throw a curve into your reason for bearing failure, but if the "equalizers" on your tandem suspention are working correctly, the level of the trailer does not affect the weight on each axle. Both axles will always be equally loaded untill the equalizers between the two springs runs out of travel, which would have to be like a foot or more out of level for that to happen. While it is better to run a level trailer, it is not a serious problem if you run a few inches out..
LAWalkowski wrote:Had a wheel bearing go out too. Very nasty! Side of the NY Tollway on a very busy Saturday. Axle bent so bad, the tires were rubbing the inside of the fender well. Had to install flat washers between the wheel and brake drum to get clearance. Limped home to Michigan - through Canada - at 45 mph.
Even more important than checking bearings is to make sure your muli-axle towable is level as you go down the road. My failure was because I got a new truck which was higher than previous one. Don't remember but only about 4 - 5 inches higher.
With the front of the 5er higher, the extra weight on the rear axle blew out the bearings and bent the axle. I'll wager most rear bearing failures are due to this problem. Also almost blew a tire. Had to get two new tires too.
If you or any one you know travels with the front held high, please tell them before they have serious problems. If you see someone you don't know at a rest stop or campground, tell them. Tell everyone! This is a serious problem and most people do not really understand how bad it is.
Don't know where you got this info...but our experience of being little more than an inch high in front caused more than 500lbs to be cantilevered to the rear axle. We lowered the hitch one notch and raised the pinbox one notch, effectively bringing the front of the 5er down to completely level, and now the axles are within 25lbs of each other.
What "equalizers" are you talking about?? We had springs and Trailair Equiflex...and they were working properly, all they do is absorb the road shock from the springs...they do not "level" the trailer.
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rsherrie
Littleton,CO
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bobofthenorth wrote:RJsfishin wrote:It is impossible for the grease to NOT get in both bearing when using bearing buddies. I mean, if greased is being squeezed out the seal, how do you suppose grease is not getting to the inner bearing ?
16 years towing a 25 ft Bayliner w/ BBs, 7,000 lb GVW and never a bearing failure.
I don't think this guy actually understands what we are talking about. There is no way that a bearing buddie will push enough grease past the outer bearing, through the inner bearing and out the seal. Ain't gonna happen ever, not to mention the problem of filling the void inside the hub first in order for that to even have a chance of happening.
16 years of good luck doesn't mean that anybody should copy his example.
I use bearing buddies on my boat and I hate packing bearings as much as anybody but I do it anyway because I have seen what happens when you don't. If you put on enough miles towing a trailer you will almsot certainly have a bearing failure at some point.
I tend to be one who over maintains my equipment so I do repack often. But I have to agree with RFfishing. When running at any road speed the grease will warm and equalize inside a hub. Inner and outer bearings will get grease, if there is grease in the hub. Remember, grease starts out as a liquid -oil- and is thickened to a semi-solid with thickeners. When warmed inside a container, the bearing hub, the grease will become more fluid and the centrifugal force of the hub spinning will equalize the level of the grease in the hub. That is how the system was designed so many years ago. Now, there may not be enough grease to prevent a failure due to the load. Or the bearings may just fail. Those are different issues. And it doesn't matter whether there is a "buddy bearing", "EZ lube" or "Never Lube system" on the axle. They were invented/marketed for other reasons. (I won't get started on that issue or the confusion between them).
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Snowman9000
IL
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Mile High wrote:I'll go out on a limb and say there is probably more risk of failure through unskilled repacking than there is just leaving them alone.
As said above, a lot of bearing trouble can be detected by just raising the wheel and checking for movement and sound, and pulling the cap to check condition of the grease.
I agree on both parts. I never understood why a trailer bearing needs to be repacked more often than a car's. Now if it is a boat or snowmobile trailer with small tires turning twice the RPMs, that's different.
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