Boat trailer wheel bearings
- Thread starter Tcat
- Start date
Fish Farmer
Well-Known Member
I have bearing Buddies but they aren't a cure all, you have to be careful using your grease gun not to over pump them up.
Start bumping till you see the grease fitting start to move and STOP. You can blow out your rear seal.
As for buying bearings, there is a lot of different sizes. You must know your size.
Jack your wheel up and give it a spin, if you hear a sound its time to change because it's going to let you down.
Nothing any worse than driving in bad snowy weather and your wheel bearing blows.
Princess Auto has some but you must know your size.
Some will spend the extra money and buy the whole wheel hub assembly, keep it wrapped in you trunk.
Other thing, make sure you have a jack and tools to make the change on the side of the road. Idea do a drill: try doing in your driveway.
I should talk, I don't have a spare, my bad.
This is the place I bought my last bearings at.
Canadian Bearing
400 PARKDALE AVE. N., UNIT 1C
Hamilton, ON
L8H 5Y2
T (905) 547-2351
Start bumping till you see the grease fitting start to move and STOP. You can blow out your rear seal.
As for buying bearings, there is a lot of different sizes. You must know your size.
Jack your wheel up and give it a spin, if you hear a sound its time to change because it's going to let you down.
Nothing any worse than driving in bad snowy weather and your wheel bearing blows.
Princess Auto has some but you must know your size.
Some will spend the extra money and buy the whole wheel hub assembly, keep it wrapped in you trunk.
Other thing, make sure you have a jack and tools to make the change on the side of the road. Idea do a drill: try doing in your driveway.
I should talk, I don't have a spare, my bad.
This is the place I bought my last bearings at.
Canadian Bearing
400 PARKDALE AVE. N., UNIT 1C
Hamilton, ON
L8H 5Y2
T (905) 547-2351
Complete new hub assemblies are 49 bucks at Trailerwork in Cainsville as well as most other places, why mess around cleaning and replacing races & seals? Also a hub is the best bet to carry as a spare, I really can't see trying to change an inner bearing race and seal on the side of the highway...a hub takes about 5 minutes with minimal tools and it's good to go. As far as bearing buddies go, the name brand ones have a weep hole that lets grease out once it's full so it's pretty hard to overgrease them. Some of the knock-offs don't have the weeper so you need to be more careful.
Change the hub assembly as @G.Mech suggests then you know the whole works is good. I have always used the Bearing Buddies with the weeper, fill with grease every fall and again half way through the summer if trailering a lot. I have never had a bearing burn out doing it that way over the years trailering countless thousands of miles. Also with Bearing Buddies when I fill I pump until any water or mushy grease is pushed out the weeper then wipe off the excess clean. Do that and you won't have bearing problems.
well here is what I have to say if it's a newer trailer there is alot of places that might have bearings if it is older like mine only place i found bearing was to take my old ones to the bearing place in Simcoe . as it turns out they were cheap 15.00 for inner and outer
but take your old ones in so they can measure
but take your old ones in so they can measure
Agree with G. Mech and Wave Runner. If you can buy a new hub assembly for 49 bucks, do it. As Fish Farmer said "Bearing Buddies" are not a cure all. I've always used them and keep them greased but I've also had plenty of bearing issues over the years. Seems to depend a lot on the trailer.
I had to replace wheel bearings on boat trailer once...I do have bearing buddies on both boat trailers...jack up your trailer and check the tire for any side to side play or slop...if its bad I guess you would get a tire wobble on the spin check..
I thought bear buddies were a patented name brand?....can somebody tell me what the weeper is..lol..all I remember is the grease fitting and cover with spring..refresh my memory please...I forgot all about them as they are low maintenance
ya changing wheel bearings on my double snowmobile trail in a snowstorm was something I forgot too..
I thought bear buddies were a patented name brand?....can somebody tell me what the weeper is..lol..all I remember is the grease fitting and cover with spring..refresh my memory please...I forgot all about them as they are low maintenance
ya changing wheel bearings on my double snowmobile trail in a snowstorm was something I forgot too..
Lizzy_911_
Well-Known Member
Standard axel is phenomenal.
I've bought bearing buddies, bearings, and full hubs off of them.
They will treat you right, and have great prices.
I replaced my full hub once, so I have a spare. Now just replace what I need to within the hubs.
@mick. The weeper is a tiny hole that allows the excess grease to come out if the piston is pushed out too far by too much pressure (grease).
thanks @lizmorea...well Its time to inspect my bearings and refresh my memory...I do not remember any tiny hole...when reapplying new grease to the fitting I would get the odd water pellet and old grease come out the side of the cover...I think?...lol ..thanks for posting this thread..
bearings can take a wear & tear beating...trailers backed up over curbs and hitting potholes and use at own risk launches..
bearings can take a wear & tear beating...trailers backed up over curbs and hitting potholes and use at own risk launches..
I got brand new bearing buddy (fully loaded) 5 on 4.5 hubs for $19ea at standard axle on third street in london
Valvoline Marine Calcium 2
High performance and very adhesive lubricating grease that resists water washing and prevents rust and corrosion. The product has good wear-resisting properties and contains titanium.
Valvoline Marine Calcium 2 is an Anhydrous Calcium thickened lubricating grease formulated with high viscosity mineral base oil and enhanced with titanium. The product has excellent load carrying capacity, premium corrosion preventive properties and superior stay-in-place characteristics, which is essential for the complete protection of marine equipment.
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Schmick
Well-Known Member
Any decent calcium or lithium based wheel bearing grease works fine. Should stick with the same stuff over the years to avoid any issues. It's all about how you put it to bed for the season (ie: not jerked out of the water and stuffed in the shed when you pull your sled trailer out!!
I have been using the mercury brand quicksilver 2-4-c with teflon on my mercury, honda and suzuki outboards for years...and also my wheel bearings on my 2 boat trailers...its an all purpose marine grease...I am sure it said wheel bearings on the tube..anyway thats whats loaded in my grease gun and thats what gets pumped on every marine grease nipple..
maybe I should be using a high pressure wheel bearing grease to avoid breakdown from heat..so buy another grease gun or switch to use the quicksilver 2-4-c PTFE marine grease also for wheel bearings
this 2-4-c grease I use seems to be ok as its not a runny mess..
maybe I should be using a high pressure wheel bearing grease to avoid breakdown from heat..so buy another grease gun or switch to use the quicksilver 2-4-c PTFE marine grease also for wheel bearings
this 2-4-c grease I use seems to be ok as its not a runny mess..
If you can find the proper replacement hubs great , the only problem you might find is the inside grease seals . Normally the hubs come with the standard single lip grease seals which will work on most applications but some trailer manufacturers use a double or even triple lip seal on their boat trailers . I just contacted the manufacturer of my trailer and got the part # for the better seals and use them . They also just recommended packing and sealing them up tight and checking and repacking every 3 or so years depending on use . This was for high mileage bass boat use .