Trailer bearings + saltwater

[Matt16]

I have a tandem axle trailer having trouble with bearing longevity. Boat trailer is used most weekends year round. I grease my hubs but have gone through two bearings in 6 months. I understand Bearing Buddies do well at keeping grease in and saltwater out. Who sells them in the Lower Mainland?

Any other suggestions for boosting trailer bearing life?

 

[sasqman]

Bearing buddies do help, just don't over fill them, just enough so the spring starts to move. Any auto parts store usually has them. Even with them, anticipate to do your bearings a least every 2 years or sooner.

 

[SpringVelocity]

You may have a nick/scored axle. A couple thing I learned from over years :

• When you repack them, and set them don't over tighten. When you set then cotter pin etc. You want to back them off just so there isn't enough play. Don't over tighten
• Look at your axles if you have pitting on the axle you may want to get sleeves.
  
• Use bearing buddies and good marine grease. DON'T OVERFILL!
  
• You want double lipped outer seals. Not the ones used for utility trailers.
  
• I replace mine (races/bearing/seals) twice a year regardless. I don't always swap them it depends.
  
• If you have bearing buddies don't keep wailing it with grease. See a lot of guys over fill them and they blow out inner seal.
• Right side bearings will always be the one to pay attention too. That is your side on shoulder of road that gets most dirt etc.
• More you use your trailer better life you will get. Trailers don't like to sit idle especially winter.

And everyone with a boat trailer should carry extra bearings/races and emergency kit. It is cheap insurance. If you don't now how too change them learn.

 

[zurk]

i got mine done at highliner trailers and also put on teflon bunks. highly recommended. they are in delta.
https://highlinertrailer.com/
10% off on the bearing buddies and teflon trailer bunk slides if you have a highliner or claim you do.
also i usually zap mine with a thermal temp gun to make sure they are cold after a long tow.

 

[Matt16]

i got mine done at highliner trailers and also put on teflon bunks. highly recommended. they are in delta.
https://highlinertrailer.com/
10% off on the bearing buddies and teflon trailer bunk slides if you have a highliner or claim you do.
also i usually zap mine with a thermal temp gun to make sure they are cold after a long tow.

I always feel the hubs with hands, but the axles with brakes on them are obviously warm so hard to tell if they are failing. Noticing my braking axle has a higher bearing failure rate

 

[profisher]

Bearing buddies and plastic caps on them as well...on third set of bearings since the trailer was new in 2004.

 

[Foxsea]

The wheel bearings will last many years if you keep them well greased. Bearing Buddies really help keep grease in the bearings and saltwater out. The little relief hole tells you when they are full so go gently with the grease gun. Check the Buddies before each trip.

Jack up the trailer each year or before a long trip and check for side play. Spin the wheel and listen. Any unusual noise, replace the seal and bearings. If you do one wheel, do them all. Fortunately, my trips are fairly short and the same bearings ran well for over 10 years. I only changed them recently because I thought I should by now.

 

[Trophy]

As SpringVelelocity said....And everyone with a boat trailer should carry extra bearings/races and emergency kit. It is cheap insurance. If you don't now how too change them learn. Goes the same with the brakes. If you are opening the wheels up for bearings you might just as well work on the brakes too. I found doing it myself, they last 1 to 1.5 years longer than serviced by the “experts”.

 

[Matt16]

I blow out my grease seals all the time but I usually just pump until grease starts to come out the front of the bearings, still blowing out the seals on the backside.

 

[John s]

I check my bearings on the boat trailer once a year. Seals and grease are cheap. I still carry two spare sets of bearings ,races and seal with everything I need to change them. Just in case!

 

[Gear'n'beer!]

Bearing failures are just a fact of life with a trailer being dipped regularly in a saltwater environment. How many travel trailers do you see yearly parked on the side of the road with bearing failures? Zero. How many boat trailers a summer? Many. Understanding bearings and being able to do the maintenance on a fairly simple concept is definitely something every salt water cowboy should be able to do themselves.

 

[fish brain]

This may be a dumb question (s).
Can you get ceramic wheel bearings? Would it make any difference?

 

[jim morrow]

Whoa there! These are tapered roller bearings designed to take side thrust.
What is available in ceramic? fishing reel ball bearings.

 

[claymcpher]

I used to go through wheel bearings, sometimes twice a year. Last time I replaced bearings and races and double lipped seals 3 years ago now I used pennzoil 707 water proof grease, does not mix with water therefor no rust no wear and dont over grease like others have stated if grease comes out of seal it must be replaced

 

[Fox]

Funny story, bought a high liner trailer off a friend. Decided I better do the wheel bearings. The bearings had definitely seen better days but not the worst I’ve seen. Showed my buddy the picture of them and he said “ hey! Not bad for 16 years and never looking at them”. Trailer has bearing buddies and he greased them before every trip. Needless to say, I do new bearings and seals every two years.

 

[dance a jig]

I was told by a trailer mechanic "NEVER MIX TRAILER BEAR GREASE TYPES". He explained that to be blue/green grease should not be mixed with red or visa versa. He claimed that a good percentage of trailer bearing failures were the result of mixed grease on bearing. So..... not sure about the validity of this, but thought i would throw it out there, and someone with knowledge on such can weigh in. DAJ

 

[gungadin]

I was told by a trailer mechanic "NEVER MIX TRAILER BEAR GREASE TYPES". He explained that to be blue/green grease should not be mixed with red or visa versa. He claimed that a good percentage of trailer bearing failures were the result of mixed grease on bearing. So..... not sure about the validity of this, but thought i would throw it out there, and someone with knowledge on such can weigh in. DAJ

True, some greases are not compatible, when doing a repack with a new grease, or replacing a grease of unknown make, all the grease should be removed from bearings, spindles and hubs.

 

[spring fever]

I have a tandem axle trailer having trouble with bearing longevity. Boat trailer is used most weekends year round. I grease my hubs but have gone through two bearings in 6 months. I understand Bearing Buddies do well at keeping grease in and saltwater out. Who sells them in the Lower Mainland?

Any other suggestions for boosting trailer bearing life?

Pay the money and get stainless steel inserts for the hubs-that way the rear seal is always running on a smooth surface and seldom leaks. I used to have oil bearing hubs and never had a bearing failure-you can tell if you have water intrusion as the oil turns milky-just drain-refill and change the rear seal when you get home. A must for long distance hauling-not so much for a mile down the road. I also carried a digital temp gun-no guess work about temp on the bearings.

 

[Matt16]

Pay the money and get stainless steel inserts for the hubs-that way the rear seal is always running on a smooth surface and seldom leaks. I used to have oil bearing hubs and never had a bearing failure-you can tell if you have water intrusion as the oil turns milky-just drain-refill and change the rear seal when you get home. A must for long distance hauling-not so much for a mile down the road. I also carried a digital temp gun-no guess work about temp on the bearings.

Can you link me to these stainless inserts? This sounds interesting and doable right away. If I switch to oil baths, it won't be this year. Trailer lives at a marina and gets taken on one or two trips to the sunshine coast a year so it gets launched a lot, but doesn't do many miles.

 

[casper5280]

https://www.skf.com/ca/en/products/...smission-seals/wear-sleeves/skf-speedi-sleeve