Trailer bearing failure

[Hoochiebob]

Picked up my double lip seals at Custom Hitch in Langford. They have always been very helpful and knowledgeable with their products. Used to change them twice a year with the single lip caps, now do them just once in the spring.
In my experience it seems that the damage is done when the trailer sits for a while with the boat on it.
That being said, I never trailer the boat without my trusty roadside bearing repair kit. Bearings and I have a hate/hate kind of relationship!

 

[gungadin]

Knowing the way Murphy's Law works, I now carry my spare tyre complete with loaded hub. No more broken studs or rusted wheel nuts on the side of the road.

 

[1marko]

what the hub will look like in short order
if not re packed with fresh marine grease
at the end of each season...

 

[Slabbedout]

So who sells those double lipped seals?

I have always got them at Fennel’s trailer supply in Victoria ( good seals but some are not all stainless components )

I know daigle marine in CR is well stocked with bearings/ seals and all kinds of trailer stuff if you are ever in that area too

 

[walleyes]

what the hub will look like in short order
if not re packed with fresh marine grease
at the end of each season...View attachment 42951

Not trying to be a dick but I'm not sure if your aware but there's nothing wrong with the hub, that's the bearing race that's pitted.

 

[1marko]

my bad. you are right. knock out both
inner and outer bearing outer races
and replaced with new ones...
thx walleyes...

 

[Newf]

what the hub will look like in short order
if not re packed with fresh marine grease
at the end of each season...View attachment 42951

Hi 1marko, Hope you down mind me asking but how old were these? Did the boat sit on the trailer for long periods of time without moving (weeks, months)??? When you say pack the bearings, do you also fill the hubs, meaning are all cavities from the back seal to the front bearing completely filled with grease? When you pulled them apart were there signs of water contamination in the grease? Just curious,,,,I used to work with Millwrights who did failure analysis on bearings and it has always intrigued me that there are so many different modes of failure.

 

[1marko]

packed last spring...
bearings were replaced a year and a
half prior.
grease is packed from front to back
by hand then topped up through
buddies
trailer is used often . at least 2x a month
yes grease was brown and runny
good synthetic marine grease was used

 

[scott craven]

salt water intrudes and rusts the bearings especially when the trailer sits
for extended periods. The rollers seize up and boom!

 

[Fish Camp]

Per wheel- races ,bearings ,seal and cotter pin is 21$ .New hub with races pre-set in it and clean with new matching bearing, seal,and cotterpin is 51$.Thats 30$ differance in your time ,tools (brass drift) ,cleanlyness ,and knowlege of how to remove and seat the new race .

 

[walleyes]

my bad. you are right. knock out both
inner and outer bearing outer races
and replaced with new ones...
thx walleyes...

I figured you probly knew the difference but you never know lol.

Per wheel- races ,bearings ,seal and cotter pin is 21$ .New hub with races pre-set in it and clean with new matching bearing, seal,and cotterpin is 51$.Thats 30$ differance in your time ,tools (brass drift) ,cleanlyness ,and knowlege of how to remove and seat the new race .

I guess depends where you live. In our part of the country the cheapest place to get these,, if they are close by which for me they aren't is Princess Auto which they are no less than $70 a side. So $70 a side vs $20 is $100 savings. On top of that I don't trust anyone more than myself doing this kind of stuff. But this is dependant on your skill level I guess. Some goof ball in an assembly line in China doing my bearings or myself,, I'll do it myself all day long. But I was raised with a wrench in my hand and grease under my finger nails lol.

 

[scott craven]

$60 for the hub /bearings complete in Victoria.
the old hub was rusty, seemed like a better plan to replace the whole thing.

 

[1marko]

let me add one more point. not all stainless is equal. u pay for what you get
and there is no substitute for quality.
these pics are that of off shore for a fraction of the price of brands like
SKF Brazilian made.

 

[Fish Camp]

R U The grease ball that come into fish /ramp/camp disurbing the peace.and re tourk to displacment of wheel.

 

[1marko]

R U The grease ball that come into fish /ramp/camp disurbing the peace.and re tourk to displacment of wheel.

huh...

 

[walleyes]

huh...

Hittin the rum early me thinks lol.

 

[1marko]

so with the new bearings packed with
good quality synthetic grease and
new double lipped spring backed seals
installed the proprietor of a well known
trailer shop had some advice...
He doesn't recommend " B. B. " grease
caps..and heres why...the only time
you would ever need them is at a last
resort to get back to civilization to clean
and repack what's left of the mess..
I kind of agree.
the logic is if you are supposedly just topping up or trying to flush out bad
water contaminated grease you ll just
blow out the rear seal and grease all over
the tire and trailer and whatever else to only attract road grit and dirt from every
mile on down the road.
kind of agree
best case..
good bearings
good grease
good seals
pack well and and maintain proper
tention on spindle nut and your golden.

repack and inspect regularly period.
after all these years...

I kind of agree..

 

[walleyes]

I know this is kind of mute but the best system I have ever ran were the oil bath hubs on my last boat. 12 years on the road and a crap load of miles and I'm not a slow driver 14 trips down the coquihalla at high speeds and nothing even close to a failure. I changed the oil every year and I did the seals and bearings year 10 on them and that was it. I will be looking into putting oil baths on my new trailer over next winter.

 

[bpsuls]

X2 on the oil baths, I cant believe how durable they are. Just wish my drum brakes would last even 10% as long! Seals are 10 years old on 3 of the 4 wheels and still going strong. The only reason the 4th one was replaced is due to a "fire incident" caused by seized brakes.