posted to rec.boats
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Servicing trailer bearings
"Bishoop" wrote in message
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"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
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"Bishoop" wrote in message
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"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
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After having a Hoppy light flasher go bad a couple of weeks back, I
spent some time yesterday replacing it, and inspecting (manually and
with a meter) trailer wires. And, did all the stuff which, for three
years, I said I would do tomorrow, like make sure all trailer bolts
were still torqued right, replace the frayed strap, etc. I have Bearing
Buddies, and those are checked for grease level according to a schedule
commonly known as "Didn't you just check those an hour ago?" But, even
so, I wonder.
So, I consulted with an old voodoo lady, who put candles in the boat
and threw herbs all over it, made some weird sounds that frightened the
neighbors and all the animals around the yard. She asked "When did you
say you were going to the Adirondacks?" I told her "late August". She
said "Heh heh heh...your Taurus blew an oil pump on route 81 -
remember? Bad mojo, that trip!" She poked one of the hubs with her toe,
and dropped stone cold dead, right in my driveway. As long as I was
bent over to get rid of the body, I figured I'd check the hubs, and
noticed somewhat more ooze around the Bearing Buddy on the starboard
side.
Now I'm wondering if it would be a good idea to totally disassemble the
bearings, have them dumped in a parts cleaner, and repack or replace,
based on inspection. My otherwise excellent mechanic refuses to do the
job. His reasoning: "I'd have to charge you normal shop rates. But,
it's so easy, that when you see it done, you'll be ****ed off that you
paid for such an easy thing. Do it yourself. Bring donuts and I'll run
them through the parts cleaner for you".
How easy is it, really?
Here's one tutorial:
http://www.rd.com/content/openConten...ontentId=17452
Why do you suppose they suggest going to a mechanic if the bearings need
replacement, but repacking the existing ones yourself is OK?
If the wheel spins freely and quietly, proceed with repacking the
bearings. If you hear friction or a growling sound, you most likely have a
bad bearing or spindle. If this is the case, take the trailer to a service
center to get the bearings replaced.
Maybe poorly written. My take is if the "friction or growling" is present
then the spindle may need attention. Or, maybe it's just the bearings.
"Most" people may not be able to distinguish between bearings causing the
noise or the spindle.
The idea of the link was to show the process and how relatively simple it
is. They don't show bearing buddies either, that makes the process a
little different.
On my trailer I installed the "Liqua-Lube" system. Works great and no
more worry about greasing bearings.
http://www.liqualube.com/
I'm gonna warn you just once, pal: Come up with better answers to my
question. I'm wearing sunglasses. That spells trouble. :-)
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