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posted to rec.boats
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Servicing trailer bearings
"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
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"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. :-)
Huh?
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