"SteveB" wrote in
:

My new used trailer has buddy bearings. On one tire, there is a lot
of grease spun out on the wheel and tire. The other not so much. I'm
going to pull them. What do I look for in terms of wear or failure?
Do I spin the wheel jacked up before pulling and listen for growl? Is
the race pressed into the wheel? Onto the spindle? I've done a lot
of things mechanical, but this is new. And what about the buddy
bearings? I've heard both ways on those.

Steve



I know there are contrary opinions, but I like my bearing buddies. I
regularly tow in air temps up to 110 deg. F at speeds of 70 mph for 250
miles (L.A. to Laughlin Nev.) Never had a bearing failure. I like the
fact that there is always positive presure which keeps the water out when
you launch. I always "top off" the grease before a long trip. Another
poster pointed out that you can compromise the inboard seal by
overloading with grease, and that's true. But most bearing buddies have a
spring loaded plate that moves outward as you load the grease allowing
extra room while maintaining positive presure inside the hub. Just be
careful you don't push the plate to the limit and leave some room for
expansion.

There is one important maintenance tip you need to know whether you keep
them or get rid of them. You don't know what kind of grease is already in
there or how careful the previous owner maintained the bearing, so you
need to tear it down and repack at the least and install new seals
because it looks like the existing ones are blown. You can never mix
greases with different base materials. There are lots of types, but
basically you're going to be dealing with an Aluminum, Lithium or Calcium
base. It doesn't matter which kind (make sure it's marine wheel bearing
grease), it just has to be the same kind, because a grease of one type
can act as a solvent on a grease of a different type and dissolve it. My
unscientific survey says lithium is the easiet to find (I say this
because I needed calcium and every tube it seemed I looked at was lithium
based.)