Saltwater and Trailer Wheel Bearings
 

I'm going to put my boat into sal****er.
Is this a problem for my wheel bearings that won't be resolved with a fresh
water hose down?

Do bearing buddies suffer in sal****er?

Thanks

Saltwater and Trailer Wheel Bearings
 

Didn't you mean:
the structure of the trailer.... especially if NOT galvanized

A GOOD freshwater rinse. Remember that it takes a while for the salt to disolve.

Bearing Buddy does make stainless steel BBs, but they are hard to find.
I usually end up mailordering them direct from BB. The non-SS ones
corrode a bit, but it takes a while.

If salt water boating is a rare occurance for you (like just a couple of times
a year), on the way home, find a freshwater lake with a quiet ramp, and dunk
the trailer nice and good for five or ten minutes. And maybe fire up the motor
and let it idle.



"Gene Kearns" wrote in message ...
On Sun, 27 Nov 2005 02:41:21 GMT, "Bryan"
wrote:

I'm going to put my boat into sal****er.
Is this a problem for my wheel bearings that won't be resolved with a fresh
water hose down?


Only if you have a leaky seal and deflated bearing buddies. Remember
that putting hot hubs into cold water will try to create a suction
that tries to pull water into the bearings.

Do bearing buddies suffer in sal****er?

No, not really.

That being said.... everything will take a beating in salt water. Your
first priority for checking for salt water immersion damage should be:
the brakes.... drums won't last long at all; get disks
the springs... no way to get them as clean as you would like
the structure of the trailer.... especially if galvanized
any hardware.

--

_ ___c
\ _| \_
__\_| oooo \_____
~~~~|______________/ ~~~~~
~~~ ~~~~~~
~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~
~~~~ }((((o ~~~~~~ }{{{{o ~~~~~~~

Grady-White Gulfstream, out of Southport, NC.

http://myworkshop.idleplay.net/ Homepage*
http://www.thebayguide.com/rec.boats Rec.boats at Lee Yeaton's Bayguide

Saltwater and Trailer Wheel Bearings
 

Tom,
How long do you like to wait after hauling your boat for a good distance, to
allow the bearings to cool down. I have not trailered a boat for years, but
I never thought about waiting to dunk my trailer into fresh water. I know
fresh water is much more forgiving than salt water, but today, I would
probably give wait awhile before putting the trailer into the water.




"Shortwave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 27 Nov 2005 02:56:23 GMT, Gene Kearns
wrote:

I'm going to put my boat into sal****er.
Is this a problem for my wheel bearings that won't be resolved with a
fresh
water hose down?

Only if you have a leaky seal and deflated bearing buddies. Remember
that putting hot hubs into cold water will try to create a suction
that tries to pull water into the bearings.

I've seen a hot bearing explode - the damn thing was smoking when the
idiot dunked the trailer. He had to have been blind, stupid or both.

Saltwater and Trailer Wheel Bearings
 

Sir Rodney,

When I reach the ramp it takes me a few minutes to get the Transom hold
downs off, put the rods in the holders, load the live bait and ice,
disconnect the winch strap, ready the motor to be lowered, double check the
drain plug, etc. By the time all these chores are done the bearings, IMO,
are certainly cool enough for launching.

YMMV.

Butch
"Sir Rodney Smithers" Ask me about my knighthood. wrote in message
...
Tom,
How long do you like to wait after hauling your boat for a good distance,
to allow the bearings to cool down. I have not trailered a boat for
years, but I never thought about waiting to dunk my trailer into fresh
water. I know fresh water is much more forgiving than salt water, but
today, I would probably give wait awhile before putting the trailer into
the water.




"Shortwave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 27 Nov 2005 02:56:23 GMT, Gene Kearns
wrote:

I'm going to put my boat into sal****er.
Is this a problem for my wheel bearings that won't be resolved with a
fresh
water hose down?

Only if you have a leaky seal and deflated bearing buddies. Remember
that putting hot hubs into cold water will try to create a suction
that tries to pull water into the bearings.

I've seen a hot bearing explode - the damn thing was smoking when the
idiot dunked the trailer. He had to have been blind, stupid or both.

Saltwater and Trailer Wheel Bearings
 

Butch Davis wrote:
Sir Rodney,

When I reach the ramp it takes me a few minutes to get the Transom hold
downs off, put the rods in the holders, load the live bait and ice,
disconnect the winch strap, ready the motor to be lowered, double check the
drain plug, etc. By the time all these chores are done the bearings, IMO,
are certainly cool enough for launching.

YMMV.

Butch
"Sir Rodney Smithers" Ask me about my knighthood. wrote in message
...

Tom,
How long do you like to wait after hauling your boat for a good distance,
to allow the bearings to cool down. I have not trailered a boat for
years, but I never thought about waiting to dunk my trailer into fresh
water. I know fresh water is much more forgiving than salt water, but
today, I would probably give wait awhile before putting the trailer into
the water.




"Shortwave Sportfishing" wrote in message
. ..

On Sun, 27 Nov 2005 02:56:23 GMT, Gene Kearns
wrote:


I'm going to put my boat into sal****er.
Is this a problem for my wheel bearings that won't be resolved with a
fresh
water hose down?

Only if you have a leaky seal and deflated bearing buddies. Remember
that putting hot hubs into cold water will try to create a suction
that tries to pull water into the bearings.

I've seen a hot bearing explode - the damn thing was smoking when the
idiot dunked the trailer. He had to have been blind, stupid or both.



I'd feel a little better actually touching them. Lightly when arriving
to see how hot they are...and just before launching to guage how much
they have cooled. I'd wait until they were about neutral to the touch
before immersing. 9 note: I don't have Buddy Bearings on my original
1986 boat trailer.

Saltwater and Trailer Wheel Bearings
 

My first boat I trailered exclusively. It was a 15 yr old runabout. My
knowledge of the car and feeding of boats was non existent. I am surprised
it ran as good as it did, without any major problems. It wasn't till I
purchased a new boat, that I bothered to read up about taking care of my
investment (yeah right). I was surprised at how many mistakes I made.


"Gene Kearns" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 27 Nov 2005 15:57:13 GMT, "Butch Davis"
wrote:

Sir Rodney,

When I reach the ramp it takes me a few minutes to get the Transom hold
downs off, put the rods in the holders, load the live bait and ice,
disconnect the winch strap, ready the motor to be lowered, double check
the
drain plug, etc. By the time all these chores are done the bearings, IMO,
are certainly cool enough for launching.

YMMV.

Butch touches on a likely point of interest. All of the following can
contribute to higher bearing temperatures: poor bearing condition,
tight bearing clearances, improper or inadequate grease, overloading,
use and condition of brakes, and speed and duration of travel
immediately prior to launching.

Indeed, YMMV!

--

_ ___c
\ _| \_
__\_| oooo \_____
~~~~|______________/ ~~~~~
~~~ ~~~~~~
~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~
~~~~ }((((o ~~~~~~ }{{{{o ~~~~~~~

Grady-White Gulfstream, out of Southport, NC.

http://myworkshop.idleplay.net/
Homepage*
http://www.thebayguide.com/rec.boats
Rec.boats at Lee Yeaton's Bayguide

Saltwater and Trailer Wheel Bearings
 

"Shortwave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 27 Nov 2005 02:56:23 GMT, Gene Kearns
wrote:

I'm going to put my boat into sal****er.
Is this a problem for my wheel bearings that won't be resolved with a
fresh
water hose down?

Only if you have a leaky seal and deflated bearing buddies. Remember
that putting hot hubs into cold water will try to create a suction
that tries to pull water into the bearings.

I've seen a hot bearing explode - the damn thing was smoking when the
idiot dunked the trailer. He had to have been blind, stupid or both.

When I got my boat, I was a boat virgin, members of this ng told me to pull
into the prep area and let the bearings cool down before putting the trailer
into the water. You warned me about the incompatibility of hot bearings and
cold water. I'm grateful for the warning; the first thing I would have done
to show myself how good I was getting at boating and trailering would have
been to zip into the ramp area and back the trailer straight into the water
with bearings screaming. As it is, I watch guys do just that over and over.

I actually have learned to enjoy the relaxed preparation time along with the
confidence that I've done all the right things, drain plug, etc., before
putting my expensive toy in the water. And my bearings get to cool down in
the process. Does it get any better than that!

Thanks to everyone for their latest input on this current sal****er bearing
question.

Bryan
Sea Ray 185 Sport

Saltwater and Trailer Wheel Bearings
 

"Shortwave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 27 Nov 2005 02:41:21 GMT, "Bryan"
wrote:

I'm going to put my boat into sal****er.

Congratulations.

Is this a problem for my wheel bearings that won't be resolved with a
fresh
water hose down?

Use Bearing Buddies and keep them up. They provide a 3 psi pressure
to the bearings and keeps the grease moving inside the bearings. It's
amazing how cool they keep the hubs - incredible.

Do bearing buddies suffer in sal****er?

No - their internals are all stainless steel, so that's not a big

Thanks! Bearing Buddies and a Handheld VHF are on my
christmas/hanukah/kwaanza/new years wish list. I got the flush kit and gave
it a flush this weekend (wanted to be sure I knew how it worked, simple as
it is, before hitting the sal****er).

Saltwater and Trailer Wheel Bearings
 

Bryan, check out this thread from rec.boats Nov 8th.

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.b...94e6792ab0db0a

Saltwater and Trailer Wheel Bearings
 

Shortwave Sportfishing wrote:
On Sun, 27 Nov 2005 16:04:35 GMT, Don White
wrote:


I'd feel a little better actually touching them. Lightly when arriving
to see how hot they are...and just before launching to guage how much
they have cooled. I'd wait until they were about neutral to the touch
before immersing. 9 note: I don't have Buddy Bearings on my original
1986 boat trailer.


Curious - why not?

Later,

Tom

Trailer is in original shape.....I'll be buying a new galvanized model
soon and should have all the good stuff then.