"MikeT" wrote in message
...
Hello,
In my humble opinion, bearing buddies are useless in the fact that people
that have them figure all they have to do is put a couple pumps of grease
in them once in a while, so any moisture in the bearings ends up staying
there, pitting the bearings and races, and causing failures at the worst
possible times. Also, people that pump and pump, and pump grease into
bearing buddies blow the rear axle seal riht out of them from hydraulic
pressure, then they have open bearings to road dirt and a greasy mess.

I'm very careful about overfilling. When I bought the boat & trailer, I
figured I'd be in & out of the dealership quickly. Nope. The guy took a lot
of time to explain things in detail, and this was a salesman, not a service
person.* He mentioned that the Bearing Buddies move outward very slowly
after adding grease, and suggested one pump, then wait & observe the rings.

*Seager Marine, Canandaigua NY. Amazing people.

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"basskisser" wrote in message
oups.com...

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"Bishoop" wrote in message
...

"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
...
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?

Don't know, but it is an easy, simple job. Just go easy, remember what
went where, and you'll do fine. Is the leak coming from the front of
the hub or the rear? If the rear, there is a seal that is pressed in.
They should be replaced while you have the thing apart. It's simple
too. Just use a screwdriver to pry the old one out. Tap the new one in
with a wooden block, taking care to start it straight.


The seepage is coming from the outer edge Bearing Buddy's floating ring -
the part you press to determine whether there's enough grease. And, it may
be nothing, but here's the deal: If I'm staying close to home with the
trailer, it'll be nothing. If I'm travelling and a breakdown will subtract 2
days of fishing from my vacation, and make me want to climb a tower with a
rifle and start killing people, then the seepage will be an indicator of
something bad about to happen. Murphy's Law x 1000, in other words.

Sounds like the Bearing Buddy is just worn out. If it were me, I'd
clean and inspect the bearings, if all looks good, repack, put on new
Bearing Buddys. Be certain not to tighten the bearing nut. It needs to
be only tight enough so theres no slop (movement) when wiggling the
wheel.

"Gene Kearns" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 18 Jun 2006 08:49:39 -0400, MikeT penned the following well
considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:

In my humble opinion, bearing buddies are useless in the fact that people
that have them figure all they have to do is put a couple pumps of grease
in
them once in a while, so any moisture in the bearings ends up staying
there

The theory of operation of bearing buddies is that they always
maintain a 3# positive pressure. This should keep out any water to a
depth of about 6 feet. Therefore, if there is any water ingress it
should be from improper lubrication or maintenance.



The key word here is "Theory".

Like I said, I would never buy them, other than a dust cap, but you are
right, if they are fully maintained and used properly, they should work
fine. But so is pulling the bearings out once a season and repacking.

"MikeT" wrote in message
...

"Gene Kearns" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 18 Jun 2006 08:49:39 -0400, MikeT penned the following well
considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:

In my humble opinion, bearing buddies are useless in the fact that people
that have them figure all they have to do is put a couple pumps of grease
in
them once in a while, so any moisture in the bearings ends up staying
there

The theory of operation of bearing buddies is that they always
maintain a 3# positive pressure. This should keep out any water to a
depth of about 6 feet. Therefore, if there is any water ingress it
should be from improper lubrication or maintenance.



The key word here is "Theory".

Like I said, I would never buy them, other than a dust cap, but you are
right, if they are fully maintained and used properly, they should work
fine. But so is pulling the bearings out once a season and repacking.


My main reason for avoiding that task is disposing of the kerosene
afterward. If I have to drive across the city to the county's disposal
center, it's 90 minutes of my business hours spent. Then, it becomes
worthwhile to have a mechanic do the work. As I mentioned earlier, he
offered to clean the bearings, but again, once I'm there, I may as well have
him do it, if I can persuade him to stop trying to save me money on
something I don't mind paying for.

"Gene Kearns" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 19 Jun 2006 12:58:41 GMT, JoeSpareBedroom penned the following
well considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:

My main reason for avoiding that task is disposing of the kerosene
afterward. If I have to drive across the city to the county's disposal
center, it's 90 minutes of my business hours spent. Then, it becomes
worthwhile to have a mechanic do the work. As I mentioned earlier, he
offered to clean the bearings, but again, once I'm there, I may as well
have
him do it, if I can persuade him to stop trying to save me money on
something I don't mind paying for.


Would it be worth getting one of those really small parts washers?
Harbor Freight has them really cheap, if you have a place to store
one....


Not familiar with those. How do they solve the kerosene problem?

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"Gene Kearns" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 19 Jun 2006 12:58:41 GMT, JoeSpareBedroom penned the following
well considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:

My main reason for avoiding that task is disposing of the kerosene
afterward. If I have to drive across the city to the county's disposal
center, it's 90 minutes of my business hours spent. Then, it becomes
worthwhile to have a mechanic do the work. As I mentioned earlier, he
offered to clean the bearings, but again, once I'm there, I may as well
have
him do it, if I can persuade him to stop trying to save me money on
something I don't mind paying for.


Would it be worth getting one of those really small parts washers?
Harbor Freight has them really cheap, if you have a place to store
one....


Not familiar with those. How do they solve the kerosene problem?

Joe, you re-use the solvent.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=35740

IMHO it is much cheaper to inspect and regrease/replace bearings in the
driveway than replacing a wheel hub on the side of the road.
"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
...
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?

"FREDO" wrote in message
. ..
IMHO it is much cheaper to inspect and regrease/replace bearings in the
driveway than replacing a wheel hub on the side of the road.

That was the whole point of asking the question.