Length of chains? (Was 'Cross chains or not when trailering')
 

Don White wrote:
"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
m...
Many people don't know how to properly pack a bearing anyway.

That's why I'm leary about dia-assembling and re-packing. What if I screw
something up?

It's not that hard and the are devices out there that can help pack
bearings.

If you do it by hand, it takes patience. If you use a packing device,
you should do the procedure twice.

It's not that hard.

Length of chains? (Was 'Cross chains or not when trailering')
 

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
m...
Don White wrote:
"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
m...
Many people don't know how to properly pack a bearing anyway.

That's why I'm leary about dia-assembling and re-packing. What if I
screw something up?

It's not that hard and the are devices out there that can help pack
bearings.

If you do it by hand, it takes patience. If you use a packing device, you
should do the procedure twice.

It's not that hard.


I just spoke to my boat dealer. $60 for labor to do the whole job, if I get
the parts from them. Sounds like a better deal than trying to flatbed a
busted up trailer.

Length of chains? (Was 'Cross chains or not when trailering')
 

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
m...
Don White wrote:
"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
m...
Many people don't know how to properly pack a bearing anyway.
That's why I'm leary about dia-assembling and re-packing. What if I
screw something up?
It's not that hard and the are devices out there that can help pack
bearings.

If you do it by hand, it takes patience. If you use a packing device, you
should do the procedure twice.

It's not that hard.

I just spoke to my boat dealer. $60 for labor to do the whole job, if I get
the parts from them. Sounds like a better deal than trying to flatbed a
busted up trailer.

Pansy.

Length of chains? (Was 'Cross chains or not when trailering')
 

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
. ..
JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
m...
Don White wrote:
"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
m...
Many people don't know how to properly pack a bearing anyway.
That's why I'm leary about dia-assembling and re-packing. What if I
screw something up?
It's not that hard and the are devices out there that can help pack
bearings.

If you do it by hand, it takes patience. If you use a packing device,
you should do the procedure twice.

It's not that hard.

I just spoke to my boat dealer. $60 for labor to do the whole job, if I
get the parts from them. Sounds like a better deal than trying to flatbed
a busted up trailer.

Pansy.


Maybe, but how much does the "device" cost - the one you mentioned above?

Length of chains? (Was 'Cross chains or not when trailering')
 

Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:

If you do it by hand, it takes patience

I wonder if that's where the phrase "Greasing the palm" origionally
came from???

Length of chains? (Was 'Cross chains or not when trailering')
 

On Mon, 19 Feb 2007 17:18:01 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
om...
JoeSpareBedroom wrote:

Have you seen or heard of failures in other parts of the system? If so,
where?

Tires - improperly inflated or dry rotted, wheel bearings and brake
systems - surge and electric.

I've seen older trailers with bad bunks and rollers drive a hole in a hull
so I suppose that counts.


Whattya think of this:

I've got bearing buddies on my trailer, bought in 1999. My mechanic's a
boater, so during the trailer's NY inspection, he says "Let's jack it up &
listen to the bearings". I know he's not looking for extra work because he
refuses to work on trailers, except his own. His shop's a half mile into
some woods, nice & quiet. He spins the wheels, says "Listen - I don't hear a
thing. I wouldn't clean those bearings. Just keep adding grease when they
need it".

Good advice? Bad advice? Moderately good/bad advice?


Did he apply the end of a screwdriver to the hub and place his ear on the
handle while spinning the wheel. Doing this will let him know if the
bearings are making strange noises. A stethoscope will do the same. If he
just spun the wheel and listened from four or five feet away, I'd do it
again.
--
*****Have a Spectacular Day!*****

John H

Length of chains? (Was 'Cross chains or not when trailering')
 

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
. ..
JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
m...
Don White wrote:
"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
m...
Many people don't know how to properly pack a bearing anyway.
That's why I'm leary about dia-assembling and re-packing. What if I
screw something up?
It's not that hard and the are devices out there that can help pack
bearings.

If you do it by hand, it takes patience. If you use a packing device,
you should do the procedure twice.

It's not that hard.
I just spoke to my boat dealer. $60 for labor to do the whole job, if I
get the parts from them. Sounds like a better deal than trying to flatbed
a busted up trailer.
Pansy.

Maybe, but how much does the "device" cost - the one you mentioned above?

Maybe $30/40 bucks for one with a grease gun.

I think I paid like $25 bucks for one at NAPA.

Length of chains? (Was 'Cross chains or not when trailering')
 

Tim wrote:
Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
If you do it by hand, it takes patience

I wonder if that's where the phrase "Greasing the palm" origionally
came from???

ROTFL!!!

There are probably five people on this list who know what that means.

Length of chains? (Was 'Cross chains or not when trailering')
 

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
. ..
JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
. ..
JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
m...
Don White wrote:
"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
m...
Many people don't know how to properly pack a bearing anyway.
That's why I'm leary about dia-assembling and re-packing. What if
I screw something up?
It's not that hard and the are devices out there that can help pack
bearings.

If you do it by hand, it takes patience. If you use a packing device,
you should do the procedure twice.

It's not that hard.
I just spoke to my boat dealer. $60 for labor to do the whole job, if I
get the parts from them. Sounds like a better deal than trying to
flatbed a busted up trailer.
Pansy.

Maybe, but how much does the "device" cost - the one you mentioned above?

Maybe $30/40 bucks for one with a grease gun.

I think I paid like $25 bucks for one at NAPA.

OK. I'm listening. What does it do? Hold the bearing in some sort of
enclosure and press the grease in?

I guess my other issue is the mess involved with cleaning the old grease out
of the bearings. Now I have used kerosene, more stinking funnels and crap to
store blah blah blah...

Length of chains? (Was 'Cross chains or not when trailering')
 

On Tue, 20 Feb 2007 16:49:13 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
m...
Don White wrote:
"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
m...
Many people don't know how to properly pack a bearing anyway.
That's why I'm leary about dia-assembling and re-packing. What if I
screw something up?
It's not that hard and the are devices out there that can help pack
bearings.

If you do it by hand, it takes patience. If you use a packing device,
you should do the procedure twice.

It's not that hard.

I just spoke to my boat dealer. $60 for labor to do the whole job, if I
get the parts from them. Sounds like a better deal than trying to flatbed
a busted up trailer.

Pansy.


Maybe, but how much does the "device" cost - the one you mentioned above?


Joe, doing it by hand is easy. Here are some tips: (stolen from:
http://users.westco.net/~tandjlm/berring.htm

Packing Bearings By Hand:

Now you have to pack your bearings. Here's something I should have said
earler but didn't. If you are putting in new bearings or if you are reusing
the old ones and have got them good and clean, with all of the old grease
out, they are at this moment what one might call "dry". By that I mean that
they don't have any grease protecting them from corrosion or from
scratching. Actually if they are new there will be some sort of packing
grease on them from the facotry to stop corrosion but that doesn't count.
Please don't take that new or clean bearing in your paw and give it a good
spin just for the pure hell of it. If you do the result will be micorscopic
scratches in the rollers becasue there's no grease there to lubricate them.
One of these days those scratches will grow up to be wolfs and they will
bite you square on the ass, causing a bearing failure out there on the road
somehwere. Now on to bearing packing.

If anyone can describe, in writing, how to pack bearing they certainly
deserve the Pulitizer. I'll try to give a good description of it but with
little hope of explaining it very well. I'm right handed so I'll assume
you're right handed too for my description. If you are left handed do this
while standing on your head or something - you know, whatever it takes.
Take a glob of clean grease about the size of a golf ball and plop it into
the palm of your left hand, pull the grease down so the glob tapers as it
goes towards the heel of your hand. Now take the new bearing (or freshly
cleaned - completly cleaned - old bearing if you're just repacking them)
and hold it in your right hand with your first finger through the center
hole to steady it and your thumb on the upper edge to apply downward
pressure. You want the small end pointing up. Remember that the bearing is
made up of three parts; an outer cage, and inner cage, and the rollers
inbetween. There is a space inbetween the inner and outer cages where the
rollers are contained. You want to press that berring into the thin taper
of grease in your left palm such that grease is forced into that little
space and to completly surround the rollers. You want to keep pressing,
lifting, and moving a bit farther into the grease in your plam over and
over until grease comes out the small space between the inner and outer
cages at the top of the bearing. When it does move the bearing around a
little bit, you know, turn it a bit, and keep doing it until more grease
comes out. Keep doing this until you have had grease come out the space all
the way around the bearing. Once you have done this you will have forced
grease to completly fill the voids where the rollers fit between the inner
and outer cages. Its an interesting process and actually only takes about a
minute per bearing once you get the hang of it. Once you get one done set
the bearing aside on a clean surface (a piece of newspaper is OK) and do it
to the other bearing for that hub. There, you've packed your bearings. Just
remember that the goal here is to make sure that you have grease completly
coating the insides of that bearing, not simply rubbed around on its
outside. If you were to just plaster grease all over the outside of the
bearing without forcing it into the void the effect would be a dry bearing
under load when you finished the job and first moved the trailer. This
would cause extreme heat to be generted becasue of the initial friction.
The heat would melt the grease inside the hub and the void would be filled
- so it wouldn't self destruct immediately. But you would have done damage
to the bearing before the hot grease got to where it should have been in
the first place. That bearing's days are numbered and the number is not a
large one.
--
*****Have a Spectacular Day!*****

John H

Length of chains? (Was 'Cross chains or not when trailering')
 

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
. ..
JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
. ..
JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
m...
Don White wrote:
"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
m...
Many people don't know how to properly pack a bearing anyway.
That's why I'm leary about dia-assembling and re-packing. What if
I screw something up?
It's not that hard and the are devices out there that can help pack
bearings.

If you do it by hand, it takes patience. If you use a packing device,
you should do the procedure twice.

It's not that hard.
I just spoke to my boat dealer. $60 for labor to do the whole job, if I
get the parts from them. Sounds like a better deal than trying to
flatbed a busted up trailer.
Pansy.
Maybe, but how much does the "device" cost - the one you mentioned above?
Maybe $30/40 bucks for one with a grease gun.

I think I paid like $25 bucks for one at NAPA.

OK. I'm listening. What does it do? Hold the bearing in some sort of
enclosure and press the grease in?

I guess my other issue is the mess involved with cleaning the old grease out
of the bearings. Now I have used kerosene, more stinking funnels and crap to
store blah blah blah...

Yes and pansy.

Length of chains? (Was 'Cross chains or not when trailering')
 

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
m...
JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
. ..
JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
. ..
JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
m...
Don White wrote:
"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in
message m...
Many people don't know how to properly pack a bearing anyway.
That's why I'm leary about dia-assembling and re-packing. What
if I screw something up?
It's not that hard and the are devices out there that can help pack
bearings.

If you do it by hand, it takes patience. If you use a packing
device, you should do the procedure twice.

It's not that hard.
I just spoke to my boat dealer. $60 for labor to do the whole job, if
I get the parts from them. Sounds like a better deal than trying to
flatbed a busted up trailer.
Pansy.
Maybe, but how much does the "device" cost - the one you mentioned
above?
Maybe $30/40 bucks for one with a grease gun.

I think I paid like $25 bucks for one at NAPA.

OK. I'm listening. What does it do? Hold the bearing in some sort of
enclosure and press the grease in?

I guess my other issue is the mess involved with cleaning the old grease
out of the bearings. Now I have used kerosene, more stinking funnels and
crap to store blah blah blah...

Yes and pansy.

Thanks. You always manage to pump up my self esteem, my little flower.

Length of chains? (Was 'Cross chains or not when trailering')
 

Length of chains? (Was 'Cross chains or not when trailering')
 

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
. ..

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
.com...

Don White wrote:

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
ws.com...

Many people don't know how to properly pack a bearing anyway.

That's why I'm leary about dia-assembling and re-packing. What if I
screw something up?

It's not that hard and the are devices out there that can help pack
bearings.

If you do it by hand, it takes patience. If you use a packing device,
you should do the procedure twice.

It's not that hard.

I just spoke to my boat dealer. $60 for labor to do the whole job, if I
get the parts from them. Sounds like a better deal than trying to flatbed
a busted up trailer.

Pansy.



Maybe, but how much does the "device" cost - the one you mentioned above?

http://snipurl.com/1ath8

DT

Cross chains or not when trailering
 

I work for ShoreLand'r boat trailers and I can tell you that we ALWAYS
recommend crossing the safety chains.
I learned why the hard way...

A few years back I was towing my boss' boat on a bumpy 2-lane
highway. I hit a dip at 55 mph and the trailer popped off the ball.
Trust me on this one - when that happens, you know immediately!
I pumped the brakes to slow down my truck and the trailer sounded like
it was ramming into my bumper. There was a loud snapping noise and in
the rear view mirror I could see the boat swerving wildly from side to
side. I was sure it was going into the ditch! I kept pumping the
brakes and was finally able to bring the rig to a stop.

When I walked around to the back of my vehicle I was amazed to see how
well the safety chains had worked. They had caught the coupler just
as intended, but they hadn't been shortened up enough and all that
grinding on the pavement had worn one of the chains thru to the point
where it had snapped - that explained all the wild swerving.

In the end we found out what had caused the coupler to come unhooked -
the hitch ball was too small for the coupler. I hadn't noticed when
I hooked it up, but I sure watch for that now. And I ALWAYS remember
to cross my safety chains! Another feature that saved my butt was the
tiedowns - they kept that boat secured to the trailer so it didn't fly
off into the ditch.

As for the question about the proper length when you are twisting the
chains to shorten them up... safety chains come in a variety of
lengths, so there is no exact measurement. The rule of thumb is to
get them just short enough so they aren't dragging on the ground. You
don't want to shorten them too much or it will cause problems during
sharp turns.

If you guys have any questions, don't hesitate to drop me an e-mail...
Mike Melone