MyFishFinder Forum
My Fish Finder Main => General Fishing Discussion => Topic started by: taxid on Apr 30, 2023, 01:11 PM
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Getting ready to inspect and repack bearings on my boat trailer before going on vacation. Thinking of putting Bearing Buddies on this time or a similar product. I seem to remember a few here don't like the Bearing Buddies but don't remember why.
Who likes them here and who doesn't and why or why not?
Thanks in advance!
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Don’t bother. They collect too much grease and dirt over time…. it just turns to gunk. Way better off just repacking them every 3-4 years or maybe 5 years . If your seals go bad, you’ll have grease everywhere from over greasing them. Over packing them with those “Buddies” will just exacerbate the problem.
Had them….didn’t see any advantage to them. Never had a wheel bearing go bad…only 50 years….guess it’s just MHO. (As the kids say)
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I like them.
They work well if you read the instructions and use them as you are supposed to.
However, most people continue pumping grease into them, and like Bob said, it blows past the seal on the inside of the hub.
You are supposed to simply pump grease until it collapses the spring slightly.
That's it.
When towing, the bearings and hub heat up and the grease expands, further compressing the spring.
Then, when you submerge the wheel bearing into the cold water, the cooling hubs and grease contracts.
The spring pressure counteracts this and keeps water and dirt from being sucked into the bearings.
If you only launch your boat 1 or 2 times a year, Bob is correct, don't bother.
The amount of dirt, water, etc. can be cleaned out with a thorough cleaning and repacking every 2-3 yrs.
If you use your boat frequently, and don't want to repack wheel bearings, get bearing buddies.
And if you trailer any significant miles, get bearing buddies.
I have spun wheel bearings and repaired them on the side of the road.
It's not fun.
As a matter of fact, these days I carry a spare hub, with already packed bearings on longer trips.
BTW, there are other alternatives.
Check out this link -
https://www.dexteraxle.com/Products/Hub-Hub-Drum/Grease--Oil-Caps (https://www.dexteraxle.com/Products/Hub-Hub-Drum/Grease--Oil-Caps)
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Well there’s two diametrically opposed opinions
Guess I’m look and see and he other is a wait and see…l.no offense bud
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Well there’s two diametrically opposed opinions
Guess I’m look and see and he other is a wait and see…l.no offense bud
No worries I prefer to get differing opinions. A friend that hauls fish hundreds of miles from Arkansas to Indiana for a living just told me he swears by the bearing buddies.
Reminds me of the what I see in reviews sometimes. You'll get people that think a product is the best thing since the invention of the wheel and someone else will say it's junk.
On a funny note the wife and I were trying to decide on which small sliding panel windows to get for our spa room. Was reading the reviews and in one review one guy said the windows were crap because his kept falling open. Someone else replied and said, "you idiot you installed them vertically instead of horizontally!" :rotflol: :rotflol: :rotflol:
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I'm in the Mac school of thought having had three bearing failures on the road over the years. I don't go as far as fast as I used to but have never had a problem on a trailer with Bearing Buddies. I replace bearings every 2-3 years on my boat trailer whether needed or not and give it a shot of grease a couple times a summer. Just enough to move the spring. Add the "bra" to keep it clean if it doesn't come with it. I use a bearing packer to make it simple and less of a mess but it's easy enough to do by hand. I also carry a spare hub and/or already greased bearings, nut and cotter pin if I'm towing more than a couple hours from home. If you have 'em you'll never need 'em.
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I like them. They work on a pretty simple principle. If the grease is under a slight pressure from the spring, water can't get in. They do make one heck of a mess when you have a seal let go though.
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I've got them on my snowmobile trailer that sees at least 5000 miles a year. The key to them is like said above, don't overgrease. ONE SINGLE PUMP twice a year is what the salesman told me to do and it's worked for me. Every 5 years I take them apart and manually repack and check seals. Never had an issue.
My boat trailer has oil bath hubs which I like way better for boats.
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My boat trailer has oil bath hubs which I like way better for boats.
Yup!!!!!
Just like a semi
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I have them as well. Tows range from 2 minutes to 4 and a half hours 1 way. Same experiences as others. Dont over grease and good to go.
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Tried on one of my trailers. Previous owner changed a hub and the buddy did not fit tight enough to stay on.
Never used them after that.
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Tried on one of my trailers. Previous owner changed a hub and the buddy did not fit tight enough to stay on.
Never used them after that.
Yea, I had one that would do that.
I fixed it by using an old wheel bearing trick my father taught to me.
The ID of the hub was larger than the OD of the outer race of a wheel bearing on my 57 chevy.
This was back in 72-73.
Anyway, my dad showed me that you could use a center punch and hammer to put little dimples on that ID bearing area of the hub.
You simply keep punching dimples all the way around inside that area where the outer bearing gets pressed into.
When you create the dimple, the center goes in, but on the outside of the dimple it raises slightly, creating a slightly higher ridge around the dimples.
This allows the bearing race to be held more securely so it doesn't spin.
We also then used locktite.
So I did the same thing and that bearing buddy never worked its way out.
After that incident, I always used locktite to install all of my bearing buddies.
A side note - be sure to clean both metal surfaces with a good solvent before using locktite to insure it does its job properly.
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(https://i.postimg.cc/CnNqGTL6/20230502-174449.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/CnNqGTL6)
Had to go talking about bearings and seals. Blew a seal on way home. Bearing buddy shoved a lot of grease out. Found a big wad of heavy mono wrapped around the seal seat. 2 cans of brake clean and a roll of towels. Fun fun
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Should never be considered a fail safe as most people I know do. Still must check every so often as I know some that had bearing problems with buddies. I carry a couple plastic bags with spare hub for greasy mess if change is needed away from home, experienced that mess with a friend. Makes you wonder how it ever got in the places you find it.
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(https://i.postimg.cc/v10N7fcS/4-A57-A575-B4-AA-4921-BFC9-A6-EE8-FF1335-D.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/v10N7fcS)
(https://i.postimg.cc/2LbMSyj9/62-FF9-DC0-19-BE-4-DA3-8-D14-EE9-D403-D921-E.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/2LbMSyj9)
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Not worth the money if you ask me.
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We know
You’ve already said that.
8)
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Not worth the money if you ask me.
I guess it depends on the situation. I blew my seal last week with bearing buddies. I made it home with just a big mess to clean up and a seal to replace.
Couple months ago my friend lost a seal and didn't catch it. New hub, bearings, seals AND a new axle. Plus 2 weeks of down time.
Took me 20 minutes and $10 to fix my problem, he was in a few hundred.
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I have Bearing Buddies on my boat trailer and they work great for me. Some people don't like them because they can cause overgreasing, leading to blown seals. In my opinion, if you install them properly and don't overfill, they can be quite helpful.
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I will be taking apart the bearing assembly tomorrow, regreasing and installing the bearing buddies. Wish me luck. Then it's on to repairing the wiring on the trailer.
Actually they aren't the brand called Bearing Buddies but look the same. I was surprised to find I had to get them from Tractor Supply vs. the local auto parts store.
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I've always had bearing buddies on my boat trailers, never had a problem with them. My last boat I trailed to niantic all the time to fish long island sound, had that boat for 21 years never had a bearing go bad. My new boat has buddies but it only makes short trips, couple pumps every spring and your good to go.
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Finally got around to repacking/replacing bearings on the boat trailer today. Picked up something at TSC that is just like Bearing Buddings but not the same brand. Was really surprised one of the local auto parts story Autozone didn't have Bearing buddies or replacement bearings for a trailer. Of course there are two other auto parts stores in this small town (no idea why), but I just decided to hit TSC.
Anyway, after dealing with my elderly parents that got into a shouting match this morning, and taking my mom to her exercise bike via wheelchair, and being a psychiatrist to her, I finally got started. Had to use a cheater bar to get the lug nuts off the first wheel. Bearings didn't look bad but there was some noise when I spun the wheel. And the inside seal was warped. So bought a kit for each wheel. There was plenty of grease but it was brown and there was some rust. Cleaned that all up and regreased. I bought a new grease gun as my dad has one I could use, but he has his own grease and he was reluctant to remove it to add my special marine grease. Added the end of the new grease gun to the zerk on the Bearing Buddy copy cat to see how it fits and couldn't get it off to save my life! Finally go it off and had the Bearing Buddy come apart in the process so I had to put it back together again. Frustrating to say the least.
Anyway after all kinds of interruptions I got one wheel done!
There is a hole on the side of the Bearing Buddy copy cat to allows excess grease to come out if you overfill it.
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There is a hole on the side of the Bearing Buddy copy cat to allows excess grease to come out if you overfill it.
I've seen these.
Great idea.
Simple idea.
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You should just tilt the gun to the side to release. If not the tip needs adjusted.
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You should just tilt the gun to the side to release. If not the tip needs adjusted.
Are you kidding?! I had to put d**n thing in a vise and it still fought me all the way!
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The tip should screw in and out
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The tip should screw in and out
Didn't seem to. I will have to try it again. I did get the cheapest one I could find. Maybe I got what I paid for. Doesn't have a flexible hose.
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I use the Locknube fitting adapters.
I have a Dewalt battery operated grease gun and several manual grease guns.
With multiple tractors, trailers and attachments the Lock n lube tips make life easy.
Locknlube.com
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I use the Locknube fitting adapters.
I have a Dewalt battery operated grease gun and several manual grease guns.
With multiple tractors, trailers and attachments the Lock n lube tips make life easy.
Locknlube.com
I may have to check that out at some point. Thanks John!