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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

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Faulty bearing seals?

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Steve Blackburn
Master Marine Consultant

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Canada
1091 Posts

Initially Posted - 04/30/2007 : 10:16:59

Hi guys,

After towing my new baby 850 miles from Oregon to Calgary Alberta, I noticed something at the very last leg of my trip (50 miles before arrival).

Below is a picture showing the back starboard wheel that oozes out grease from the hub. Note that the hub itself showed no heat. Notice how much grease was splattered all around the rim too (the darker spots all around). What do you think this is? Can I repair this myself?

Steve Blackburn, Calgary, AB
C250WB - 1999 - Hull 396

Edited by - Steve Blackburn on 04/30/2007 10:18:36

Sloop Smitten
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1181 Posts

Response Posted - 04/30/2007 : 12:23:27

Steve,
It's hard to tell from all the road grime but that looks like a buddy bearing (though I can't make out the grease fitting). If you take it off you should be able to wash it in a little gas and clean it up nicely. There is no seal on it that I am aware of. It keeps the grease in due to the tight tolerance between the pressure plate and the cylinder. If it is real old or corroded that tolerance may be affected. Every one I have ever seen leaked some if kept full of grease and you can overfill them. You can purchase rubber covers that will keep them clean and capture any grease that will leak. The hub seals are on the backside of the hub.

Edited by - on

bear
Admiral

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USA
909 Posts

Response Posted - 04/30/2007 : 12:43:14

Steve, As Sloop says it's hard to tell from the road grime, can you jack the wheels and feel the bearing while the wheel is turned? I don't see a bearing buudy cap there to pump some grese into. What does the wheel on the other side look/feel like. "Just my two cents worth" I'd drive it five miles and take another look, touch it and see how warm it is compared to the other three. Depending how you are loaded the rear wheels carry more weight than the front ones........Hope this helps....

Edited by - on

delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 04/30/2007 : 13:26:32

I agree, these could be bearing buddies, but it's hard to tell. Mine weren't quite this coated when I cleaned them, but you should find a bright blue rim under the grime if they're bearing buddies. I would guess that there is sufficient grease if the blue stuff oozing out is clean grease, but be sure to check (procedure below). I cleaned mine with some a small quantity of brake cleaner, a rag & some elbow grease. Once you have them clean, again presuming they're bearing buddies, there'll be a zerk fitting in the center of the hub, pump them with grease until you have about an 1/8" of the bright blue rim showing. The spring inside is then compressed against the grease enough to keep water from intruding when hot bearings meet cold water & contract.

Hope this helps.

Edited by - delliottg on 04/30/2007 13:30:20

Leon Sisson
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1893 Posts

Response Posted - 04/30/2007 : 15:35:28

I can't tell what you've got there either from the photo. But here's my two cents on how I think Bearing Buddy style dust covers work.

There's a spring loaded piston which slightly pressurizes the grease in the hub. (It's important to not have any air pockets inside the hub.) As the trailer submerges, water pressure on the exposed side of the piston adds its pressure to the grease, so there's always a bit more pressure inside the hub than out. The piston is sealed by O-ring 'piston rings.'

After you get to the ramp, just before backing down into the water, pump some grease into the Zerk fitting in the center of the dust cap, just until the piston gets a bit wobbly, and a little bit of grease squeezes out around the piston inside the area where the grease fitting is. (The exact guidelines for when to stop adding grease vary, and are supplied with the caps when new.) If you keep pumping, the piston backs out until it opens, or exposes, pressure relief ports. This pressure relief feature is supposed to prevent you from blowing out your inner wheel bearing seals by over pressuring the hub.

To reduce the amount of grease getting slung onto your tires (and everything else in sight, including your shiny white topsides), there are boots for the covers sometimes refered to as "Bearing Buddy Bras." If you use these, be sure to take them off at the ramp, so the water can add pressure to the piston. If the rubber covers are left on, the water pressure could exceed the hub pressure, forcing water past the inner wheel bearing seal and into the bearings.

-- Leon S.

Edited by - on

Steve Blackburn
Master Marine Consultant

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Canada
1091 Posts

Response Posted - 04/30/2007 : 22:40:41

Thanks guys. Yes I have bearing buddies installed. Looked really dirty to me too. I'll clean it up, check the back and dismantle it. No heat was detectable even after 50 miles of driving. So I guess it's just the bearing buddies oozing out.

I'll take another picture tomorrow after I clean it up. This site is great by the way. Where else can you document problems like this and get a near immediate response?

Edited by - on

sweetcraft
Admiral

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USA
816 Posts

Response Posted - 05/01/2007 : 00:55:23

There is a small port, hole for the grease to flow if over filled. The bra works ok but I have lost one or two so I started using tennis balls which I painted black, crew objected to the bright color of the balls. They have worked by staying on and catching the excess grease. The cutting of the hole in the ball is a learned technic by using a tin snips or a utility knife. Cut to fit. Use at your own risk and keeping the spring and zert fitting clean for the piston to work is important as reported above.

Edited by - on

John Mason
Admiral

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USA
687 Posts

Response Posted - 05/01/2007 : 01:19:50

My Bearing Buddies have the spring on the outside of that sliding end plate and a zerk fitting in the middle of it. Like these [url="http://www.bearingbuddy.com/"]Bearing Buddies[/url]

I don't see the spring or the zerk on yours. Definitely doesn't look like a Bearing Buddy to me.

Edited by - on

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The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.