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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

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Should I grease my bearing buddies?

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Ben
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1234 Posts

Initially Posted - 09/29/2003 : 18:47:30

Hi All,

This is going to be my first off-season with my new-to-me C25. Along with my C25 came a Trailrite 2-axle trailer with bearing buddies. I am going to be hauling the boat and trailer a couple hundred miles this weekend and I'm wondering what, if any, maintenance I should do before hand on the bearing buddies. I'm told that I need to grease them once a year, and since I've never greased them, I figure now is a good time before my road trip.

If I am supposed to grease them, can anyone explain to me in detail what I need to do, and what equipment, if any, I will need? I've never had a trailer with bearing buddies before and I don't know the first thing about where/how to grease them.

I know it seems I mostly have lots of questions and few tips<img src=icon_smile_dissapprove.gif border=0 align=middle>, but your assistance is tremendously appreciated. I could give lots of thoughts on America's involvement in WWII, or in the proper use of the English language having graduated with a journalism major and a history minor, but those topics don't seem to come up too often around here.<img src=icon_smile_blush.gif border=0 align=middle>

Again, thanks.

Ben
Adventurous
#5553
C25 SR/SK
<img src="http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b3d703b3127cce8e8039b3c9170000001010" border=0>

Edited by - on

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 09/29/2003 : 19:29:31

Don't apologize, Ben... We all ask questions, and most of us started out ONLY asking questions.

I had a trailer with Bearing Buddies--they're great. The key is to keep them "full", especially before and after they're dunked. You can tell they're full when the outside spring (around the rim) is pretty much compressed by the disk that holds the grease against the bearing.

To fill them, you need a standard automotive grease gun and a cartridge of axle grease. For this application, fancy "waterproof" grease is not required--just the kind meant for axle bearings. Snap the tip of the gun on the nipple in the middle of the Bearing Buddie, pump a few times, and you'll see the disk move out and the spring compress. A little grease will probably ooze out when you've reached the limit--just wipe it off. That's it.

Dave Bristle - 1985 C-25 #5032 SR-FK-Dinette-Honda "Passage" in SW CT

Edited by - on

Sea Trac
Master Marine Consultant

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Vanuatu
1357 Posts

Response Posted - 09/29/2003 : 19:38:49

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>
I could give lots of thoughts on...the proper use of the English language...but those topics don't seem to come up too often around here.<img src=icon_smile_blush.gif border=0 align=middle>
<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>

Stick around a little bit. <img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle> Your thoughts will be mightily appreciated. <img src=icon_smile_evil.gif border=0 align=middle>

J.B. Manley
Antares '85 FK/SR #4849
Grand Lake O' the Cherokees
36°29'58" -94°59'59"

Edited by - on

Arlyn Stewart
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
2980 Posts

Response Posted - 09/29/2003 : 20:09:16

I'll add... this is not one of those times when more is better. Adding more grease past the point where the bearing buddy has reached the outside shoulder will only see the grease forced out past the seals to land on the rim and acquire road grime and turn the wheels into a nasty mess.

So... the advice to grease them every spring is bad advice... checking them every spring is good advice... add grease if needed.

Arlyn C-250 W/B #224
<img src="http://www.cox-internet.com/arlynstewart/rr4.jpg" border=0>
N/E Texas and Great Lakes

[url="http://www.stewartfam.net/arlyn/"]Arlyn's C250 Mods n Cruising Stories[/url]

Edited by - on

Leon Sisson
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1893 Posts

Response Posted - 09/29/2003 : 21:07:28

Ben,

I suspect you're going to get differing opinions here, and not a unanimous consensus. Don't feel bad about not being able to contribute as much as you'd like. We all had to start out that way. (I'll try to throw in a few typos, spelling and grammar errors just to make you feel better about that journalism degree.<img src=icon_smile.gif border=0 align=middle>) Just be sure you send in that check to keep this service up and running.

As for Bearing Buddies and their generic clones, I strongly recommend the the following: <ul>
<li> If you've never had the hubs apart since you've owned the trailer, do it. Completely disassemble, clean, inspect, repack, and reassemble the trailer wheel hubs. When packing, be sure not to leave any air pockets. Use the best waterproof wheel bearing grease you can buy. (I suggest Amsoil.)</li>
<li> Once you have confidence in the contents of the hubs, get and carry a small grease gun loaded with that same grease.</li>
<li> At the launching ramp, and only then, pump grease into your Bearing Buddies until it leaks out around the piston. Do this at the last possible minute before backing into the water. If you use Bearing Buddy "Bras" to keep dirt out and grease in, leave them off when submerging the hubs.</li>
<li> Anually, inspect the inner wheel bearing seals for excessive leakage or other damage. Replace and repack if needed.</li>
<li> If you ever forget to pump up the hubs at the ramp, you should assume that there is now water in the inner bearings until proven otherwise. Inspect and repack as required.</li>
<li> Other than that, no further periodic or preventative trailer wheel bearing maintenance is needed.</li>
</ul>

Now remember, that's just my own opinion, others may differ. However, I base that on having owned about half a dozen trailers over about 30 years, and having had at least four (4) trailer axle roadside emergencies. If you stop to think about it, on any good boating weekend, the highway shoulders are littered with boat trailers missing a wheel. They're not all flat tires.

Just a week or two ago, I got a call from a guy I know who ignored the preceding advice. (That Leon can be so tedious, yammering on about trailer maintenance. Boats are meant to be enjoyed, not worked on!) He started out to tow his recently purchased 20' I/O cuddy 50 miles on an interstate for a day of boating fun with his kids.

After several other drivers honked and pointed frantically at his trailer, he finally got the point and pulled over. When he jacked up the smoking wheel, it fell off, hub and all. After a cell phone ordeal trying to get road service on a weekend, he finally managed to get Bubba Sixpack to come rescue him with a rollback truck. (He wouldn't tell me what Bubba charged.) The trailer axle was slightly wider than the truck bed. Bubba propped the bearing-less wheel back on, and loosely chained the whole mess down. As they crossed a bridge in heavy traffic, the wheel popped off again, and bouncing high between vehicles like a scary day at the race track. Since no one died, Bubba was totally unconcerned about this minor inconvenience.

The wounded trailer is still languishing in it's owner's driveway. His kids keep asking when they're going boating again.

When it hits the fan, it's way too late to wish you had been more diligent with the trailer maintenance.

-- Leon Sisson

Edited by - on

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 09/29/2003 : 21:11:29

Allow me to add one more consideration... The principal here is spring pressure against the supply of grease, forcing it into the bearing, which prevents water from displacing the grease. You don't want water, especially saltwater, in the bearing or the spring-loaded grease reservoir. After dunking and then towing my trailer, I generally added a squirt of grease, which often forced a few drops of saltwater out of the Bearing Buddies. If some grease oozed out around the outer seals, I wiped it off. The key is maintaining some pressure.

Dave Bristle - 1985 C-25 #5032 SR-FK-Dinette-Honda "Passage" in SW CT

In other words, what leon said! <img src=icon_smile_blush.gif border=0 align=middle>

Edited by - Dave Bristle on 09/29/2003 21:18:33

Edited by - on

Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 09/29/2003 : 21:52:40

What Leon said. If you talk to anyone in the trailer repair business they will tell you to throw the Bearing buddies away. A properly packed bearing with a conventional seal will not let water in and will not blow out the inner bearings from the pressure of Bearing buddies. The spindle seals were not designed to be under pressure. The secret for immersers is to let the wheel cool before you launch so it will not suck water in as the cold water hits the hot wheel bearing. Once you have initiated the bearing buddy cycle then you need to do what Leon said. As you can tell the bearing buddy is of dubious real value. But, we all buy into it and do the bearing buddy dance.

<img src="http://members.cox.net/fhopper/Catalina25/sigbow.jpg" border=0>Frank and Martha in Wichita KS. Lake Cheney

Edited by - fhopper@mac.com on 09/30/2003 09:47:45

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ClamBeach
Master Marine Consultant

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3072 Posts

Response Posted - 09/30/2003 : 01:03:50

Ok, here's my 2 cents based on years of dragging boat trailers around...and running industrial maintenance crews that were responsible for maintaining thousands of bearings.

Take with a few grains of salt as it's just one man's opinion.

IMHO Bearing buddies do one one thing... prevent the sucking of water into the wheel bearings when a warm hub assembly is immersed in cold water after trailering. (creating a vacuum)

In that respect, by maintaining SLIGHT positive pressure, they work and do their job.

I'm from the school that you should NOT force grease out of the inner seal by overloading the bearing buddy. Grease belongs on the inside of the seal, the rest of the world belongs on the outside.

Violating bearing seal integrity begins a long, slippery slope (pun?)of grease slinging and other troubles. Over application can also hydraulic the entire seal out of the hub... dumping gobs of grease either onto your rims or inside your brakes! Not a pretty sight.

When I ran a maintenance crew... one of the first lessons for new oilers was to NOT blow out grease seals by over-zealous pumping.

Remember that properly sealed bearings 'use' very little grease... enough is enough, and too much is too much.

Common sense trailering stuff... always carry a jack, spare bearing kits (races, bearings, seals), a grease gun, and basic tools (including a brass bearing drift) needed to change out a bearing on the roadside.

Check your tire pressures and lug nuts before you start...
take the time to STOP after the first few miles and check the bearing and brake temperatures.

A hot bearing can melt the axle spindle right off, set tires on fire, and wreak general havoc. While you're out there checking your bearings, be sure to walk around and look over the 'integrity' of your load.

On one such inspection I found that either I'd neglected to lock the coupler on the ball, or it had popped loose... either way it introduced some 'pucker factor'...

It's always worth that second look.

Currently maintaining two holes in the water...'77 Venture 23 and new to the family,
'78 Catalina 25

Edited by - on

Gary B.
Admiral

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USA
969 Posts

Response Posted - 09/30/2003 : 01:37:54

Yeah, what "Clam" said. I used to mistakenly pump grease until the spring was compressed, in order to keep pressure on the grease to force it into the bearings. BIG MISTAKE! When I wondered why the surge brakes did not seem to be working very well, I pulled a wheel......grease everywhere! Finally learned to pump until I can barely see the spring BEGIN to compress. Life is much better now.......

Gary B.

P.S. I have learned on this forum to always consider Leon's advice, too. I think he may be the most maintenance conscious C25 owner out here, IMHO. I have learned a few things from him, that's for sure.

Edited by - on

aeckhart
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1709 Posts

Response Posted - 09/30/2003 : 10:30:29

I just had to replace a set of bearings because I got too close to my trailer while mowing the lawn and caught the "bearing buddy" with the tractor fender. The resulting crack allowed the grease to leak when moving the boat to the ramp. Two lessons were learned; first, predeparture should always include inspection and greasing wheel hubs, and two, there are bearing buddies and there are bearng buddies. My old ones were plastic without a release aperture. My new buddies are chrome metal and have a tiny hole behind the maximum spring compression which allows a small amount of grease to release and thus warn you to stop pumping.

After fouteen years, I also had all the bearings checked. They were all bad and had to be replaced. Finally, I now give my trailer a wider berth when mowing the lawn.

Al
GALLIVANT
C25T 5801

Edited by - on

Ben
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1234 Posts

Response Posted - 09/30/2003 : 12:24:25

Thanks everyone, for your input. And you're right Leon, I do need to send in that check. It's long overdue.
<img src=icon_smile_approve.gif border=0 align=middle>

Ben
Adventurous
#5553
C25 SR/SK
<img src="http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b3d703b3127cce8e8039b3c9170000001010" border=0>

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