Bearing Buddies or not

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

What's your take on bearing lube systems for boat trailers?

[bobbymalone]

necessity for any boat trailer larger than a duck boat trailer. the only drawbacks I can see are that they cost $20 a pair and the added cost of the extra grease you have to pump in there.

and i have had bad luck with the knock off bearing buddies. I don't think they are built with as rigid specifications. Three times I have seen grease all over the hubs and the bearing buddy went missing somewhere. That hasn't happened with original bearing buddies. Plus original bearing buddies are technically made in the USA (if you want to count Puerto Rico) whereas you can probably guess where the generics come from.

[Rivernut]

Absolute must. I've used them on every teailer over the last 20 + years, and 0 problems.

[Tom7227]

IMO not a substitute for doing it the correct way as outlined in one of the top threads on this forum. Bearing buddies are OK as added insurance but the whole thing needs to be taken apart, cleaned and inspected and hand greased at least once every three years or so regardless of miles or times put into water.

[bobbymalone]

^^^^^ truth.

[Rivernut]

Correct,good point, I failed to make that statement. You still should take apart and check every few years.But they do give you peace of mind in the meantime.

[harvey lee]

Must have. Repack annually.

[Jeremy airjer W]

Most of the trailer bearing failures I see have two things in common. Bearing buddies are normally installed on the hubs and the inner bearings are the ones that fail!

[Down Deep]

IMO not a substitute for doing it the correct way as outlined in one of the top threads on this forum. Bearing buddies are OK as added insurance but the whole thing needs to be taken apart, cleaned and inspected and hand greased at least once every three years or so regardless of miles or times put into water.

VERY SAGE ADVICE -

[Tom7227]

Check out this thread and you'll get an idea of what can happen if things aren't done correctly.

http://www.hotspotoutdoors.com/forum/ubb...ing#Post2600154

It's enough to make you cry, and a great ad for bearing buddies - this one didn't fall off.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Not a great as since it didn't save the bearing. Never know if people are using them correctly do we?

[Get'n Jiggy]

Must have. Repack annually.

With most of bearings being "Made in China" they are a lot more prone

to rust.

[chris63]

I think (some)people get a false sense of security with bearing buddies.I suggest inspection and/or repack once annually.Then you will know for sure!c63

[reinhard1]

i still have the original bearings in my eagle trailer which i have had since 2002. i have a rubber plug that i can remove and put grease in the bearings when needed. i check mine every trip and add enough to maintain it full. never even had a warm bearing to the touch during testing while on long trips. now i'm hearing of anual bearing re-packing. as some of you know i am not someone who knows much about mechanics, so am i lucky or am i looking for problems. good luck.

[hydro]

I prefer the "Rubber Plug" system mentioned above over the Bearing Buddy system. Bearing Buddies just pack grease in from the hub and are designed to put pressure on the grease to keep the hub full and force some grease to the inner bearing. The result is a big mess on the inside of the wheel and you never know if the grease got to the inner bearing.

The system with the rubber plug has a zerk in the end of the axle that puts grease into the hub at the inner race. you fill the hub until grease comes through the outer bearing and you know both bearings are full. It also does not pressurize the hub and things stay cleaner.

From my experience I see no reason to re-pack every year. I used to do this and every year the bearings were clean and in good shape. Just give the hubs a touch each trip to see if they are warm and keep them greased. If you have rust issues the hubs will run warm long before anything fails.