Bearing buddy fall out!!

[RussDaBuss]

Asking your guys opinion here.. Was on a trip this past weekend and had the boat. Went fishing a couple days. Noticed my right side bearing buddy was gone. Luckily must not have happened to much before I noticed. Anyway, 2 years ago I had this same issue with the same hub. At that time I bought new BB's and pounded them in. Sure as heck, I checked them down the raod and they were already coming loose. I then took the boat to a dealer in town and they fixed it(I believe they had to do some honing of the hub,sound right?) this fixed my problem up until this past weekend. Same old thing, fell off. Any ideas. I am calling around town and getting ideas. I think I should get a whole new hub and start from there?? I really do not want to worry about this when I am on a trip. They should not come loose should they? BTW, I have a 1998 Shorelander trailer, I believe 2000 lb..

Thanks for any input or ideas!!

[jigeye]

First off I beleive your best fix would be to put a new hub on since multiple fixes have not worked. I don't understand how honing the hub could work since you are taking material away when it is already loose. A better termporary fix might have been trying to center-punch around the inside perimiter of the hub so their would be more interference when pounding the bearing buddy in. This method would probably work fine to get you thru your trip but I would still recommend replacing the hub.

Hope this helps.

[Jeremy airjer W]

Sounds like the opening on the hub is just a little to big. "Honing" would only make it bigger. I would bet they gave the buddy a few love taps from the inside out to make the diameter a little bigger.

I would say that a new hub would be the next logical step. You already tried a new buddy, and a "professional" repair and niether of those worked.

These are really hard to get off when you want to take them off so I wouldn't expect them to just fall off.

[Ole1855]

Russ,

I had the same problem a few years back on my boat trailer, I bought a new hub and they never came out again, I guess the hub was damaged in some way.

Ole

[GotOne]

New hub's are cheaper at Northern. I just bought 1-1/16 and it cost about 28.00. Fleet Farm was close to 10.00 more. You will most likely need a larger hub, but the price should still be cheaper. Also, this is complete-everything you need, bearings, greased, etc... just slide it in place. I bought it as a spare after I re-packed my own bearings and installed new races. Just in case I screwed something up.

[Dave1]

Its a quality issue. The tolerance is not held to a tight enough standard. Ive seen the same problem with new hubs Ive bought from Northern.

If you do the center punch thing, be sure to use some silicone or other sealer as they will probably leak (water) if you don't.

Silicone or other glue of your choice will probably cure this.

If you're not a fan of silicone and want to replace it, consider Pioneer Wheel in Minneapolis. Quality might be better than Northern.

[Dave1]

...another possibility is the bearing buddy diameter is too small. You could swap the one from the other side and see if the fit is better.

[Guest]

Before you replace the hub you could try taking a center punch

and make small dents protruding from the inside out on your buddies.

I bet that would tighten things up.

[RussDaBuss]

Thanks for the ideas guys!! I will explore them all.. I just don't want this to happen again. Not much fun being on a trip and seeing a bearing buddy missing!! Thanks agian for the ideas!!

[Chris Haley]

What's a new hub cost?? $40 at Champion Auto. Is it really worth trying to rig it????

[RussDaBuss]

Ya, I called around to a local dealer who sells ShoreLander and I can get the whole Hub assembly for 50 bucks so I am just going to go that route for piece of mind.. That sucker better not fall out after i put a new one on!! thanks for the help guys..

[76k20]

most likely when you had it in the shop before they either knurled the outside of the bearing buddy or the inside of the hub. Im gonna say they probably knurled the ouside of the buddy. You would be able to see if the hub was knurled by a pattern of intersecting diagonal lines inside of the press fit area. as a machine mechanic I have knurled bores that bearings have spun in, and it is possible that the center puch trick would work for you but if you do it, try to punch 6-8 places around the outside of the bearing buddies press fit section pretty close to evenly spaced around the circumference. what this achieves is denting the surface causing the area around the dent to stick up past its original circumference. I dont think puching from the inside out would have as much of an effect and its easier to punch from the outside anyways. you only need a couple thousands of an inch so dont get carried away with that punch and bend up the buddy.

Another thing you may want to look at is wheel balance, excessive vibration at freeway speeds could be a contributing factor here, once they start moving the forces of inertia have them in a ditch in no time at all.

[Bassboy1645]

look on the back of the package when u get ur bb's. they have a chart with model numbers and size hubs for that particualr model. make sure this is right if not that could be your problem. they shouldn't just fall out. i put a set on wrong in the case that i forgot to put the cotter pins back in and i spent three hours beating with a rubber mallet just to get mine back out.

[Borch]

I lost two on a family trip this summer. The boat was loaded heavier than normal and the road was rough. I haven't lost one since.

I was tempted to put a thin coat of lock tite on the rim of the BB and hammer it in. I doubt it would come out until it was time for maintainence.

[Dan Thiem]

Make sure to use the blue not the red Loctite.

[Jeremy airjer W]

Locktite makes a product for securing non threaded objects. I think its there 600 product line. I don't think the loctite red or blue that we normal think of would work as these products are specifically designed for use on threaded bolts/nuts.

[Surface Tension]

Having serviced quite a few bearings I've run across a few dust caps or BBs that didn't have a tight pressed fit. Sometimes its the caps or BBs that are the culprits.

The punch along the outer edge of the hub or a knurl along with a sealer should work or put flare with a cone on the BB.

A few things come to mind that would send a good cap off a good hub. A cap or BB that wasn't seated completely and even in a bit crooked. That little wobble at highway speeds will send the buddy on its way. Or you might have a BB that was seated correctly but from road dust became dirty and the BB froze then popped out a bit when grease was applied. I lost a BB in a parking lot. Was there when I left for a day of fishing and gone when I came back.

[RussDaBuss]

Well, once again, thanks for all the input, good stuff to think about down the road. For now, I am going to go with the new hub option. That BETTER work.

Surface Tension. I see you are from Twig. I worked in Duluth for a few years and rented a trailer house on Grand Lake near Twig. Very Nice area!! Kinda wish I lived up there yet!

[Surface Tension]

Russ, yes it is a nice area and being close by, I fish Grand quite a bit.

[GotOne]

Well after giving my tip last week, it happened to me. I re-packed my new bearings, news races, etc. (haven't did my own in years) I didn't seat the hubs on tight enough. Both dust covers fell off on the way to the deer shack. Stopped at wally world in Little Falls and they didn't have any covers, Bought a little pkg of tupperware bowls and hose clamps and made myself a couple of mighty fine dust covers. Not bad for a late night McGyver job. I hate doing things myself-alway screw things up. Also damaged my inside seal-but made it up and back-over 600 miles r/t.