Re-packing bearings - 1990 Ranger Trail

[Hez]

Hey guys - looking for a little advice here.

on 12/4 I replaced the seals on my hubs and re-packed the bearing with new grease.

Fast forward to yesterday:

Got home from fishing and noticed a bearing buddy was missing and grease was slung all over the face of the rim. Okay...I lost a re-used bearing buddy. No problem, I'll get new ones and re-pack the hubs tomorrow.

Today, I go out to pull the tires off and notice BOTH of the seals that I replaced are gone. Blew out I guess? I have a seal puncher from harbor freight...so I know I got them in there good....did I pack them with too much grease?

When I repacked them originally, I loaded the hub full of grease, put it back together and pumped the bearing buddy full until there was movement on the piston of the BB. I inspected everything then and all seemed good...any ideas?

How much grease is ideal?

Am I doing something wrong with getting these seals back in?

Trailer is a 1990 Ranger Trail

Thanks.

[Hez]

Seal is still there...it just seems to have blown. These seals were in the boat when I got it...so no telling how old they were...maybe they were dry rotted and crap?

[Dually13]

If those are the bearing buddy caps it is very easy to blow out th seals. I personally think all you have to do is pack the bearings with grease. Thats it. There is no need to fill the hub with grease or use bearing buddies. Just repack rhe bearings every year or every other year and you will be fine. Any grease that is not in the bearing itself is not doing anything except taking up space. The Dexter axles that are drilled can be used to pump grease through the inner bearing through the outer bearing and out the hole in the cap. Bearing buddies are just a cap with a fitting in them and when you pump grease into the hub, the grease has no where to go but out the seals. I personally feel that repacking yearly keeps the bearings packed with fresh grease and gives you the opportunity to inspect the bearings for water and other damage.

[Bob G.]

I'm trying to figure out where the hub seals went if they blew out. I would think that they would be on the spindle. If you have the right seals, they should be snug when putting them in. I have UFP hubs and this is what I do.

Install the inner bearing and seal. I use Permatex Red RTV on the outside edge of the seal before installing. Tap the seal in part way and seat flat with a piece of plywood. I fill the voids in the hub with grease before installing the outer bearing. Seat the bearings per instructions for your hubs. I have UFP Trailer Buddy's on my hubs and I installed them with the RTV also. They should be tight when installing. I rotate the hub when smacking them on with a dead blow hammer. I also rotate the hub when adding grease to the bearing protector until the blue thing just begins to move. I carry my grease gun in the truck for the first few trips. If the blue indicator is sucked in a little BEFORE launching the boat, I add a little grease to get it to pop out a smidge. I'll do this until all air is out and I can see about 1/8" of the blue indicators. I check the hub temps every time I tow.

EDIT: Saw the pics that you posted while I was writing a story!

[Heelman99]

Be careful Hez!!!!! I had a situation with my left trailer wheel and the bearing assembly while going to the lake. I lost a wheel and totally damaged the axle. When I got the trailer to the trailer repair shop the first thing the service technician asked was, "you had bearing buddies on the wheel hub didn't you?" I had added to much grease through the beading buddy. That piston in the bearing buddy that is suppose to move as grease is added didn't move. I had added to much grease blew out the rear seal and long story short as I traveled to the lake that morning everything got hot the bearings with a low amount of grease broke causing a lot of wheel wobble and eventually coming off completely. Now finding that the insurance doesn't cover all this kind of damage to the boat trailer due to the bearings failed because of low or lacking grease. Only if I had hit something or contacted a road hazard. NOW I am having installing an Idle axle with an E-Z lube hub. The new axle and E-Z lube hubs are a little expensive but not near the $1500.00 damage done due to a blown out wheel bearing grease seal.

[Bob G.]

Seal is still there...it just seems to have blown. These seals were in the boat when I got it...so no telling how old they were...maybe they were dry rotted and crap?

Do you have pics of the seals that you installed that blew out?

[Hez]

Do you have pics of the seals that you installed that blew out?

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/to...8653_200468653

Not an actual picture of them, but there is a link.


Bearing buddies where on the trailer when I got it...thought they seemed like a good idea...so I kept them....now I am second-guessing them.

[Bamaman]

Another problem not mentioned was it there are surge of electric brakes. With the bearing buddies, too much grease can be injected bypassing the seal and greasing up the brake shoes. Then the brakes don't work at all. The fix is all new parts.

There are thousands of travel trailers and fifth wheels running the roads with greased brakes. After huge warranty claims, Lippert finally figured now much grease to inject when assembling hubs on axles. Another problem was the use of a thin bearing grease vs. the preferred thick red axle grease like Lucas makes.

[Bob G.]

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/to...8653_200468653

Not an actual picture of them, but there is a link.


Bearing buddies where on the trailer when I got it...thought they seemed like a good idea...so I kept them....now I am second-guessing them.

The link showed single lipped seals, should install double lipped seals on a boat trailer.

If the bearing buddies were not to snug when installing and they are 1.98", can spread them a bit on a 2" hitch ball.

[RazorCat]

The absolute worse thing you can do to a trailer hub is put a grease gun on the BB zerk. New seals, hand pack the bearings and install, fill the back of the B.B. with grease and re-install. And usually tap a couple of notches in the edge of the BB so it will stay put. If you don’t have a seal leak there no place for the grease to go. So, no need to add more.

[Hez]

The link showed single lipped seals, should install double lipped seals on a boat trailer.

This I did not know...maybe that is the issue.

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/to...8655_200468655

Are these the ones?

Installation similar?

[Bob G.]

This I did not know...maybe that is the issue.

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/to...8655_200468655

Are these the ones?

Installation similar?

Those look like an all plastic seal housing. The UFP seals that I use are metal with a double lipped spring loaded seal. I install them as I described in my earlier post. Permatex High Temp Red RTV, a piece of plywood and a dead blow hammer to seat flush to the back of the hub. I agree with RazorCat. I fill the hub void, add grease to the bearing buddy (about half full) before installing. Will only need a little grease to top it off. After that, there is no place for it to go unless the seal blows out or the bearing protector falls off.

I check the back side of my hubs when my boat is off of the trailer for grease. I had oil bath hubs and converted the same hubs to grease. At least the grease will stay in a hub longer than oil leaking out.

[Hez]

https://www.grainger.com/product/SKF...-Rotary-35UC14

Something like this

[Jeff Hahn]

If your 1990 trailer is the same as my 1991 was, the spindle should be drilled all the way through from front to back. You need to buy a needle fitting for your grease gun. It will look like this:

Once you install a double lip seal reinstall the hub. Then, attach the needle fitting to your grease gun and put the needle end in the hole at the end of the spindle. Then, pump grease through the spindle. It will exist out the back of the spindle, fill the hub, and then exit out the end of the hub when it is full. I would toss the bearing buddies or only use them as caps to hold the grease in. Better yet, buy a couple solid caps for the end of the hub and forget it.

[KenHo]

I'm trying to figure out where the hub seals went if they blew out. I would think that they would be on the spindle. If you have the right seals, they should be snug when putting them in. I have UFP hubs and this is what I do.

Install the inner bearing and seal. I use Permatex Red RTV on the outside edge of the seal before installing. Tap the seal in part way and seat flat with a piece of plywood. I fill the voids in the hub with grease before installing the outer bearing. Seat the bearings per instructions for your hubs. I have UFP Trailer Buddy's on my hubs and I installed them with the RTV also. They should be tight when installing. I rotate the hub when smacking them on with a dead blow hammer. I also rotate the hub when adding grease to the bearing protector until the blue thing just begins to move. I carry my grease gun in the truck for the first few trips. If the blue indicator is sucked in a little BEFORE launching the boat, I add a little grease to get it to pop out a smidge. I'll do this until all air is out and I can see about 1/8" of the blue indicators. I check the hub temps every time I tow.

EDIT: Saw the pics that you posted while I was writing a story!

This is the correct way.

[Hez]

Thank you all for the education and the advice.

Merry Christmas.

[Amistad Tackle]

You can get the correct seals from Ranger. Call their parts department with your trailer model number. They will have the seals.

[Hez]

You can get the correct seals from Ranger. Call their parts department with your trailer model number. They will have the seals.

Will do that this week. Thanks.

[aj306]

What Jeff Hahn said . The 88 model had a grease fitting in the end of the axle a a little rubber plug in the cap to remove and grease.

[Matt_Fisherman]

What Jeff Hahn said . The 88 model had a grease fitting in the end of the axle a a little rubber plug in the cap to remove and grease.

Do the inner seals sit flush to the back of the hub when installing or do you have to tap them down a bit in the hub they to finally grab.