Wheel bearing ?

[getfished]

I think my wheel bearings are UFP. They have a supposedly sealed system that lasts a lifetime . Yea right. Anyway they have an outer cap/disc that should stick out maybe 1/4 to 1/2” when they are full of grease. Supposedly when the disc draws inboard toward the hub to the point it is flush and no longer sticking out is supposed to be the visual indicator when the bearing needs new grease or service .

ok well I had a shop service them and I believe they replaced all the bearings and packed with new grease. The outer disc/visual indicator is flush now and not sticking out a little like I thought it would be. I asked the shop about it and they assured me all was well and packing them enough to move the disc out might blow the seals in the hot weather. Not convinced but OK

one of the wheels has a small amount of play. I’m going to raise the wheel off the ground and double check to see but I kinda think they didn’t get one of the wheel bearings properly seated.

if I was to add grease to the hubs enough to move that disc outward is it OK if I use a different grease ? Not sure exactly what kind of grease they used.

taking it back to the shop is not going to happen. Long story.

[gambler1]

Red,blue, or green grease color does not matter as long as the tube has #2 on it. how do you know the wheel has play in it? did you jack it up and check?

[getfished]

I will raise it this weekend to verify. I walked around the trailer and put my foot at the top of each wheel and gave it a strong quick push. 3 of the tires just seemed like pushing against air pressure. The 4th tire wiggled ever so slightly. Made me think maybe that bearing didn’t get snugged/seated properly

[Bob G.]

If you want it done right......you should learn to service your hubs yourself.

Vault or Trailer Buddy's? If Trailer Buddy's, only need a smidge of blue showing when the hub is properly filled. Sometimes it takes a few trips towing to get the air out of the hub and a little grease needs to be added.

[billnorman1]

If you want it done right......you should learn to service your hubs yourself.

Vault or Trailer Buddy's? If Trailer Buddy's, only need a smidge of blue showing when the hub is properly filled. Sometimes it takes a few trips towing to get the air out of the hub and a little grease needs to be added.

^^^^Good post^^^^^
If they are Bearing Buddy STYLE and there's any indication that there is still grease under spring pressure they are fine. As they roll some air may be expelled and the indicator can move closer to the hub. I would not add any grease that was not the type they used. I suppose you have ended up with bad relations with the shop that did the job, that's too bad. We all should learn to do our own, I've seen trailer shops repeatedly screw up bearing packing and installation because they use low paid unskilled help.
You should not be able to detect any appreciable play in a roller bearing, but that play can only be properly set with any add on oilers removed.

[getfished]

I’ve serviced them before but it’s been 5 years so I thought to have them serviced while the boat was in the shop for other concerns. The indicator cap is blue and I can’t see any blue along with the one wheel that doesn’t have a properly seated bearing. Guess I’m gonna give all 4 of them a closer look. Mine have to be hand packed as there is no zero on the spindle.

i didn’t burn any bridges with the shop but doubtful if I will have any more work done there.
The shop is a sponsor here and frankly I was really surprised things turned out this way..

i guess i will will get a couple tubes of the correct grease and redo them to make sure the blue cap is visible when done.

[Jtreed99]

All advice you have gotten so far is 100% correct. I should add that if you are concerned get a small grease gun of whatever grease they used and VERY SLOWLY start adding grease. If the indicator begins to move you know it was properly filled just as they said. Stop adding grease the very instant the indicator begins to move. Many like to keep the indicator at a certain position but I would rather check mine more often by confirming any additional grease moves the indicator instead of getting the indicator a certain distance out and risking the rear seal.

[fishnfireman]

IMO-- With those style hubs----there is a FINE line between enough and to much grease.
As stated already the newly filled hubs will most likely need some more grease after being pulled enough to get grease into every little space!!

[Texas Larry]

They most likely packed the bearings the way you normally pack wheel bearings on a car, trailer, etc, and they didn't fill the hub totally with grease. There is air in the hub, which could possibly allow water to get into it when you launch the boat. As stated above, get a grease gun and put enough grease in them to just move the piston. Once it moves a little, that's enough. Check them often, and every time you see the piston is retracted add a little grease. After a few times, all the air should be forced out of the hub. By the way, when adjusting bearings, a little bit loose is a whole lot better than a little too tight!!

[Bob McKenzie]

Trailer buddies are packed and filled to 3 psi with an overfill hole that will push excessive grease out the overflow before it goes out the seal. The blue should fully exposed to show full. UFP has a special grease that is suppose to be used that changes from a grease like consistency to a more oil like as it heats up. After filling completely you may get a small amount of grease under the trailer buddy nipple cover from expansion. It is recommended to use the ufp grease#2 as stated above. It says they are maintenance free for 100000 miles but I wouldn’t wait that long. I have also switched my grease to #2 red high heat moisture proof grease by mystic without any problems, and anything on a disc brake hub should be high heat grease. I always keep my blue exposed a 1/4 until grease comes out the overflow and this is how I check the condition of my existing grease, as you pump new grease in the grease that comes out should be red or green or blue, what ever grease your using

[Bob G.]

Also check the inner seals when the boat is off of the trailer. I give mine a quick check before trailering to load up while the trailer had time to dry. A smidge of blue showing on the Trailer Buddy and no grease on the inner seals makes for happy trailering.

[Bob McKenzie]

A small amount of oil may be visible on the inner seal on the back side of a he hub, this is acceptable as it’s the oil coming out of the grease, like a sweat, same stuff and that leaks from your grease gun when stored for any period of time.

[Bob McKenzie]

Heres a pick from my last trip and how I’ve kept it over the last 6 seasons

[Jtreed99]

Heres a pick from my last trip and how I’ve kept it over the last 6 seasons

where are you buying your inner seals? They are very obviously of much higher quality and strength than the ones I buy...

[Bob McKenzie]

The sticker actually says to keep it full, I’ll get a better pick tonght

[Bob McKenzie]

This is a complete system, all parts should come from ufp. Even opening this up to inspect requires you to redo the seals as stated in the maintenance section of the manual.

i ordered new seals directly from them and had them shipped to my house in Canada. I had 1 spare set of seals and bearings sent as a back up, I’ve been contemplating ordering a spare complete hub assembly to carry with me, just in case.

[Bob McKenzie]

I forgot to mention you should only be using a hand pumped grease gun on this system, and when I do get to full I pump very slowly. I think even a hand pumped grease gun could exceed 3 psi if you pumped it hard enough.

[Bob McKenzie]

Parts are here http://www.trailerandtruckparts.com/...rts_c_368.html

Owners manual http://www.waymires.com/support_docu...ice_manual.pdf

[Bob G.]

This is a complete system, all parts should come from ufp. Even opening this up to inspect requires you to redo the seals as stated in the maintenance section of the manual.

i ordered new seals directly from them and had them shipped to my house in Canada. I had 1 spare set of seals and bearings sent as a back up, I’ve been contemplating ordering a spare complete hub assembly to carry with me, just in case.

Your hubs have a little more grease in them than I do, but if they don't leak, it's all good. I use all UFP parts also in my hubs (bearings, races, seals and wear rings).

[getfished]

I'm a bit confused after reading the last 4 or 5 post. On my wheels the only way to add grease is to remove the cap that has the blue spring loaded disc. Once that is removed grease has to be added by hand. You can't use a grease gun anywhere . The spindle or axle shaft does not have a grease zerk and the end of the spindle has no tapped/threaded hole for a grease zerk. Where are you guys attaching your grease gun ? The one wheel bearing I serviced 2 years ago was throwing grease. I pulled it and wiped everything out and , cleaned the bearing and packed both with grease supplied by UFP. I still have a tube of it left. I had to put the grease in by hand and do my best to fill the cavity and then put the cap back on. I wish I could attach a grease gun somewhere and watch the blue cap expand outward. Sure would be a lot easier.

It's gonna be a couple weeks before I get around to addressing this issue. I've already been out of service boatwise since May 6 so my summer fishing is bassically shot. I have a busy schedule for the next couple weeks, rebuilding a car and some maintenance on 4 other properties besides mowing around here and I work part time. So as soon as I get caught up a bit I'll try to post some pics of how my set up is. I'll pull this thread back up and update.

Thanks for the feedback guys.