Should I replace wheel bearings

[burnerator]

I've got a 93 Stratos single axel trailer and i'm the second owner. I grease the bearing buddies 2 times a year and was told by the original owner to keep pumping in the grease until it comes out the back and when he did this water came out and the new grease came out and he stopped. I've been following his instructions and never had a problem. Today I took off the bearing buddies and cleaned out the grease I could get at and was wondering how do I know is I need to replace the bearings and if so do I just go to a bearing shop and get replacements.

Any help is much appreciated

[lmoore]

You should never be pumping grease all the way through the rear seal. The reason you get water in is because you ruin the seal by pumping grease through it. If you only take short trips you can probably get by this way for a long time, but if you ever take long trips like that you are asking for trouble. If it were me, I would replace bearings and seals and then use the bearing buddies properly (only pumping in grease until the indicator in the cap pushed out slightly). From there you don't need to add grease unless you see the indicator has pushed back into the bearing buddy, which indicates you have a leak somewhere.

[Urbanhick]

Grease shouldn't come out of the back seal ever, bearing buddies the plunger in the front will come out all the way then there is a hole the excess grease comes out of. Is there slung grease on the inside of the wheels from trailering? A trailer that old especially with water intrusion would warrant a rebuild at least for piece of mind sake just my opinion.

[burnerator]

Thanks guys for the info but my bearing buddies only have a grease nipple built into them and I don't recall any indicator. I think his theory was if grease comes out the back there is grease all around the rear seal. Do I buy the bearings at my local bearing shop or do I need a kit of some kind bearing in mind(pardon the pun) i'm in Ontario and don't have access to all the great companies that you may have.

[hankgun]

Thanks guys for the info but my bearing buddies only have a grease nipple built into them and I don't recall any indicator.

If no indicator just add grease until the plate the nipple is screwed to moves out about 1/8". You'll be able to rock the plate back & forth meaning the cap is full and relying on spring pressure to keep water out.

https://www.bearingbuddy.com/how-bb-works

[mactlman]

get ufp buddy bearing. put some in until blue disc moves out some and if the blue disc never goes back in or leaks at the rear seal it needs nothing else done https://basscatstore.com/buddybearingprotecto.aspx

[bassboat1]

Thanks guys for the info but my bearing buddies only have a grease nipple built into them and I don't recall any indicator.

Usually, they have a relief hole in the front that will squirt some grease when they get full. Before EZ Lube, I ran BB hubs and would quit pumping once I saw the grease pressure begin to overcome the spring holding the cap in (i.e. when you see it move). IDK if it directly damages the seals, but grease pushed out the inner seals will attract sand - and that is damaging to the rubber.

As far as replacing them - jack the wheel up, Spin it - if it's rough, you need a bearing for sure. Grasp the top and bottom of the tire and rock it. A minuscule amount of movement is fine. More than a little, and you should remove the bearing buddy & cotter pin and turn in the castle nut snug. Rotate the wheel and feel for any roughness in the bearings. If it's good, back the nut off until there's the least amount of play and put the hub back together.

[SoonerFan]

I usually go ahead and replace the bearings and races about every second or third time I crack it open to re-pack the bearings, New Timken bearings and races from Amazon around $35 a wheel. Cheap comfort in my opinion.

[burnerator]

You guys are awesome. Thanks for all the info guys, your knowledge and recommendations are always helpful for us old farts.

[FrancoCialone]

If I were you I'd replace everything, bearings,races, and grease seals. I just ordered from easternmarine.com to completely redo my Shorelandr trailer and also ordered Lubrimatic marine trailer wheel bearing grease, its hard to find this stuff in Ontario.

[PJ-Rohlf]

Those seals should be replaced. Make sure its a double lip seal.

[burnerator]

Just an update, I took the hub off one side and took the front bearing out and it had Hyatt Hungary 144649 on the bearing. once I cleaned all the grease off it there was absolutely no rust and all rolled around freely so I will clean all these parts with Solvable Professional Grade Mineral spirits grease everything up and put them in a baggie and keep for spares. I got some Lucas Oil Red and Tacky Multi purpose EP grease rated to 540 F, if this stuff isn't right please let me know. I will have 2 sets of Timken bearing being delivered tomorrow morning. Fell free to tell me if I screwed anything up.

[billnorman1]

Just an update, I took the hub off one side and took the front bearing out and it had Hyatt Hungary 144649 on the bearing. once I cleaned all the grease off it there was absolutely no rust and all rolled around freely so I will clean all these parts with Solvable Professional Grade Mineral spirits grease everything up and put them in a baggie and keep for spares. I got some Lucas Oil Red and Tacky Multi purpose EP grease rated to 540 F, if this stuff isn't right please let me know. I will have 2 sets of Timken bearing being delivered tomorrow morning. Fell free to tell me if I screwed anything up.

Now you've gone and done it. You had a system that worked for you and the Previous Owner and you just had to change it. It wasn't the right way to do things but it worked. The new grease pushed the old grease and any water, if any, out the back where it could go about the important function of getting all over your tires and brakes, if any.

Now you have to learn how to change bearing races and pack new bearings. There's plenty of Youtube videos on how to do such things. Keep your old bearings with their respective races together, they match.

The seals are supposed to keep water out and keep the grease from getting contaminated. It takes a pretty good seal not to get blown out of the hub when overpressurized.

The RIGHT way is to pack the new bearings, then when installed, you grease the Bearing Buddys (I don't like them) with enough grease to make the coil spring start to compress, then stop.

If it was me, I'd have to think hard about changing something that has worked for years, but the end result is a teachable moment, in the words of a famous former President.

[Fireball]

Just an update, I took the hub off one side and took the front bearing out and it had Hyatt Hungary 144649 on the bearing. once I cleaned all the grease off it there was absolutely no rust and all rolled around freely so I will clean all these parts with Solvable Professional Grade Mineral spirits grease everything up and put them in a baggie and keep for spares. I got some Lucas Oil Red and Tacky Multi purpose EP grease rated to 540 F, if this stuff isn't right please let me know. I will have 2 sets of Timken bearing being delivered tomorrow morning. Fell free to tell me if I screwed anything up.

The Lucas Red n Tacky grease is great stuff, reasonably priced and it's available almost everywhere, it's a good choice. It's what I use and recommended by Dexter who makes my axle. HOWEVER, since you don't know what kind of grease you have in those hubs you should really CLEAN out all the grease and repack those bearing with your favorite grease and here's why. There are 2 different types of wheel bearing grease. One is Lithium based grease and the other Calcium base grease and they should not be mixed because they don't like each other.

Also recommended would be NEW rear seals and different Buddy Bearing and use them as there were intended to.

[SoonerFan]

I've got a feeling that the OP used the wrong term when he referred to the "old grease and water coming out the back". Something tells me that he meant that the grease and water were coming out the outer side. If we could see his hub setup, I'll bet he has something like my Tie Down Engineering hub with the grease cert just behind a rubber cap that pops off. Grease gun into the cert and new grease does force old grease and water contamination out the front....NOT out the rear seal. If that's the case then it's working right. OP never said anything about grease being slung on the inside of the wheel.

Also, just to be clear to the OP, if the inner bearing is removed then the seal must be removed to get to it and most likely damaged in the process. Even if it looks good...replace it. Most of the problems I have had with my rig has been concerning the inner hub seal.

One more comment that many will disagree with... Although many guys use Lucas Red & Tacky, it is NOT the recommend grease for wheel bearings, especially bearing that will be immersed in water. R&T is designed for use in industrial and agricultural machinery where you have two surfaces sliding together. Better to use a specified "marine" grease for its water and wash out resistance. Just an opinion I got from reading the Lucas website spec sheets.

One more thing I just thought of that I don't think was talked about . New bearings also require new matching races of the same brand.

[BOATS]

I've got a feeling that the OP used the wrong term when he referred to the "old grease and water coming out the back". Something tells me that he meant that the grease and water were coming out the outer side. If we could see his hub setup, I'll bet he has something like my Tie Down Engineering hub with the grease cert just behind a rubber cap that pops off. Grease gun into the cert and new grease does force old grease and water contamination out the front....NOT out the rear seal. If that's the case then it's working right. OP never said anything about grease being slung on the inside of the wheel.

Also, just to be clear to the OP, if the inner bearing is removed then the seal must be removed to get to it and most likely damaged in the process. Even if it looks good...replace it. Most of the problems I have had with my rig has been concerning the inner hub seal.

One more comment that many will disagree with... Although many guys use Lucas Red & Tacky, it is NOT the recommend grease for wheel bearings, especially bearing that will be immersed in water. R&T is designed for use in industrial and agricultural machinery where you have two surfaces sliding together. Better to use a specified "marine" grease for its water and wash out resistance. Just an opinion I got from reading the Lucas website spec sheets.

One more thing I just thought of that I don't think was talked about . New bearings also require new matching races of the same brand.

The blue Lucas is what to use.

[SoonerFan]

The blue Lucas is what to use.

That's what I use...or Mystic/Citgo Marine grease is excellent too but hard to find.

[Fireball]

The blue Lucas is what to use.

Lucas Blue is a calcium base grease. Dexter specifically recommends a LITHIUM base grease as that is what is in their hubs from the factory. So if you really want Lucas Blue the hubs should be completely torn down, cleaned and then replaced with a Calcium base grease.

[bassboat1]

Grease compatibility
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[BOATS]

Lucas Blue is a calcium base grease. Dexter specifically recommends a LITHIUM base grease as that is what is in their hubs from the factory. So if you really want Lucas Blue the hubs should be completely torn down, cleaned and then replaced with a Calcium base grease.

Vortex requires the blue lucas if you want to keep warranty.