no grease zerk on 98' ranger trail, bearing buddies?

[acslayer]

My 1998 ranger trail trailer has plastic center hub covers that only come off if you remove the wheel. Behind that in the middle of the spindle is a small hole that I am supposed to stick a grease gun needle into to grease my new bearings. My mechanic just installed buddy bearings on this and did away with the center caps.

I questioned how the grease could possibly enter the little hole and "get in there" and was told it will! I called Ranger and they strongly recommended against this. Ranger said to put it back to original and remove the tires a few times to grease them. Anyone have any fix for this so that I may grease the bearings with out removing the tires every time? or are the bearing buddies good enough to do the job?

Thanks for any help, I leave for a Lake Vermilion fishing trip in 3 weeks and just want to know if the bearing buddies are alright for this application.

[dspencer]

You need to get a needle fitting for your grease gun. Push the needle fitting against the hole and pump some grease.
That little hole comes out between the two bearings. For a non pressurized bearing its the best one I've seen.

I'd take this over a bearing buddy any day.

[billius]

If you've got good bearings and races and they are packed with grease, there is no need to ever add grease through any kind of fitting. All you are doing is taking the chance of blowing out a rear seal. Just check them once in a while. Maybe repack them every 2-3 years, depending on how many miles you tow your rig. That's is BassCat's recommendation. It works for me so far anyway.

[acslayer]

my mechanic put bearing buddies on them, I don't see how those could ever push grease through the little pin hole.

[Jeff Hahn]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by acslayer &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">my mechanic put bearing buddies on them, I don't see how those could ever push grease through the little pin hole. </td></tr></table>

I had these same hubs on my first Ranger. The needle fitting that you buy for your grease gun at any auto parts store is tapered to a small point. Put that point into the small hole on the end of the spindle and pump grease into the hole. The grease will go through the hole drilled in the spindle, come out near the rear bearing, grease the rear bearing and push the grease inside the hub toward the front. In the process, it will grease the front bearing, too. Keep pumping grease until you pump out all the old grease and see new grease coming out.

If you want to use the bearing buddy as an alternative to the grease cap on the end of your spindle, I don't see a problem, especially if you can then grease the hubs without removing the wheels. But, in the process you will likely get grease all over your rims. However, you can NOT use the bearing buddies to grease your hubs. Ranger hubs are not built to use them.

Frankly, the greased hubs you have are the most bullet-proof hubs I have ever had...I even like then better than the COOL hubs I have on my current Ranger. But, don't mess your hubs up by using bearing buddies to grease your hubs...they will not work.

Go to an auto parts store and buy a needle valve for your grease gun and you're good to go!

[acslayer]

Okay its been some time since this post but here we go. Just brought boat home from storage and started getting everything ready for the season. First I smacked the buddy bearings off with a rubber mallet then I put a grease needle on the gun and tried putting it in the pilot hole on the spindle. Problem, needle only went in about 3/4 of an inch...problem quickly solved, I removed the pin that goes through the spindle that holds the lock cap in place over the big nut. I put the needle all the way in and squeezed....crap, the grease immediately comes out the hole the pin was going through. Nothing is actually going back to the bearings or it sure don't seem like it anyways. I ended up just putting the worthless buddy bearings back on until I get some help to figure this out.

[Jeff Hahn]

Sounds to me like you have a clog in the hole drilled through the spindle. You might have some old grease in there that has hardened. I'd get a small diameter wire and run through the hole and see if you can loosen anything in there blocking the grease. Worst case scenario is to remove the wheel and hub and completely clean out the hole drilled through the spindle. then, pump some grease through it to make sure everything is flowing smoothly before reinstalling the hub.

[acslayer]

in order today,
REMOVED PIN


got me a long piece of wire


inserted said wire a good 7 inches


tried to grease but grease immediately comes out of the side of the spindle.


did the same on the other wheel however on that one old grease came out of the side holes. I pumped until I seen new grease. Is that where I it is supposed to come of?

[Jeff Hahn]

The grease is not supposed to come out of the hole where the pin goes. I would get a couple golf tees (or something similar) and put one in each side of the hole the pins goes through in order to force the grease through the spindle. When it's working correctly, the old grease should come out along the outside of the big washer, behind the castle nut. You may have to remove the hub to make certain that the hole through the spindle is completely clear of old, hard grease. What kind of grease is that? I never saw any that was white like that. The marine wheel bearing grease I have used is always dark brown or a blue/green.

[acslayer]

well when it stops raining I will try again and also try plugging those side holes. As for the grease, thats just what was in my gun. I think its cheap walmart marine grease however if I ever get these bearings taking in grease like they are supposed I have a tube of better stuff to use.

[rocket man]

I have the same hubs and spindles . My spindle has a zerk in the end of it. The cotter pin hole is offset to the side of the spindle{not centered} and grease zerk is offset to the other side. The grease hole and cotter pin hole are separate. That doesnt look like the same setup.

[acslayer]

so today I brought the boat home again to try greasing the bearings for a third time. I did the golf tee trick by cutting them down in length and putting one in each hole on the side of the spindle. I then put a small clamp on them to keep a little pressure on the tees. After several pumps of the grease gun it finally happened.....I seen grease come out from around the sides of the washer. I am now confident that there is fresh marine grease in the bearings. Thanks guys! FISH ON!!

[Jeff Hahn]

Great news! I'd bet there was some old grease inside the spindle and now that you got enough pressure, by stopping the grease from coming out the pin holes, you finally got the old grease to move and the new grease to flow. Just install new grease every fall when you winterize and you should be good to go from now on.

[DevonR1619]

Do you happen to know what size bearing buddies were installed? I got a 98 482vs im looking to make the switch

[lmoore]

Do you happen to know what size bearing buddies were installed? I got a 98 482vs im looking to make the switch

Not sure if you’ll get a response from a poster from that far back. Most bass boats use the 1.98” bearing buddies, inwoukd assume that’s what yours are.

[DaveBrabec]

I used to pull a zerk off the outboard to use on hubs then put it back when done. Always better to hand pack.