Trailer bearing trouble

[micksta]

Hi all,
Purchased a 4.9 topender in Nov'10 and have no complaints about the boat. However, I heard a noise in the trailer and assumed the handbrake may have gotten a bit stiff. Took the tyre off looked okay was rubbing a bit put the tyre back on, but the noise was still there.
Cut a long story short the bearings had gone.
I was a bit cheesed off as the boat was less than a year old and I do clean it thoroughly after every trip. (obviously not thoroughly enough). It does have hub buddies and checking on the internet, there are alot of negative comments about these devices the main one being the grease does not get to the back bearing. Wouldv'e thought Qintrex would use good quality.
Has anyone else had any issues with these? If so how did you fix it?
Thanks for listening,
Michael
By the way the bearings were not going to last much longer, maybe a trip or two.

[Carry]

Hi Micksta,

Water entry is the biggest factor when it comes to wheel bearing failure. The standard marine type rear seals that come with the kits do let water in. As you mentioned bearing buddies really only lube the front bearing. I have had my fair share of problems with water in bearings, as have most. I tried the new durahub product which I am very happy with. With the durahub you run a solid rear seal that you seal with loctite 515 sealant at installation. You do the same with the durahub at the front of the hub.

I run 80W/90 gear oil in my hubs rather than grease. You can use grease alone or oil and grease together. After doing approximately 5000km's I stripped the hubs down to check the condition of the bearings. The bearings were in very good condition. I always take my infra red temp gun with me on log trips. When I stop I check the temps of the hubs (a little paranoid, I know), but I have found the temperatures to be 10-20 degrees C lower now than when i was using bearing buddies and the conventional marine seal. Also make sure you use good quality Japanese bearings. Some trailer manufacturers do use cheaper chinese bearings.

The Durahub works by creating a controlled environment around the wheel bearing by way of a flexible rubber membrane, which maintains internal hub pressure by expanding and contracting, taking load away from the rear seal. When you reverse your trailer into the water after doing 100km/h for extended periods, the air inside the hubs contracts and a vacuum is created. Water and dirt are sucked into the hubs through the inner seals and corrosion sets in.

Definately recommend them. Hope this helps.

Cheers

Luke

[micksta]

Hi Luke,
Really appreciate you taking the time. When I saw the bearings after only being 9 months old and they were down to their last legs it worried me considering I fish predominantly with the family and to lose a wheel doing a hundred down the freeway has scarred me a bit, so I don't think your being paranoid at all.
Will certainly look into the Durahub.
Once again thanks for the info
Mike

[Dan5]

More than likely your trailer was fitted with cheap bearings and seals to start with......I've always run BB's and never had a drama yet but saying that i have always treated them as a backup system rather than a total sytem meaning i still pull the bearing down and re-pack regulary.

My new trailer has the durahub system fitted but as of yet i hav'nt used it at all so the jury is out on them for me still,one thing that keeps popping up about durahubs is that if the inner bearing seal fails (and they do) then all lubrication is rapidly lost resulting in major failure.

There is no fool proof way of caring for them other than routine maintence IMO.......get dirty and get it done properly regulary.

Dan

[Greg P]

Mike

I dont let bearings go more than 6 months without dis-assembly/cleaning/repacking. When I first got the trailer I replaced all the new bearings with qlty SKF bearings. Nothing can ruin a trip than a wheel dissappearing off the side of the road (or worse).

At least you got to them before they collapsed a race and took out the axle shaft

Cheers

Greg

[tunaticer]

Curious if you use a water blaster to clean the boat and trailer down?? They have a tendency to shoot water under pressure straight past seals that are designed for immersion pressures only at best.
Bearing buddies are good if you pack your entire hub full of grease before fitting them. The moment you develop an air lock in there the grease will not move back through the rear half of the hub. I fit a second grease nipple between the two bearings in the hub and top that one up occasionally, and give the bearing buddy one or two pumps to keep the spring under tension every two or three trips (or each long trip).
I have thought about going down the durahub track on a future trailer, but so far have no problems with my bearing buddies keeping my bearings in good nick.

[micksta]

Thanks for the advice. The only maintenance that I do on the trailer is a good soak with the hose and a top up of grease every second or third trip. I guess you are right Dan, the only fool proof method is to get down and get dirty.
Once again thanks for the feed back,
Mike.

[johncar]

Yeah wheel bearings on any boat trailer are not a set and forget thing. Check mine constanly for any changes or problem signs, but well installed "fit for purpose" quality seals and proper US made Bearing Buddies and you should have minimal issues.

[Scalem]

A sure sign of any trouble would be heat. When you pulled over and checked things, you only needed to have put your hand on the hub and with a seizing bearing, you would only have been able to keep contact with the hub for a split second without burning yourself. It's a regular habit you should have as part of your preparation for a trip when you arrive at the boat ramp. The 1st thing I do is feel the temperature of all 4 of my hubs. After 2 years of checking, occasional removal of Bearing Buddies to check the colour of the grease (will go milky if water has penetrated the hub) the original bearings that came with the trailer are still going strong, no issues and the trailer gets dunked every trip as it is a drive on. But I do have a spare lazy and braked hub fully packed with me at all times just in case, especially on longer trips. It's important to have the bearing kit installed properly in the 1st place, and you should go a long time with trouble free motoring.

Scalem

[stue2]

As the posts above say, the seals are the weakest link then comes an incorrectly packed bearing. Fork out for the better bearing seals.
The bearings wont absorb grease on their own it has to be packed in before hand. Do this properly and use quality seals, should minimise any trouble.

Cheers, Stu

[jason p]

ive just replaced my bearings, hubs, pads after three or so years and after reading this seeing every one saying use quality bearings etc, its starts me thinking that i never put any thought in different brands, every shop that i saw all supplied the ark brand so thats what i ended up with. im always looking for better quality products if i can and i dont know why this one slipped past me::). has anyone used or does anyone know what the ark brand is like. there not that expensive to do so its not a real problem if they only last half the time but would like to know if i need to keep an extra eye on them.

cheers jp

[netmaker]

i have a 14ft brooker and trailer hubs dont get wet. i never submerse the trailer down to the axle. no good for bigger boats and drive on type set ups but if you dont have to submerse them they will last ages.

[mal555]

When you reverse your trailer into the water after doing 100km/h for extended periods, the air inside the hubs contracts and a vacuum is created. Water and dirt are sucked into the hubs through the inner seals and corrosion sets in.

The only time I pump grease into the bearing buddies is just prior to the trailer being immersed after a decent road trip, to counter the vacuum, and only enough to make the spring loaded cap just move.

[Eug]

what does everyone do about the races? i personally find them a big mission to bash out with a brass punch + hammer. is there an easier way?

[Spaniard_King]

ive just replaced my bearings, hubs, pads after three or so years and after reading this seeing every one saying use quality bearings etc, its starts me thinking that i never put any thought in different brands, every shop that i saw all supplied the ark brand so thats what i ended up with. im always looking for better quality products if i can and i dont know why this one slipped past me::). has anyone used or does anyone know what the ark brand is like. there not that expensive to do so its not a real problem if they only last half the time but would like to know if i need to keep an extra eye on them.

cheers jp

JP they have the words "CHINA" writen on them :(

[finga]

what does everyone do about the races? i personally find them a big mission to bash out with a brass punch + hammer. is there an easier way?
Bigger hammer??
I don't worry too much about the brass drift to get them out as they're stuffed when that needs to happen.
just remember to turn the hub around and whack a different spot each time so the cones come out straight.
And to put them in I made up some round drifts with brass inserts that fit snug as a bug in a rug over the cone so the cones can be inserted straight. They have a long bashing bar sticking up so it's not that fiddly and easier to whack with the whackometer.

[Eug]

figured the races needed to be replaced since they came with the bearings.

just figured a workshop press (or similar would be easier). i found you can buy lazy hubs for around $30 a pop saves me a few hours but now i've got a bunch of old hubs lying around.

for the record i use japanese bearings.

[Fed]

what does everyone do about the races? i personally find them a big mission to bash out with a brass punch + hammer. is there an easier way?
Quick change mate, leave the rim on the hub (just undo the big nut and pull the lot off in one go), then use one of those big flat bladed screw drivers with the shaft that goes right through the plastic handle.
Bash out the old ones tap in the new ones until they make the right noise.
Leaving the rim on the hub makes it all more manageable.

[STUIE63]

what does everyone do about the races? i personally find them a big mission to bash out with a brass punch + hammer. is there an easier way?
I think the punch is the best way as long as you keep turning it to keep the cup coming out straight . but if you want you can run a bead of weld on the inside of the cup and it will fall out. to fit the new cups leave them in the freezer overnight and they will be easier to hit in

[stue2]

If the race is stuck solid a bit of heat will help and then a tap. less chance of damaging the edges.

And for something a bit more agricultural. When we were desperate we ran a bead of weld on the race and it fell out when we flipped the great heavy rim off the discs over onto the concrete.

not saying this is a great idea but nothing else would budge it.

Cheers, Stu

[jason p]

JP they have the words "CHINA" writen on them :(

oh ####, thanks mate will get a spair asap. cant belive i let that 1 slip by. at least im better informed for the next time, lol which will be sooner than latter by the looks.

cheers jp

[TREVELLY]

I have some info here on the durahubs and the replaced bearings on my trailer

http://ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?176813-Improving-a-Dunbier

go to post 3.

I had water in bearings on trailer only one year old.

And yes best tips are after any decent drive to feel the tyres and the bearings for heat as this will show a problem before it gets real bad. ;)

[Scalem]

For those that pump grease in often, think about why and how you are doing this. A well installed bearing kit including seals should not need more than one or two pumps of the grease gun every other trip. You should not be losing any grease if all is intact. I learned the hard way, eventually filling up the hub so much that grease popped out of the rear seal, thus giving water an entry point when the seal does not reposition itself correctly. The other side affect is that you have so much grease in there it inteferes with the design of your bearing buddy which cannot freely compress the tension spring when the hub hits cold water ( contracts) If the bearings are packed with enough grease, I think there should be a little air inside the hub which helps keep a positive air pressure and allows the bearing buddy to work to how it is designed. You can have too much grease. Finding that middle ground is the solution IMHO.

Scalem

[stue2]

For those that pump grease in often, think about why and how you are doing this. A well installed bearing kit including seals should not need more than one or two pumps of the grease gun every other trip. You should not be losing any grease if all is intact. I learned the hard way, eventually filling up the hub so much that grease popped out of the rear seal, thus giving water an entry point when the seal does not reposition itself correctly. The other side affect is that you have so much grease in there it inteferes with the design of your bearing buddy which cannot freely compress the tension spring when the hub hits cold water ( contracts) If the bearings are packed with enough grease, I think there should be a little air inside the hub which helps keep a positive air pressure and allows the bearing buddy to work to how it is designed. You can have too much grease. Finding that middle ground is the solution IMHO.

Scalem

Works the same with bearing caps. If they are overfilled with grease they will almost always give you problems when they heat up and cool down. Number one lesson I learnt as a trainee was never fill the hub with grease. Just cover everything and make sure the bearings are packed correctly.

Cheers, Stu