Stupid Bearings and Helpful Strangers

[Kram71]

A beautiful sunny Saturday afternoon... what better way to kill a few hours than to take the family for a run in the boat up the river. So we pack up the boat, some drinks and snacks and off we go.

500 metres from the boat ramp and crunch....grind, grind grind... there goes a bearing on the boat trailer >:(
So we limp to the ramp and ponder the situation. Too far to risk towing it home, so we launch the boat, tie it up nearby, park the trailer under a semi shady tree and set about replacing the bearing. Thankfully I had a fairly stocked toolkit and spare bearings with me. Or so I thought... turns out I didn't have the correct sized bearing kit :-[

I was also struggling to get the remains of the old bearing off the axle, whilst contemplating where to get a correct sized bearing from somewhere nearby. Anyway, as I am stuggling away with hammer and tools trying to remove the old bearing, over wanders a nice guy who, along with his family, was launching his boat for a run up the river too. He assisted me to get the old bearing off, and was kind enough to give me a spare bearing of the correct size that he had in his spares kit :)

He would not accept payment, and even offered to assist further when he came back from his river jaunt if I was still having problems.

I won't go on about the stupid trailer design that saw me needing to loosen the u bolts holding the axle to springs, so I could lower the springs enough to loosen the bolt holding the brake caliper on, so I could then get the hub off and back on again.. stupid design on that part.

So lessons learned from today's efforts:
1. Make sure I have the correct sized bearings in the spares kit next time.

2. Add a few more tools to the kit to make removing the old bearing easier.

3. Always take the spares and tools, even if going 'just down the road'. You never know when things are going to go pear shaped.

3. There are still some truly nice people in the world that will stop and help out a stranger.

I'm very grateful for said kind strangers assistance and generosity. After a few hours of banging, bashing, swearing and sweating, we finally managed to get a bit of a run up the river before it got dark. And thankfully there was a well shaded playground nearby to keep the kids entertained. It's amazing how an hour of cruising in the boat can restore ones frustration levels back to normal :)

The joys of boating. 8-)

[zan0_15]

Mate my axles have ford engraved into them yet the bearings are holden!!!!! whats a man to do!
Luckily i found out at home when doing some maintenance!!!!!!
Good on old mate for helping you out, there isnt enougj of it going on.

[The-easyrider]

Good to see some one helped you out, I once changed a bearing on a stinking hot February day on the work trailer. Now both the camper and boat have spare hubs with bearings fitted ready to go.

[Moonlighter]

So lessons learned from today's efforts:
1. Make sure I have the correct sized bearings in the spares kit next time.

2. Add a few more tools to the kit to make removing the old bearing easier.

3. Always take the spares and tools, even if going 'just down the road'. You never know when things are going to go pear shaped.

4. There are still some truly nice people in the world that will stop and help out a stranger.
[/QUOTE]

Really good they helped you out, pleasing that people are still like that.

Maybe it would be worth thinking about adding one item to that list......

5. Note to self - check boat trailer bearings a little more often.... :)

[Kram71]

Maybe it would be worth thinking about adding one item to that list......

5. Note to self - check boat trailer bearings a little more often.... :)


Or should that read:
5. Kick self in butt for not checking boat trailer bearings a little more often...?

Annoying thing is I only put those bearings in a little over 8 months ago when doing some restoration on the trailer, and have only towed it 3 or 4 times in the past 6 months... but yes, I should have given them a decent check over and re-grease. Will definitely be something I check more regularly.

[Kram71]

Mate my axles have ford engraved into them yet the bearings are holden!!!!! whats a man to do!
Luckily i found out at home when doing some maintenance!!!!!!
Good on old mate for helping you out, there isnt enougj of it going on.

Likewise... I have Holden hubs/axles, and the spare bearings are for Holden hubs. The guy that helped me out said the one he gave me is for a Ford hub. Wondering now if my spare "Holden" bearings will fit onto the box trailer, which has Ford hubs....

[cqfreshie]

I can understand your frustration .... 3 or 4 outings on new bearings would peeve me. I wonder though, with prices falling on many parts, or the presence of cheaper parts and accessories, surely the first thing to be "affected" is quality and durability.

[thrillseeker1]

Hubs are either holden or ford because of stud pattern, bearing seat dia's in the hub are the same for ford and holden ie a holden stud pattern hub can be fitted with ford bearings and a ford stud pattern hub can have holden bearings to suit the appropriate axle.

[Moonlighter]

3 or 4 outings and 6-8 months out of a set of bearings before they fail rings alarm bells very loudly for me. Something sounds like it could be badly wrong.

The have been a few long and detailed and sometimes contentious threads here on Ausfish about bearings.

There seem to be some fundamental points most agree on

1. Don't use cheap crap (usually Chinese) bearings. Pay a little extra for the US, Japanese, or Australian made ones.

2. Need to use proper marine seals, and fit the bearings and seals properly, using good quality marine grease to pack the bearings full of grease before they go in.

3. Check them regularly.

4. Be very sparing with the grease gun if you use bearing buddies. You dont want to force the rear seals out!

I learnt a bit here about the second point last hear, and the good idea bit I picked up was the use of special loctite to basically glue the rear seal to the axle, this seems to ensure a) it doesn't spin, and b) it is properly sealed on the axle to prevent any water getting in.

You can get the special loctite from Repco, saw a bottle in there the other day and it is designed for this very purpose - sealing rubber seals onto metal surfaces such as axles etc.

[solemandownunder]

Or should that read:
5. Kick self in butt for not checking boat trailer bearings a little more often...?

Annoying thing is I only put those bearings in a little over 8 months ago when doing some restoration on the trailer, and have only towed it 3 or 4 times in the past 6 months... but yes, I should have given them a decent check over and re-grease. Will definitely be something I check more regularly.

M8...just done mine about 4 weeks ago....BUT, after the 1st 4 runs, I jacked the wheels up and REtightened the bearings....I was aware that I was going to do this after an acceptable amount of time for the grease to
"SETTLE" in.

Although I am meticulous in packing the bearings...I have found that after a few runs, they NEED re-tightening just to take up the slack of "settling in".

ALL thanks go to my dad for teaching me these "finer points" at a young age.

Cheers, Ray.

[Dicktracey]

Well i will name my Trailer Manufacturer Dumbier what a piece of Crap !
Bearings Chinese Grease has broken down already.
O rings fitted to bearing buddy's have failed due to being incorrect size & have chopped out when caps tried to reseat.
Plastic coated brake lines are rusting due to the very expensive zip ties rubbing the coating off them on the axle.
One of the spring pack centre bolt plate locator is half hanging out from the spring base.

The trick to removing the top caliper bolt is to remove it before you jack up the wheel.
So watch for a Dumbier thread if they don't play the game it is 6 mths old!
Dick

[WalrusLike]

Check them regularly.

Dumb question time..... So how do you do that?

I feel mine for heat whenever I remember (and at 10K or so for the first use or two after I've had them serviced)


(Using Tapatalk on iPhone so can't easily 'thank' or 'like')

[Moonlighter]

Hi Walrus!

Good question.

My "quick check" is simple. I just pop the dust cap/ bearing buddy off and have a look at the grease. If its clean, and no evidence of water ingress, i will jack up the wheel and spin. If it runs smooth and easy, with no play evident, and i have a look at the rear seal area and no sign of grease getting out, it gets a PASS mark and the dust cap is replaced.

The next higher level check is as above, except the wheel and brake caliper is taken off and the split pin taken out, outer bearing removed and hub slipped off. Again, if the grease is all clean, no evidence of water etc, and the bearing races are looking good with no signs of wear, it all goes right back on without further intervention.

Every 2 -3 years, assuming these interim checks are OK, the bearings come out and are replaced regardless of how they look. I used to just clean and repack them but for the price of a new set of bearings and new seals, I reckon its easier to just replace them with new ones.

On any long trips, I take a set of bearings that are already packed with grease with me in a ziplock plastic bag, ready to install if a failure occurs. Have never needed them so far!

I use the blue ultra-tac marine bearing grease.

[WalrusLike]

Thanks ML that's very very informative and useful.

You have consistently over time been most generous with your tips and knowledge. Many thanks. I am sure it helps a bunch of us.


(Using Tapatalk on iPhone so can't easily 'thank' or 'like')

[ericcs]

when i replace my bearings, i,
clean all the grease off and lightly sand off any paint or rust from the area where the seal sits.
install the bearings and seal together dry and fit them to the axle
then remove them leaving the seal in place on the axle
put a big thick bead of marine grade silicon behind the seal and let it dry
pack bearings as normal and install
so far with this method i have never had a seal spin or let water in (i don't use bearing buddies)

eric