When should I replace wheel bearings?

[GLXMAN]

I know there is an obvious answer in there but initially, the new Dunbier trailer came with bearings that were worn out in 3 months, and became very hot, even for short distances
I replaced them with good bearings and added bearing buddies
Now, these bearings have been in for nearly 2 1/2 years and still "appear" to be OK, don't heat up or make unusual noises

Would they still be OK? Or should I replace them after a certain time?
.........Gary

[Noelm]

Best idea is to pull them to bits and clean them out and inspect them, then repack with fresh grease, how often you do this is your choice... Some people do it every 6 months, some every year, some just wait untill something "happens" , like me!

[Red Emperor]

^^ the right thing to do, however annually is enough.

[Jeremy]

Bearings do not need to be replaced if they are in good condition, just the grease.

[BAR UP]

I change my bearings every xmas irrespective of there condition then I keep the grease up via bearing buddies. This way I always know when they were last replaced. I do jack it up and spin the wheels after every couple of trips just to check out and adjust if neccessary. I have done this practice for many years and have had no problems. Most times my bearings are still in good condition with no rust. Peter.

[NArmstrong]

What do u use to remove the old grease from the bearings? Just engine degreaser?

[mal555]

What do u use to remove the old grease from the bearings? Just engine degreaser?

Put some petrol into a flat dish, maybe 20mm deep, and with an old, say 20mm wide paint brush, clean/brush the grease filled bearings until clean. Only takes a few seconds really. Dry the bearing cluster thoroughly with a rag, rolling the bearings around making sure all the petrol has gone.

Put a large blob of grease into the palm of your hand, and with the bearings in other hand, push them hard into the grease 'blob'. Roll the bearing around, keep pushing and rolling until all the grease has been absorbed into the bearing cluster.

it will ooze everywhere, but it will be also obvious that it is 'full'

[mal555]

I know there is an obvious answer in there but initially, the new Dunbier trailer came with bearings that were worn out in 3 months, and became very hot, even for short distances
I replaced them with good bearings and added bearing buddies
Now, these bearings have been in for nearly 2 1/2 years and still "appear" to be OK, don't heat up or make unusual noises

Would they still be OK? Or should I replace them after a certain time?
.........Gary

I have had them last up to five seasons, repacking with good grease every year and using bearing buddies. Only change if there is any signs of corrosion or scoring on the roller surfaces. Got to keep up the annual check (at least), sometimes water will sneak into a hub.

if they are getting hot, check you haven't got too much load on the castle nut.

[GLXMAN]

Tks Guys,
Much appreciated
Been very informative, sounds good, may jack up and give the wheels a spin and see what they sound like, at least they are not heating up like the old ones
.......Gary

[docaster]

Anybody ever use those bearing packers?
It clamps either side of bearing with a grease nipple to pump the grease in.

[billfisher]

I must confess I haven't replaced or repacked my wheel bearing on my two boats for 8 and 9 years repectively. I do jack them up and spin the wheels and check for looseness and noises but thats it. The fact that I don't dunk them in water for launching and retrieving might have had a good deal to do with this.

I am not sure if bearing buddies do any good. Also it is not advisable to use petrol for cleaning parts. It can contain benzene which is a known carcinogen.

[BAR UP]

Very dangerous practice. if the petrol ignites for some reason your f/^*ed. Use degreaser first then finish with diesel and a brush.

[upstart]

I've never bothered to clean old bearings. If you're going to go to the trouble of pulling the old bearings out then you might as well pop new ones in. They're not that expensive.


Ben of Upstart

[goona]

I just replaced the discs on mine after 5 years of having the boat. I have never replaced the bearings. Just pulled off the outside bearing buddies to see if any water had got in. Always looked good. I would pump fresh gease in after ever third trip so I am guessing this is what helped them out. After pulling them out they looked brand new still.

[BLOOEY]

Had my trailer for 12 years, no bearing buddies (just dust caps), it gets drowned every time i use it and it still has the original bearings. How often do you change the wheel bearings in your car (same Thing). Ben

[NArmstrong]

How often do u dunk your car into salt water? No quite the same thing I think

[bugsytwoshoes]

I inspect and repack my bearings every twelve months. I never dunk the bearings when I'm putting the boat in the water and I always carry a toolkit with a complete set of tools-- wheel brace,new bearings (pre greased), bearing grease,pliers, spare split pin,jack and a spare hub with shims/cones allready installed. Maybe i'ts overkill but I don't want to be stranded on some lonely road.

[Apollo]

Check them once a year, couple of pumps of grease in the bearing buddies after a long trip or every couple of months. Set of packed and cryvaced bearing behind the back seat in the ute, just incase.

[Crunchy]

6 years on the same bearings, dunked every launch and retrieve but using bearing buddies and quality Japanese bearings with a change of grease each year and they look good as new, replacement bearings I bought three years ago still in the packaging. But I haven't towed the boat more than a 100 km's at a time either so if doing a big trip I would replace them.

Docaster - yeh I uses on of those bearing packers, they work quite well for the relatively cheap cost - saves a lot of mucking around trying to pack by hand.

[davo]

If you don't dunk them then an annual repack is all that is required until replacement. I inspect the bearings and any sign of wear i replace them. There are a lot of variables. For short runs bearings last for years but if you travel long distances then annual replacement is better.

[aussiebasser]

The answer to the question in the heading is, you should replace your wheel bearings when they are no longer serviceable. The difficult question is "How do I know if my bearings need replacing?" If you do not know the answer to the new question, the answer to the original question probably should be annually. But, if you have to ask the question, you probably shouldn't be changing them yourself as it is very easy to overtighten or undertighten them. My trailer was imported in 2006, it is still running the original bearings. In that time it has travelled many thousands of kilometres between Gladstone and Gippsland. I repacked the bearings late last year when I replaced the disc pads, and they were still serviceable.

[littlejim]

Where I launch (JB) the ramp slope means I have to dunk mine.
Despite bearing buddies they used to blow at under twelve months. Always the bigger inner bearing. There's no way what I pump into the bearing buddy gets over that far.
Once I started packing the inner seal with plenty of grease, as well as the bearings, the life went up to 3-4 years. Still have a look at them and repack at about 12 months.
Suspect variation in tolerances of the axles and the bearings means different people have different results, that's my WAG anyway.

[Spaniard_King]

Had my trailer for 12 years, no bearing buddies (just dust caps), it gets drowned every time i use it and it still has the original bearings. How often do you change the wheel bearings in your car (same Thing). Ben

How often do you drive your car into the water?

[billfisher]

Where I launch (JB) the ramp slope means I have to dunk mine.
Despite bearing buddies they used to blow at under twelve months. Always the bigger inner bearing. There's no way what I pump into the bearing buddy gets over that far.
Once I started packing the inner seal with plenty of grease, as well as the bearings, the life went up to 3-4 years. Still have a look at them and repack at about 12 months.
Suspect variation in tolerances of the axles and the bearings means different people have different results, that's my WAG anyway.

Perhaps you were blowing the rear seals when you were pumping grease into the bearing buddies.

[stevej]

to all those with bearing buddies who say they give them a pump of grease after every trip
what magical device can you keep filling up and it never gets full ? where does teh grease go ?

all you will do is blow the back seal out.

i do mine the week or two before rego is due,put a new set in every second eyar

[Scalem]

Failing bearings produce heat. I routinely walk around the boat upon arrival at the ramp these days, having had issues in the past on the braked hubs ( do a search on "hissing hubs" that I posted years ago) For someone that pulls the boat out of the shed once a year I think is more prone to an epic fail of gargantuan proportions compared to someone like me who normally gets the boat out once or twice a month. If there is the smallest of moisture inside the hub, lack of use will seize the bearing.

In preparation for 1770 trip which got canned, I pulled all 4 bearing buddies out, inspected the grease and found everything clean and normal except one bearing buddy where the internal O ring had moved and restricted the piston from normal movement. BB has been replaced with a new one and the bearings in this lazy hub are now 5 years old and still smooth as silk on the spin test - this is where you jack that wheel up high enough off the ground to spin it, but holding the palm of your hand on or close to the hub. If a bearing or race has even a small imperfection you will feel it grind , or if critical, you will hear a rasping sound. Replace urgently! By doing a spin test you will also know how tightly your retaining nut is.

Scalem

[littlejim]

"what magical device can you keep filling up and it never gets full ? where does teh grease go ?

all you will do is blow the back seal out."

There's a huge air gap in between the two bearings (in my case anyway), a few worms of grease isn't going to compress that much. The rubber will spring back after the air goes past anyway.
Water got past my seal ribs too, from the outside, until I packed them with grease.

[Fed]

If you use bearing buddy's the hub has to be full for them to work properly. I thought everyone knew that, it's right there on their website.

[littlejim]

If you use bearing buddy's the hub has to be full for them to work properly. I thought everyone knew that, it's right there on their website.
I Prefer to pack the seals with grease rather than use a couple of tins of grease to fill the huge gap between the bearings.
As I said, since I started packing the seals I haven't had any problems.
Chacun a son gout.

[littlejim]

Completely off the topic, but for those who haven't seen it or know about it this site gives you a live view from the space station.
http://www.n2yo.com/space-station/

[Fed]

Once they're full the grease will very slowly weep past the rear seal.
If you blow the rear seal out then you're over greasing them.

[GLXMAN]

Hi Guys.
This has been a very informative thread, much appreciated
Interesting how the process does vary across the board, I guess the huge variants between boats, trailers, and bearing makes would indicate a huge difference in tare weights and resultant loads
I now have a better handle on it
Mine is dunked and travels often, the usual trip is approx. 400km return
........Gary