Trailer Bearings (more questions)

[steve_n]

Sorry if this has been asked before but when wheel bearings are changed do you really have to change the bearing cups inside the hub? If they are in good condition can you leave them and just change the bearings and seals or are they a matched set and the whole lot has to be done.
I know some of you do a lot of miles up beaches and beach launch, what do you do.
With my old Quinnie it wasn't really an issue because the bearings never went in the water but my new boat has a much deeper v and if the wheels dont go in the keels gunna get damaged :( :(
If the bearings are good i just clean them , repack them and stick them in again and the whole job only takes a few stubbies but I have always replaced the cups if there is any sign of wear to the bearing itself and this is a pain of a job.
Any advise or opinions would be geatly appreciated.
Cheers
Steve

[blaze]

The cup and cone are a matched set once they are used, they form a running surface (microscopic it may be) and if you replace the cone without the cup it WILL fail prematurely. Dos't take much to replace a couple of cups.
cheers
blaze

[finga64]

Gidday Steve, How big is your boat?
I have a 5m Bertram with a deep V and all I do to lauch is winch the boat off. No need to even wet the wheels (just the tyres) when I do this.
I got into this habit when I pushed the little boat off the trailer in a dam and there was a 1/2 submerged floating log behind the boat and I broke the 2 week old transducer off. Damn thing!! :-[
Change the bearings as a set!!!!

[steve_n]

My boat is a Signature 540 and I was told when I bought it to submerge the wheels because bearings are cheaper than repairs to the hull. I dont really know though how shallow I could put it in without scraping on the ramp.
What is the easiest way to remove the bearing cones? I find then a b@5t@7d to move.
Steve

[whiteman]

Buy an expensive punch. I paid $20 at a serious tool store and it worked really well. I didn't need to file the end flat. I tried putting the new cones in the freezer for 30 minutes and this seemed to work well when replacing the old ones.

[jimbo59]

I replace my bearings every 4 months,ihave to submerge my trailer as the wheels are closer to the rear of the trailer to get my thing to tow at 90 kays (2.5ton haines).

[Cheech]

Steve,

About 3 months ago I did a 4 part series on trailer bearings. It all started when I had a wheel on my tandem boat trailer at a really strange angle. Jacked it up and the wheel fell off.

After that series, I think half of ausfish replaced their bearings, or at least checked them.

What I learned was invaluable.

The things you need to know are that after removing the hub and cleaning it in a petrol bath, you will see or feel that there are 3 or 4 grooves/curves just behind the outer bearing ring. These are there so that you can position your punch there to extract the ring. Just one hit in one slot and move to the next and repeat until it is removed.

Now for the best advice I received. With an angle grinder or bench grinder, grind down the outer surface of the outer ring a bit so that it will now slide back into position with a bit of clearance. This is what you use to tap in your new outer ring. That outer ring is pretty thin on the outward side and you could easily slip with your punch and scratch your new outer bearing ring, and thus damage it. What you do with the new outer ring is just tap it in till it is flush with the outside, and then place your ground down ring against it and continue to tap the old ring which then taps in the new ring. Really easy and no risk of damage.

Hope this helps.

Cheech

[Robbo_Townsville]

I found this link helpful
http://users.westco.net/~tandjlm/berring.htm

[steve_n]

Thanks fellas,
I have found all of your comments very useful. I have just checked my bearings and they are fine but now I know what to do next time.
Thanks again
Steve

[Davo53]

A really good trick to get the outer bearing races out of the hub, ( they can sometimes be extemely difficult to punch out witth a drift) is as follows:
With an arc welder, run a bead of weld around the inner surface of the bearing race. When this cools, it will shrink the race enough so it pushes out easily. Try it once, and you'll never go back!!

Cheers

[whiteman]

Yeah, tried that (or my mate did to MY wheel!) and it wasn't done well so we spent several hours cleaning up the excess! I'll punch 'em out anytime from now on.

[Davo53]

Hmmm, your mate must have got weld on the hub instead of on the bearing outer race. Seriously, there is nothing to clean up if you do it properly and they just pop right out.