Replaced Wheel Bearings, Need Advice ?

[tunaticer]

A common misconception about bearings is the amount of grease to be used in them.
I build lots of belt conveyors that run nearly 24/7 with both shock loads and constant heavy loads on them.
The most common bearings we have to replace due to failure are the ones that get a few pumps of grease in every day, the least replaced bearings are ones that get a few pumps of grease once a week. Packed tight grease can actually act like an oven and conceal that bit of excess heat you need to dissipate quickly.

Just an observation I have made over the past 30 years of the belt conveyor industry.

[Justin Rossiter]

Nice one Wal
Can't say I have ever put a hub on the BBQ !!! But it makes sense, I used a nice soft piece of wood to do the job
As for the Bearing Buddies, I fail to see how they will get grease to the back bearing


Justin

[Fed]

Easy Justin, when your hubs are full you put some grease in the front & it comes out the back.

Tunaticer I don't think your theory holds up for boat trailer wheel bearings maybe due to the relatively slow RPMs.
Two hours of freeway speeds running full hubs gives me luke warm hubs, a wild guess would be around 40 degrees C.

[fishfeeder]

I think it has more to do with salt water getting into the bearings that does the real damage..
That's probably why belt conveyors last longer with minimal maintenance...

[gazza2006au]

the easiest way is to remove the wheel from the axle remove the rear seal remove the rear bearing get a large enough socket that will fit through the rear bearing race use a extension bar and tap the front bearing race out than flip the wheel over and use a larger socket to tap the rear bearing race out when replacing the bearing races i use the old bearing to tap the bearing races into place than check to make sure u didnt damage the bearing race with the old bearing only do this if the old bearing is still in good nick no pitting as the pitting might damage the new bearing race when regreasing the bearing u have to squeeze the grease into the ends of the pin bearings not on the rolling surface i fill my hubs to around 80% full of grease ive never had a bearing failure in over 15 years of boating and im 45mins from the east coast so 1.5 hours travel each fishing trip minimum

[cormorant]

A lot of the "stolen" bearing buddies are the cheap ones that are i cheap fit where the interferrence fit isn't tight enough to hold em on over speed humps and on the freeway.

Bearings don't need much grease and run cooler but with poor seals on low quality axels the grease is simply used to displace the area water could get into. Look at modern wheel bearings where they are sealed units and last for a couple of hundred thousand km and you son see that poor tolerances , lack of use and water be it condensation or in through the seals kills boat bearings. My box and car trailer have never had issues and quick checks on boat trailer always catch any issues early. Using teh right grease makes a huge difference to how much water affects it. My hubs are 100% full of grease of which bugger all is in the bearing and they run warm and get deep launched every time. Rather have them run warmer than have water get near them is my theory and if they get really hot some grease will melt to preserve teh bearing a bit longer.

I still want to see a test where someone can show that a bearing buddy does actually put a couple of psi of pressure in a hub when you consider teh tackiness and thickness or todays marine hub grease.

Biggest failure point on all the ones I have seen fail is bad installation followed by seals torn up by crap axel so I use lip seals and stainless speedy sleeves to keep a good running surface. Only reason I have bearing buddies is they they area quick indicator if I have a stuffed seal.

I like durahubs oil and grease idea but haven't got em on my existing trailers.

[Justin Rossiter]

Thanks CormorantThe hubs are about 3/4 of Nulon Xtreme grease and the bearings stuffed full, could it be the consistency of the grease that is causing it not spin as freely ? By freely it will turn about 2 revolutions before slowing down.
Justin

[Cheech]

I think it could just be the seal rubbing. Though I am a little concerned as to how tight the nut actually is if you had it set and then turned it back a quarter of a turn. You should have only needed to turn it back one split pin slot to get it to have wabble. Did you use a spanner to tighten the nut? If yes then that may be the problem as well, as you would have initially over tighted it.

I do mine by tightening the nut only by hand. As tight as you can get it by hand, and then back off to the next split pin slot. You should find that you then have just a hint of wabble. If too wabbly then try to get to the next slot. Give it a run to seat itself, then check again. You may need to go a slot tighter after seated.

At least that is how I do mine.

[tassjo]

if you want to check your wheel bearing adjustsment grab yourself a 8" shifter or a standard size multy grips jack up the trailer so you can spin the tyre,loosen the nut slightly grab the tyre top & bottom give it a wobble you will feel some looseness & can see if you look at the nut/hub.tighten the nut , not to tight(the weight of you tool and a bit more )sorry but thats the only way i can explain it.give the wheel a wobble ,you should have no more play.now the technical stuff as it is a tappered bearing it needs a bit more,this is for preload.all tappered bearing must have a set preload on them.as for cormorant comments on modern bearings they are a double ball race & not a tappered bearing, preload pre determined from the factory just tighten the large nut to specs.they are not sealed for water like some people think,we in the workshop remove the dust cap from both sides & add additional greese & refit the covers.After market bearings have minimal greese compared to original.after 20+ years for me its like brushing your teeth. i will go out on a limb here but people who dont no should not touch ,as a example over tighten bearing ,seizes, wheel comes of at 80 down the hwy hits a car ,causes a accident(can happen)we are all trying to save money but if you dont know take it to your merchanic,sitting back and having a read on a forum then going to attempt a repaire dont think so ,as said before been doing this fo 20+ and still learning

[gazza2006au]

i actually think this guys problem is the bearing races are not seated properly inside the wheel hubs causing the problem

[tassjo]

sounds about right,as you tap the cones into the hub and they hit home it is a different sound ,thats is what i mean you just dont gain experience from reading forums.fitting wheel bearings is a basic task for a merchanic or some 1 who has done it before.I HAVE SEEN TRAILER HUBS THAT HAVE HAD THE OLD DOT PUNCH TREATMENT(DONE CAUSE THE CONE IS SPINNIG IN THE HUB)

[Justin Rossiter]

The races are definitely seated properly as the tone changed from a thump to ping. I agree that there is no better experience than doing it yourself, it is my first time and i was happy that for the most part it went pretty smoothly.Late this afternoon I took the buddies off and checked the nut, it was only just past finger tight, so it doesn't seem overnight, any way I took the nut completely off and spun the wheel and it was no different. Put it back on and in the best interest of public safety will take it to my mechanic to give the once over and check my work.
Justin

[gazza2006au]

are u sure the trailer is jacked up high enough and the wheel is not touching the ground? lol

[tassjo]

if you heard that sound you have nothing to worry about,just adjust hub nut as mentioned before & you will be ok

[Justin Rossiter]

Yeah I'm sure it's off the ground Gazza !!!