Once the cap or Bearing Buddy is off, clean up the old excess grease from the hub and remove the cotter pin that keeps the castle nut from rotating on the spindle. That might not damage or dislodge the seal, but the escaped grease will make a mess of the inside of the wheel. If you push against the piston as you pump, the piston will remain sealed by the O-ring and excess grease will be forced past the seal over the inner bearing. As the Buddy reaches it’s maximum capacity for grease, the piston will slip past the O-ring and excess grease will slip leak to the outside. As you fill the Buddy with grease through the fitting on the piston, use a light touch and let the piston move outward as the grease fills the space behind it. Inside the shell of the Buddy, there’s an O-ring set in a groove, and the sliding “piston” seals against the O-ring. Clean the Bearing Buddies or caps and set them aside.īearing Buddies are not difficult to take apart for cleaning. Protective grease caps with a flange resting against the hub can be removed with a screwdriver. If you use a steel hammer, hold a piece of wood against the Bearing Buddy and tap it to prevent damage. Any grease on the inside of the wheel’s inner rim is an indication of a failed seal.īearing Buddies are removed by gently tapping them off with a rubber mallet or hammer. Lower the trailer until the tire makes contact with the ground, then loosen the lug nuts, jack the trailer up again and remove the wheel and tire. If it’s making any noise, it’s likely there is damage to the bearings and/or races. Hold the tire on both sides and twist it back and forth.
#BACKTRACK TRAILER HUBS FREE#
Jack the trailer up until the wheel is free to spin, and support the trailer with blocks or a jack stand, just in case the jack fails. You’ll need bearing grease boat trailer bearings require marine-grade grease, which has more hydrophobic qualities than regular trailer bearing grease.Įnsure that the trailer tongue is well supported, either blocked up or hitched to a car with the parking brake on, and chock the far wheel. Round up a couple of rolls of paper towels, protective gloves, and a piece of cardboard for a clean, disposable work surface. Repacking a bearing with grease is a messy job, but relatively easy and even somewhat fun. The cleaned bearings or their replacements then get repacked with grease and reinstalled with new seals. With this trailer, it’s likely that the seals had failed and the bearing needed to be removed, cleaned, and inspected. Grease that has been overheated by friction-generated heat will be darker than new grease. The change in color was an indication that water had found its way into the grease. I found that the grease in the bearings of one of our trailers had a milky brown appearance, rather than the clear, thick motor-oil appearance that it normally has. Spring is our time to recommission our fleet of four trailers, so I recently made the rounds to check the condition of lights, tires, axles, and bearings. This $17 bearing replacement kit includes bearings, rear seal, and cotter pin.
0 kommentar(er)
