Bearing Buddies

[Texas teardrop]

Does anyone happen to know the size that fits the HF 1450 lb. trailer?

[Dale M.]

Why...... The are not the best solution for bearing lubrication... The tend to push grease out rear seal and it splatters all over inside wheel and fender...

A real good bearing inspection and re-lube every couple of years or 20,000 or so miles is simple and a lot less to deal with...

Dale

[Geron]

Ditto.

They are on a used trailer I just bought. The inside of the wheels are a mess.
The bearing buddies are gonna be history.

Geron.

[Texas teardrop]

Thanks for the information.. I'm not going to use them now.. Saved me a few dollars.

[Alphacarina]

Forget 'Bearing Buddies' - These are what you really want:

http://www.tiedown.com/aturbo.html

The bearings are lubricated by 90 weight gear oil, just like the rear bearings on your pickup truck

The system isn't under pressure, so the rear seals last forever . . . . as do the bearings

You actually get better fuel mileage too, due to reduced friction - You know that reduced friction means longer life and less heat as well

Don

[Gerdo]

Don
Those hubs look great.

Texas
I have BBs on my TD, I don't use them. I just pull the hubs apart every couple of years and check the grease and condition. BBs would be OK on a boat trailer that is dunked in water.

[packerz4]

Why...... They tend to push grease out rear seal and it splatters all over inside wheel and fender...

Dale

yep, and my HF utility trailer has that problem... how do i fix it. i know to take the bearing buddies off, remove castle nut, but then what? how do i fix that rear seal, and where do i get it from? i've read past posts about the seal being an odd size. does Harbor Freight carry the back seal?

thanks in adavance! any info you can send me will help. or pm me if you wanna...

tk

[brian_bp]

What Don is saying about oil-bath bearing lube makes sense to me. Dexter offers oil-lubricated bearings on their trailer axles, but apparently only from 5500 lb capacity and up. The hubs are a different part number from the grease-lubed hubs, but the only differences may only be the oil fill port and attachment of the cap (the oil cap may be screwed in and o-ring sealed, versus the interference fit of a grease cap).

A retrofit conversion is an interesting idea. Thanks, Don.

[madjack]

Why...... They tend to push grease out rear seal and it splatters all over inside wheel and fender...

Dale

yep, and my HF utility trailer has that problem... how do i fix it. i know to take the bearing buddies off, remove castle nut, but then what? how do i fix that rear seal, and where do i get it from? i've read past posts about the seal being an odd size. does Harbor Freight carry the back seal?

thanks in adavance! any info you can send me will help. or pm me if you wanna...

tk

tk, if you look in sdtrippers thread at the start of this section and scroll down, you will find a section, detailing most of whats known about bearings and seals...hopefully the info you seek will be there.......
madjack

[Airspeed]

When I replaced the seals in my hubs I just took the old one into Napa,they measured it, walked back to a shelf and set the new ones on the counter.
I had them check if they had bearings while I was at it and they were in stock as well. Mine had no readable markings on them but if you go to an experienced Napa guy he can find the parts easily, at least my Napa guy can. Aaron

[Gerdo]

Airspeed
I don't have a HF frame but for those that do. What are the part numbers or the seal and bearings?

Good find.

[madjack]

Gerdo beware...the HF trailers are manufactured by a number of different manufacturers in different countries and the sizes of bearings and seals do not hold true throughout the different ones...the only way to be absolutely sure of getting the right ones is to remove and measure the old one or bring them with you...Steve Tripp found that even HF themselves had a hard time giving proper sizes or even info on them when he was compiling the info index at the top of this section....
madjack

[Gerdo]

Copy that. Good point.

[bobhenry]

Why......
Dale

... how do i fix that rear seal, REPLACE IT and where do i get it from?
thanks in adavance! any info you can send me will help. or pm me if you wanna...

tk

Save yourself the aggrivation take the old seal to a good automotive parts store and let them cross reference it. If you have a bearing specialist industrial supply store even better. While your there take the inner and outer bearing with you and get a spare set. In case of failure in route Taking 20 minutes to change them on the road beats the alternatives.

[goldcoop]

Hey-

Our buddies @ Red Trailers have alot of replacement parts @:

http://www.redtrailers.com/ListItems.asp?cat=7

Don't know if this helps?:roll:

Cheers,

Coop