Repacking bearings

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Re: Repacking bearings

Postby GuitarPhotog » Thu Apr 20, 2017 11:37 am

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Re: Repacking bearings

Postby dancam » Thu Apr 20, 2017 11:57 am

Personally i do both each time. First the tool, then by hand.

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Re: Repacking bearings

Postby daveesl77 » Thu Apr 20, 2017 4:31 pm

I only do the method where I put the grease in the palm of my hand and spend about 20 minutes squishing it into the bearings. Been doing it this way for over 50 years, never had a failure, everything from family car to an "A" modified dragster to SCCA sports car to camera crane.

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Re: Repacking bearings

Postby Tom Horn » Thu Apr 20, 2017 4:44 pm

I have always done it the same as Dave. That has always been a quick and simple method for me.
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Re: Repacking bearings

Postby drhill » Thu Apr 20, 2017 5:06 pm

Just install bearing buddies and never get your hands greasy again. They aren't just for boat trailers.
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Re: Repacking bearings

Postby swoody126 » Thu Apr 20, 2017 9:11 pm

i just towed a trailer i built 26 years ago almost 500 miles today

the first set of bearings lasted 25 years and this is the 1st year for the replacements

like Dave i packed the originals by hand the 1st time and filled the hub cavity w/ the same BLUE GREASE(boat trailer)

installed BEARING BUDDIES on day 1 and top 'em off just b4 launching every time and at the beginning of each season

each year i jsck the tire off the ground and spin it listening for any growling eminating from the hub

last year it made noise and got a new set of bearinga all the way around

no noise yesterday so they got a few squirts of fresh blue grease and today was uneventful

btw, this trailer gets dunked in both fresh & salt water regularly

if you're squeemish get some blue NITRILE GLOVES from HF they're only about $5/box of 100

prolly ought to wear the gloves anyway :thumbsup:

as mentioned above... been doin it this way for over 50 years and never had a roadside failure

i now keep BLUE GREASE in all 4 of my grease guns, farm, boat, boat, home/jeep

sw
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Re: Repacking bearings

Postby dmdc411 » Thu Apr 20, 2017 10:56 pm

I to believe in marine grade wheel bearing grease. My first used boat trailer had it the hubs. The seals were shot. Seaweed right to the bearings! Bearings were fine. New seals, repack with marine grease. 18 years later, not a issue!

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Re: Repacking bearings

Postby swoody126 » Mon Apr 24, 2017 8:57 am

slowcowboy wrote:What's the repacking maintenance schedule?

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Slow, the schedule is that each year or before any extended trip you simply jack the tire off the ground and spin it while listening to the hub for unfriendly noises

always do this far enuff ahead of time so if you do hear unfriendly noises you will have adequate time to solve the problem/replace the bearings)

if there are no gravely/growling like noises coming from the hub just give the BEARING BUDDIES a couple squirts and GO...

some will claim it is necessary to perform the repacking ritual on a specific day each & ever so how long which isn't necessary

each time i stop for fuel while pulling ANY TRAILER i walk around the entire rig looking for anything out of order and touch each tire w/ the back of my hand to see if it is HOT, they will all be slightly warm and the one(s) on the sunny side of your course traveled will be just slightly warmer than the one(s) on the shaded side

i also touch each hub/wheel at the hub with my finger tips checking for the same issues

tires and hubs will be only slightly warmer than ambient surfaces when everything is happy

install BEARING BUDDIES and most of your concerns will vaporize

sw
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Re: Repacking bearings

Postby dancam » Mon Apr 24, 2017 2:57 pm

Ok, but with bearing buddies the old grease never comes out right? You push a little more in each time but until you overpressureize it and it goes past your seals doesnt all the grease stay in there?

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Re: Repacking bearings

Postby daveesl77 » Mon Apr 24, 2017 5:27 pm

Slow, on every trip, every time I stop I check the temperature in the trailer wheel rims by just touching the rims. Before each big trip or yearly I'll raise the trailer and to the spin/feel/listen test as talked about above. Every few years I'll pull the wheel assembly, and repack the bearings. This really isn't necessary, but being retired I get my pleasures in the little things.

:D

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Re: Repacking bearings

Postby pchast » Mon Apr 24, 2017 7:37 pm

I clean and repack bearings on my trailers each end of season. I have a bearing packer that I use. I also try to force in more by hand before reassembling the hub.
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Re: Repacking bearings

Postby swoody126 » Mon Apr 24, 2017 8:47 pm

dancam wrote:Ok, but with bearing buddies the old grease never comes out right? You push a little more in each time but until you overpressureize it and it goes past your seals doesnt all the grease stay in there?

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dancam, as you add grease the older grease DOES move to the inside/back of the hub where it does escape by the seal because the seals are designed that way

under pressure of the grease water/contaminants cannot intrude into the hub

the spring on the outside of the BEARING BUDDY keeps that pressure on the grease to prevent contamination

this is not damaging the seals because of the way they are designed

some folks think they have blown their seals when in fact the seals are just doing their job as designed, keeping contaminants out and allowing excess grease out as it thins due to heat generated by the friction of the bearings rolling around at such a high speed

the escaped grease tends to sling around the inside of the wheel and many folks will pressure wash them in place which isn't in the best interest of the hub assembly

have i confused you enough for one evening?
sw
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Re: Repacking bearings

Postby dancam » Tue Apr 25, 2017 2:46 pm

swoody126 wrote:
dancam wrote:Ok, but with bearing buddies the old grease never comes out right? You push a little more in each time but until you overpressureize it and it goes past your seals doesnt all the grease stay in there?

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dancam, as you add grease the older grease DOES move to the inside/back of the hub where it does escape by the seal because the seals are designed that way

under pressure of the grease water/contaminants cannot intrude into the hub

the spring on the outside of the BEARING BUDDY keeps that pressure on the grease to prevent contamination

this is not damaging the seals because of the way they are designed

some folks think they have blown their seals when in fact the seals are just doing their job as designed, keeping contaminants out and allowing excess grease out as it thins due to heat generated by the friction of the bearings rolling around at such a high speed

the escaped grease tends to sling around the inside of the wheel and many folks will pressure wash them in place which isn't in the best interest of the hub assembly

have i confused you enough for one evening?
sw

Ah, not conusing at all, if the seals are designed to do that it sounds like a decent system.
I bought an axle with them, havent taken it apart to look at it or driven it yet though

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Re: Repacking bearings

Postby swoody126 » Tue Apr 25, 2017 5:37 pm

dancam here is a cross section pic of a typical inner hub grease seal

Image

you can see how the rubber portion is tapered to provide the protection i was mentioning

sorry i couldn't post this pic earlier PHOTOBUCKET wasn't playing well with others

the blue shaded part is the metal component that holds the rubber in place

the small round part is a spring that holds the rubber against the spindle

note the tapered inner point which actually contacts the spindle whre it allows the older grease to escape

any time you do pull the hubs it is not wrong to take a bit of fresh grease and wipe the inner surface of the rubber which allows it to play more friendly

here is a blow up of a common hub assembly

Image

the shapes can differ slightly butt the order of assembly is always the same

¿ clear as mud, now ?

sw
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