To grease bearings or not

I just had my small boat trailer wheel bearings re-packed, I have buddy bearings, and he told me not to put any grease in the bearing, they should be good for one year, after one year, have them re-packed again. The tires on this trailer are 4- 8- 12. It is a small boat trailer hauling a kayak. I’ve never had anyone tell me not to grease my bearings, what are your thoughts?

You should be good to go. Every 3 months I take my wheels off and check everything. Repack every 2 years.

Thanks

Bearing buddies have a grease fitting so folks think putting grease in is good. Problem is the bearings are sealed, if your seal isn’t blown out and leaking no grease leaves you don’t need to put any more in, all continually adding grease will do is blow your seal and lead to contaminant intrusion and bearing failure.

I’ve got tons of miles on our flatbed never add grease, as needed pull them down rinse bearings in gas repack and put it all back.

I had an OKC trailer under my Ranger. I owned it for 30+ years and all I ever did was make sure the bearing buddies had the proper amount of grease. I never had a bearing problem.

I own a Mobile Mechanical Repair Service in Sulphur Springs, TX. I perform this service at your location for $120-$150 per axle. I recommend that it be done every year if you dip your trailer more than 40 times in a year. If you dip your trailer 100 times in a year I suggest doing it twice a year. Grease breaks down and liquifies over time and becomes very ineffective and sitting on the side of the road is no fun. I remove, clean, inspect and replace worn parts and repack with marine grease. I come to you and save you money 903-335-3373

I'm with Stump Jumper, as long as you have the same type of set up, you should be fine. A few pumps of grease periodically to make sure they're full and keep going.

A few pumps of grease periodically is what blows your seals.

Read what the bearing manufacture recommends. Many people over grease, there has to be some room for expansion. From Timken: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81zHRycNa8s

Whether or not the pack job is good for a year depends on a LOT of factors amigo. How many miles do you drive to water. I make trips to the Texas Gulf Coast, and that is some MILES. And at times I drive from storage to the ramp at Ray Roberts - a five-mile round trip and the grease never gets warm. Then how many times do I make that short drive to the RR ramp? About 100 a year is a pretty good guess ... and do I dunk the hubs? Yes. There are so many variables, but I tried to eliminate this one, or at least get it under control by installing VORTEX hubs myself awhile back. https://youtu.be/pxvEuiNDjVw

If you have Dexter EZ Lube hubs ...........this is what I do.I plan ahead and have my grease gun full either in the house or out in the sun depending on the season.Upon return from the lake,30-120 miles depending on which lake,I pump warm grease into the warm hub slowly but deliberately til all the old grease is expelled and only new grease is coming out of the hub.You will not blow the seal if everything is warmed up prior to grease replacement and you take your time.It takes me maybe an hour to do all 4 hubs on my tandem axle Coastline trailer.I have my hubs in the water maybe 30-35 times a year so I usually replace the grease once a year with a couple pump til full services in between.

It seems to work for me

You won’t “blow out” a seal anyways, since the pressure cap is off the end of the hub when you’re adding/replacing grease. The spring loaded hub cap is where the pressure comes from. According to directions, the fitting is installed, grease is pumped into the spindle until it forces it way through the spindle, both bearings, and gaps in the hub and spindle. The next step is to fill the hub cap flush with grease. Then install the hub cap. The amount of volume displaced in the cap, by the spindle and spindle nut, creates pressure inside the hub cap. This pressure is around 2 to 3 pounds per square inch. This is not enough to “blow out a seal” either. It is only enough to pressurize the inside of the hub to prevent water intrusion.

Don’t overthink it.

Sitting on the side of the road is not the time to find out if the hubs need repacking.

Frequent hubs probably causes more issues than not greasing them. Frequent greasers tend to blow out the seals. You shouldn’t see grease slung all over the inside of a wheel.

Follow the instructions from the hub manufacturer.

I have ran them for 10 years on a saltwater trailer without issue. Maybe grease them once during that time. Just keep an eye on them. I always take an infrared thermometer with me for the longer trips. Shoot everyone’s bearings when we stop. No infrared then touch them lightly.

Deal with it before they become an issue.

It’s best to not back warm ones in. They will cool when hitting the water causing water to potentially drawn into them.

Theres no way a hand pump grease gun can blow out back seals. Every wheel bearing i ever packed took a hard pounding with a slege hammer to remove the seals

Problem that most people here are not recognizing is that when you back hot bearings into the water the instant cooling causes them to suck water into the bearing chamber. I have used buddy bearings for 40 years and I just make sure I keep them at least 1/2 full. Make sure you use a marine grease. I always make sure a little grease leaks out of the rubber in the back of the bearing and I have never blow a seal. Bearings get repacked every 5 to 10 years and I have never had a rusty or blown bearing.