Bearing Buddies

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Did a search and didn't come up with any convincing information as to the added value of Bearing Buddies. Are they worth it? Do they extend the life of your bearings? Any negatives to putting them on?



TOXIC

 

[Rob LaMoy]

Just makes them easier to grease. Better than constantly pulling them apart and repacking. Grease n go!

 

[TrepMan]

Tox - I assume you are NOT putting those on the 929 trailer, as those have the flow thru hub systems that ROCK!



I did put bearing buddies on my utility trailer, as opposed to having to remove that stupid cap and repack the bearings every year. Going on 4 years with the buddies on the trailer with no problems and original bearings. On my old jon boat, I put the buddies on after burning up a set and almost loosing a wheel on the highway on the way back from Galveston 10 years ago. Used them for 7 more years with the new set of bearings no problem.

 

[Texas Transplant]

Tox - be sure and double check, as Trep has said. I was going to buy a set for my trailer (Tracker), and found they already had the flow thru system on them.



If you have standard hubs, yes, put them on. They are very nice. Just hook up, squirt some new in - till the old starts coming out, and you are done.



Tex

 

[Rob LaMoy]

Mine are '89 and still going strong. You're fine Tim. Near as I can tell, they last forever....................

 

[Sam Elkins]

I love my flow thru hubs!!!!!!!!!

 

[JEFF WHITE]

i have the flo-thru hubs and installed bearing buddies on them,for added protection form the elements,such as water and dirt through those stupid rubber plugs.lost a set or better of the plugs.in the fall i repack the hubs,just take the bearing buddies off,get the greae gun,pump the old out,put the buddy on,and put a little more grease in it to move the plate off the hub,and done.



ive replaced the bearings and races in my trailer for the halibut,but had many miles on those plastic cage bearings.

 

[Greg Meyer]

Jeff,



I presume our trailers are identical... I have buddies so were the flow through hubs an option...because I appear to have standard hubs... How do Identify "flow thru" hubs... ...???

 

[JEFF WHITE]

pull the buddies off,check the center of the spindle for a grease fitting.it should be there.if not clean the center of it off and see if they took the fitting off to clear the buddies.if so,put the fitting back in and go from there.maybe there wasnt enough clearance for them.mine cleared perfectly.

 

[Carlos Hathcock III]

Trep,

What are flow though? I have some sort of beaing buddies on my trailer. It (the trailer) was a aftermarket trailer bought by the pervious owner. The beaing area has blue plastic (feels like it is full of grease and it can move, grease indacator?) with a crome cover that sticks out from the bearign area. Same sort of thing? It is a "Tennessee trailer I think.....



Carlos

 

[Greg Meyer]

Jeff,



Thyanks...it is my morning project...



Greg

 

[Tony Payne]

Carlos,



Those sound like bearing buddies to me.

 

[Carlos Hathcock III]

Thanks Tony.



Carlos

 

[Sam Elkins]

Here's a picture of the flow thru hubs that come on some Trailstar trailers. If you have a regular axel and want a flow thru type of hub check out the retrofit hubs available from Bass Pro Shops at the link below. The Trailstar type fill from the front of the wheel and the retrofit type fill from behind the wheel.



Champion Trailer Parts sells both the special axels and flow thru type of hubs if you want the same type as used on the Trailstar trailers.


http://www.basspro-shops.com/servle...arClassCode=4&hvarSubCode=3&hvarTarget=browse

 

[TrepMan]

Carlos - Sorry I took so long to reply, had to work, fish (no catching on Sat for stripers) and my DSL connection was down for 3 days.



Sam has it correct, the Flow Thru are 1000% better than the buddies. The flow thru pushes OLD grease out the front and new in. I do mine, based on input from this site, every year. Just keep pumping in new till all the old (darker colored) comes out! Where buddies just pack more in the outside and nothing comes out, unless you have a seal leak at the back of the hub and that is another problem in itself. With the buddies you realy need to completely pull the bearings and grease every year or two since the old grease will not be comming out but just breakdown inside the hub.



Toxic - You started this thread where are you man?? Which trailer was this question about??

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

I'm Here Trep,



As usual, I stir the pot and then sit back and watch. I actually was thinking about them on the 929 trailer just because the flow thru's like to spit grease all over my pretty rims LOL. BUT......after reading the comments above, I think I'll just keep cleaning them and forget the BB's. I do have them on the little trailer and have been satisfied with their performance. I have pulled that little trailer to Florida and Wisconsin and never re-packed, just added to.



TOXIC

 

[TrepMan]

Tox - Where is the grease comming out of the flow thru's that are getting your rims dirty? I've got the aluminium rims on my Tracker and 2 1/2 years and not a DROP of grease anywhere! Maybe you have a seal bad up front??

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

So far only on one hub and it looks like it is coming out the front of the hub. Might just be an overfill problem because it doesn't happen all of the time. I probably need to order a whole new set of rubber caps anyway. BTW, the bearing buddies were a B*TCH to get on the little trailer. One went on smooth and the other took me a month of trying. I would go out and BEAT on it for a half hour, get frustrated and throw it on the shelf, then whenever I got the urge to beat on something, I would go try it again. I swear, it took me a dozen times before it finally went on!!



TOXIC