Trailer bearings question

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SmokyMtnGrady

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Last year I had not 1 but two failed trailer bearings on annual tow to Fla. I had failure going down on 95 near Pooler GA and again in Pooler on the return trip. I carry 3-4 hub kits and such and can change a hub and even spindles on my trailer in under an hour.

This year I wanted an Owens trailer andxmay still buy one, but I have question. When I get my boat back and after I float her in Fontana I am going to replace and repack all my bearings. Is there a superior bearing set on the market or do I just order something from West Marine or e-trailer ?
 
I have to ask, do you use bearing buddies?
I run them on all my trailers, boats, camper, landscape (loaded with motorcycles or a farm tractor) and I've made numerous Florida runs from NJ. Locally or multiple states away, never had a bearing fail. (Knock wood) :roll:
Mike
 
Is there a superior bearing set on the market or do I just order something from West Marine or e-trailer ?

I wouldn't use anything that isn't American or German made, including grease seals (double or even triple lipped) ... :wink:
 
You didn't say if you have outer seals/caps or as mentioned , bearing buddies. If any, have you looked for moisture inside? That is fairly common.
Secondly, it is easy to overtighten the castle nut when installing new bearings. Read the directions, the nut should be looser than you would think.
Bearings fail for several reasons, most commonly poor/dirty lubrication and/or overheating. If you have disc brakes, the grease used should state that it is meant for disk brakes. A contactless IR temperature meter is a handy tool to take along. After several miles, measure the hub temps and make a note. All should be about the same assuming you haven't used the brakes a lot. Note the readings and keep an informal log. After some more mileage or change in terrain, pull over and measure again. Large changes in one or more bearings can be a signal that something is wrong and failure may occur.
Binding brakes; disk or drums, will result in overheating. The IR temp meter will identify that condition.

I as sure you have checked the races. They should be changed too(along with rear seals) as part of the replacement job.
 
Smoke;

I have said this for more years than I can remember.

If your trailer is anywhere near max cap with the Grady loaded on, you have the real potential to blow bearings/seals no matter what other precautions you take.

My trailer guys replaced 1-2 bearings in the course of a year on my Gulfstream trailer until I had the 5000 lb axles swapped for 7000 pounders. I towed hundreds of miles per year, like you. He installed every top-notch bearing on the market along with kick-butt seals, the works.

Now, at 14k cap, they wear somewhat and I replace them just to avoid potential trouble. The trailer is not stressed in any way, it hardly knows my 232 is even loaded on there.

If you get another trailer, get two 5k axles to tow your Seafarer, have an oversize frame, a hose attachment to flush the axles when you go to the Keys and overbuild everything on it while taking all the precautions the others have mentioned.

The advice given by our Great-Gradymates here is valid. Bearing Buddies, etc are good investments, but, in my view will not ultimately solve the problem until you create a trailer than can take the stress & bouncing up-and-down from state to state.

I am not saying this is absolute and applicable to everyone. I am stating that I have trailered all over the place, living in Indiana, and my bearing troubles stopped when I overbuilt the trailer. Plus, I have seen this often enough with others that I feel comfortable in putting this info out there.

The guy at Owens, or wherever will likely tell you your wasting money. Politely state your case and spec that trailer out so it tows that boat like it's riding in a limo. If I had a dollar for every dealer that sold a near-cap trailer to a customer to create an attractive package price for the boat & trailer, I'd have a Canyon 370 with trips. (OK, an exaggeration, but it is staggering how many undersized trailers are on the road.)

Again, I know this isn't for everyone and I can spend someone else's money easier than mine, but I have found that saving money on a trailer=blown bearings, premature brake failure and, in one instance, a broken weld.

You tow a lot, back and forth from Fontana to Largo. The folks who make a marginal trailer work tow short distances back-and-forth from their ramp or marina. Take the stress off those axles & bearings and I'll wager you'll stop changing them on I-95.
 
I'm curious to know if those who have experienced frequent bearing failures, what your lubricating regiment is. Although not practical, my manufacturer advises after every dip to ensure all moisture is displaced.
Microscopic pitting of heat treated alloys under high stress = short life. I wonder if marine axle manufacturers simply don't take this into account because no data exists. If frequent lubricating prevents the corrosion to get good life out of bearings without resorting to overkill, then maybe a small grease gun in the truck might help?
 
The shop where I work part time (25+ years, now)... we've always used Timken bearings and have had excellent results with those. I have "heard" that there are Chinese versions of them, but not sure about that. I'm sure there are other good brands out there, but if you go with Timken make sure they say Made in USA on them. Replace the races, too, since you're starting fresh and/or changing brands (just to be safe).

I agree with the notion about "inexpensive" trailers. There's a lot of companies out there that sell based on price. There's a reason the more expensive trailers cost more, it's not just "for the heck of it". Shoreland'r is another top notch manufacturer that you can look into.
 
family affair has an interesting point. Gotta trust those Lake Erie guys...

I used to carry a grease gun in the 80's and hit the zerts(SP??) at the ramp before driving away. I always seemed to blow the seals out the backside from pumping too much in, but I had little to no bearing trouble during those years.

When I went to my 1st Grady (Seafarer 228G) I was told the seals are watertight to prevent water intrusion during immersion while floating the boat off/on. I got tired of greasy guns & hands and stopped carrying it after hearing that.
Indeed, I started having bearing trouble from then on, but, I repeat, it stopped when I finally overbuilt the trailer for my current 232.
One other problem with marginal trailers. On my aforementioned Seafarer, the weight of the boat bent the axles in the middle over time, creating a negative camber, or whatever you call it, prematurely wearing out tire after tire until I figured out what was going on.

Dennis:
The guy who installed the 7k axles on my current trailer used Tempkin bearings and had good things to say about them as you do. I'm not sure of the manufacturing origin of them nowadays, here or abroad, but my 1st set were Tempkin after the axle swap and they lasted a long while. I'm frankly not sure what's in there now, but they've lasted also.
 
Last time there was a thread involving bearing failures, I asked the same question and got the same result. No response on the lube regiment. I'm not looking to chastise anyone, but rather want to understand if frequent failures are inevitable or possibly avoidable with consistent lubricating.
 
family affair said:
Last time there was a thread involving bearing failures, I asked the same question and got the same result. No response on the lube regiment. I'm not looking to chastise anyone, but rather want to understand if frequent failures are inevitable or possibly avoidable with consistent lubricating.
Click to expand...

I am not sure I agree with the statement about too much grease. My spindles have zerk fittings in the center of the threaded shaft. When you pump in grease it eventually flows out of the hub. That tells me that the hub is full and when full water can't pool ( hopefully). I have those rubber covers and I pull them every now and then to look for moisture or water. I don't trailer a lot so my issues usually have to do with corrosion as opposed to wear and tear.
 
family;
I did respond specifically to your lube regimen. I just stopped years later when I heard that trailers had watertight seals.
Again; during that period, I had little if any, bearing trouble, I just had grease all over the backside of the wheels from it coming out the other end. It certainly is a reasonable assumption that, had I continued greasing the wheels at the ramp, I would've stayed almost trouble-free.

My ultimate point, that has borne out for me over the years, was that an overbuilt trailer accomplishes the same thing.

So..Smoky, if your still here, if you keep your current trailer, grease the heck out of it..It should certainly help; if you buy new, overkill..
 
Seasick,
I was thinking the same.
I can't recall where I read it, but to the best of my knowledge marine grease can handle some moisture for short periods of time while still protecting the sensitive bearing surfaces from corrosion. As long as that grease is purged, the bearings should remain healthy. The question is, how long can one wait or drive without purging the contaminated grease?
 
Bill,

Your feedback helps to answer my question, but my inquiry was more directed to others who have multiple and frequent failures. Was this the case for you with the trailer for your seafarer?

When you were greasing regularly, we're you traveling great distances and we're you in and out of salt water?
 
family;
When I started trailering I had a 16 ft Starcraft on a single axle Holsclaw trailer.

Knowing little or nothing about maintenance of any kind as a 21 year old, I ran the trailer till I had a wheel shear off from lack of lube. The tire went into a cornfield and I was stuck in the ditch 'till a tow truck came.

My mechanic gave me a grease gun and said "grease it after every time you pull out of the ramp." He knew I was a numbskull when it came to that sort of thing and he also knew if I greased the bearings after every trip, he wouldn't have to deal with me.

I did and had no further issues.

To answer your questions:

In those days I was trailering several hundred miles a stretch since boating options were few in Indiana. Lake Michigan, Kentucky, plus I would run to Florida once or twice a year. Not cross-country, but significant miles when you totaled them up at the end of the year.

When I got the Seafarer with it's new trailer, the sales guy told me that these new bearing kits were watertight so they would prevent water intrusion. That's when I stopped greasing and started having the failures, and they were frequent..I was having bearings & seals fail a couple times a year over the hundreds of miles I was driving. It is worthy of note that I was not boating in saltwater with the Seafarer..fresh only. (That's when I started going to Sandusky..)

At that point, I finally started to figure out that bigger is better and I over-killed the trailer. From that point on, it's been dang near trouble-free.
 
I try to flush with fresh water and top off with grease after every dip. It has been working well for me since about 1999. However I don't do many long tows.

Repetitive failure of the same bearings sounds like overloading to me....
 
What do you mean by "topping off?"

Bearing buddies are supposed to self purge contaminated grease as long as the BB has enough grease to enable the spring to create pressure. Are you topping off a BB by pushing the piston to the top with grease, or are you simply pumping a few times with the gun per zerk?
 
When I lived out west I used to trailer around 10,000 miles per year. Over a 10+ year period, I experienced just about every kind of wheel bearing failure, so I ended up learning a lot.

1. Many of my failures came after having the bearing or hubs replaced by professionals. Several times after a repair the replacement bearings would fail within a 100 miles. The problem is that many shops over tighten them. Boat trailers with disc brakes and surge actuators are not the same as travel trailers with electric actuators (see below). The proper way to adjust the bearings is to use a wrench to snug them up and make sure they are correctly seated. Then loosen the castle nut and turn it clockwise until finger tight. Then back it off to line up the cotter pin hole.

2. If you trailer in mountainous territory and have disc brakes on your trailer, you need to lose the surge controller and replace it with either an electrical actuator or electric over hydraulic. In either case you have the ability to control the amount of braking from inside of the tow vehicle. Surge brakes activate when you are towing down a steep grade every time you touch the vehicle brake or use your exhaust brake to slow down. This overheats the hubs and causes the bearing to fail. I one had to replace hubs twice in order to make it down a long 8% grade.

http://www.boatus.com/magazine/trailering/2013/february/electric-over-hydraulic-brakes.asp

3. Upgrading the axle load capacity to well over your actual boat and trailer weight is a really good idea. I eventually went this route. Heavier axles us larger bearings, which distribute the weight over a larger surface area.

4. I used all 3 types of bearing lubrication systems over the years. Bearing buddies work, but you need to be careful to use double cupped grease seals (the ones with the springs) and to never over pack the bearings. If you keep shooting grease into a bearing buddy hub, it has no where else to go except to blow past the inner seal. The right way to do it is to just add enough grease so that you can rock the metal spring plate with your thumbs. If you pump grease in there after every trip you will eventually have a problem. You should clean and inspect/replace bearings with bearing buddy protectors once a season to get the old grease out.

Spindle lube hubs like EZ Lube or Super Lube are the ones that you should grease after each trip. These do not pressurize the grease and adding a little fresh grease after dunking the trailer will blow out any water that may have seeped into the bearings. I've have these type of hubs now and they are working very well. I don't trailer much anymore, but I pulled the hubs and cleaned the bearings after 4 seasons and they were fine.

Oil lubed trailer hubs are the latest technology, but they have had a shady history. The problem was when people tried to mount oil lubed hubs on used spindles. I tried this using the Kodiak kit and it leaked right away. However, I know plenty of people who have had great luck with this system when it came fitted on new axles. Oil lubed hubs run cooler than greased hubs and the lube lasts much longer between services. The technology is well established on OTR trailers.

Bob, I'd bet that your issues are caused by overheating you hubs coming down the mountains where you live. Once the rollers, races, and grease gets overheated, it's just a matter of time before you have a failure. Heavier axles and an electric over hydraulic actuator should solve your problem.
 
I tow long distances on undulating roads up and down the coast, a lot of it on secondary twisty roads, never have any problems with bearings.
As stated above do not over tighten the castle nut, sure do it tight with a spanner so the bearing sits then back off and do it finger tight. Wobble the wheel and feel if there is movement in the bearing, better to have very little movement than over tighten it.
I use double lip seals that sit on stainless steel sleeves, very cheap to buy and ensures the seal always runs on perfect surface, very important to have a perfect seal. I only use Japanese made bearings, German and USA bearings are good as well but make sure you don't use Chinese bearings regardless of brand. Make sure you pack the bearings before you install them, no use just putting grease on the bearing the grease has to go through the bearing rollers, if you are not sure how to do this on the palm of your hand google it or buy a bearing packer.
Bearing buddies are good and I use them but again keep away from Chinese made, most are rubbish, I put some sealant when I install mine again for total waterproofing. Bras are a must because the buddies will leak with out them and make sure you push the end of the bra in so it's not bubbling outwards .
Pack the bearings with quality marine grease, I use Lubrimatic Marine Grease made in USA but any quality marine grease will do the job, Install the rear bearing and the seal on the hub, put the hub in the spindle then install the packed front bearing, after you adjust it put the B/B on then pump grease until you fill the hub, when the spring on the buddy starts rocking stop otherwise you will pop the seal. After driving a few miles take the bra off and check to make sure the B/B spring is still rocking, if sited hard pump a little more grease . From time to time take the bra off and check again the spring, pump grease as required but again DON'T overfill.
If you like to inspect the bearings do so before a long trip, I take the B/B off and inspect the grease if it's the right colour and not milky, it means all is well, if you see any contamination take the hub off and find out the reason water got in it .
I have the same bearings in my trailer for almost 5 years now without any issues at all.
In Australia you can't have surge brakes on any trailer combo over 2000 kg (4400 lbs). I have Kodiak S/S rotors, S/S calipers and S/S brackets with Hydrastar electric over hydraulic actuator. In almost 5 years I wore out 2 sets of brake pads and replaced the rotors a few months ago, at the same time I wore out one set of tyres as well.
After a long trip before you put the trailer in the water feel the hubs if they are hot cool them down , if you don't, hot hubs will suck water in, even very little water is enough to stuff the bearings. Quality bearings last many miles if not contaminated, can you remember ever changing them on your trucks?
Don't tempted to use S/S bearings, they will not last as they are very soft.
I hope this helps you guys that have troubles with bearings, of course as others said if you tow long distances don't use undersized trailers, I see that all the time both here and in USA.
 
Topping off = pumping bearing buddy so that cap rises to the top, also blowing a little grease ( + water) out of the back hole.
 
Hi Guys:
Great feed back. Thank you so much. I have been backpacking in the Ocala National Forest with my youngest.

Yes, I use bearing buddies. I use that synthetic green grease. I have purchased those hub kits from Tie Down. I know their products are marginal. This season I am going to tear down all the hubs and replace all bearings, races and seals. I now go slow . I keep it under 65 and such.

Yes when I get a new trailer I want the next axle size up, 15 inch load range e radials and the best hubs and brakes. I am tired of having issues hauling my baby to the sea.

I will search the Tempkin bearings and go from there.
 
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