Bearing buddies?

[Brucep]

I have read a lot about repacking wheel bearings on this forum. Does anybody use the bearing buddies to keep fresh grease in the bearings?

When I lived in Alaska every trailer I had used bearing buddies, we never lost a bearing even when pulling overloaded trailers.

Do Bearing buddies work for the AS wheels?

[moosetags]

Bearing Buddies are not usually used on axles that have trailer brakes on them as the grease can sometimes get on the brake drums and shoes rendering them useless.

Brian

[bobfowler]

moosetags beat me to it. Bearing Buddies + Electric Brakes = Bad Idea.

[Kevin245]

You'll find members on both sides of the bearing buddy use issue when it comes to travel trailers but I'm in the camp with Brian and Bob. With BB's installed I would tend to ignore or put off my annual brake and bearing inspection/servicing.

Kevin

[bobfowler]

I taught my wife how to re-pack wheel bearings last Fall. She actually had FUN doing it! (no guys, she doesn't have a sister...)

[tpi]

I've had bearing buddies on boat trailers and never had wheel bearing problems with any of them. One big advantage of the bearing buddy is filling the hub full of grease keeps it from breathing in moisture on expansion/contraction cycles.

The concern is the Buddy puts about 3 PSI on the greased hub, and that the grease can leak out of the seal into the brake system. Grease on the magnet and linings will ruin braking.

My sister's Scamp trailer came factory equipped with greasable hubs and electric brakes. No problems after 6 years.

I probably will go with the conventional wisdom here, although I don't think the answer is particularly clear. While I do think the Buddies help the bearings, I think their use requires very good grease seals, maybe on a preventative maintenance basis. It also requires inspection of brake system including grease contamination. You still have the wheels up in the air for maintenance one way or another.

[gunner]

Bearing buddies work fine on hubs with brakes. Have them on all of my boat trailers with brakes. Just need to have good seals, follow the instructions so you don't put too much pressure in the hub.

[Action]

Originally Posted by gunner

Bearing buddies work fine on hubs with brakes. Have them on all of my boat trailers with brakes. Just need to have good seals, follow the instructions so you don't put too much pressure in the hub.

I am not sure I could tell a good seal from a bad one both being in brand new condition.

With that said there is an art to using the BB and not putting too much grease in the hubs. It is a Goldilocks kind of thing. Not too little and not too much.

Another advantage is the hubs are better sealed than with a dust cover. Because the hub is under a very slight pressure and keeps out any foreign things because of that pressure.

The down side is the expense. Because the temp differences are not as great as a boat trailer the temps in a travel trailer temp to ramp up and then ramp down in a duty cycle. In a boat trailer the temp ramps up and then slams down when the trailer is dunked into the water. This system allows for hub protection in far greater temp variations than most travel trailers typical duty. That kind of protection may be a lil over kill, like sending in a cannon to do a rifle job. If you have the cash to burn ($25) go for it.

>>>>>>>>>>>>Action