Quick Trailer hub question

[oldpops]

Just a quick question on putting grease inside a trailer hub: Do we fill the entire cavity around the spindle, between the inside and outside bearings with grease? On the hub I have now there's about 3/16th of an inch space around the 1" inch straight spindle on our trailer/cart. Of course the bearings are both packed and the spindle itself is completely covered, especially where the bearings ride, but I wondered if I should jam some grease in there to completely fill the last little bit of the cavity inside the hub? I don't know how that would benefit the bearings since they ride on the spindle and bearing race, so is more grease a waste of time? Doesn't matter to me but since I've never done a trailer/cart hub install I thought I would ask you folks here. Any and all help, advice and suggestions is extremely appreciated.

 

[cannuck]

You can easily get decent service out of bearings that are packed properly witout stuffing the whole hub (questionable if the grease in the middle will ever contribute much to the actual bearing lubrication). However, if this is a boat trailer you really DO need to completely fill the hub. To do that you buy a "bearing buddy" hub cap with spring loading. You fill the hub best you can while assembling then use a grease gun on the Bearing Buddy to fill any spaces and charge the preloading spring.

 

[PoorUB]

Absolutely no reason to fill the hub. Just properly pack the bearings.

 

[Walkers]

Yep, pack the bearings, stick them in, Done

 

[weadjust]

Absolutely no reason to fill the hub. Just properly pack the bearings.

On a boat trailer with bearing buddies. The hub filled with grease and pressure from the spring keeps the water out or so they say

 

[PoorUB]

Bearing buddy for boat trailers.

https://www.bearingbuddy.com/how-bb-works

Only if you dip your trailer in the water often. Cargo trailers that never get submerged don't benefit from Bearing Buddies.

 

[juddspaintballs]

I pop the caps off my trailer hubs and squirt grease in the zerks before I take it on longer trips. I built the trailer in 2014 and I'm still on the original bearings.

 

[PoorUB]

I pop the caps off my trailer hubs and squirt grease in the zerks before I take it on longer trips. I built the trailer in 2014 and I'm still on the original bearings.

If you maintain the bearings they will last forever.

I have a trailer I built in 2000. I t got used short trips and then I needed to drag it about 2,000 miles. I decided I should repack the bearings as they had not been done since I built the trailer, so 20 years. The inner bearings had gotten a bit of moisture in that time so I replaced them, the outers looked fine and I put them back it.

On a different note, I had a 1974 Monte Carlo. When I got rid of it it had 250,000 miles on it and the original front wheel bearings. I did repack them every year or two.

 

[yatg]

Carry a couple of extra dust caps or rubber plugs (ez lube axles) with you. Never know when you're going to lose one followed by all the grease slinging out.

 

[Jinks]

Depends on what you use the trailer for. I used to work with a couple of know-it-all rednecks. I was planning a trip & towing a trailer. They asked when was the last time I packed the bearings on my trailer. I told them either last year, or the one before. Both went ballistic & went into rants about how I needed to clean & repack bearings after EVERY use of the trailer!!! I let 'em rant until they ran out of breath, then I told 'em "I know you do that with your boat trailers, but I almost NEVER load or unload my MOTORCYCLE in a river or lake". It's amazing how blank an "expert" can look..........

 

[PoorUB]

Both went ballistic & went into rants about how I needed to clean & repack bearings after EVERY use of the trailer!!!

Who the hell does that, even on a boat trailer??

When I had a boat I repacked them every fall when I put the boat away. Even I admit that was more often that needed, but I never had a trailer bearing fail!

 

[RaisedByWolves]

Who the hell does that, even on a boat trailer??

When I had a boat I repacked them every fall when I put the boat away. Even I admit that was more often that needed, but I never had a trailer bearing fail!

I think the real issue with boat trailers is putting the trailer into cold water when the bearings/hubs are warm and on seals with lots of use on them.

Just going 6" under water alone is not enough change in pressure to cause water to seep in if everything is in good order, but putting a 100+ degree hub into 40 degree water might cause issues.

YMMV

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

I think the real issue with boat trailers is putting the trailer into cold water when the bearings/hubs are warm and on seals with lots of use on them.

Just going 6" under water alone is not enough change in pressure to cause water to seep in if everything is in good order, but putting a 100+ degree hub into 40 degree water might cause issues.

YMMV

Actually the rapid cool down as the warm hubs are dunked in the water causes a pressure change that can **** the water in.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

Actually the rapid cool down as the warm hubs are dunked in the water causes a pressure change that can **** the water in.

That's what I said.

 

[cannuck]

If you maintain the bearings they will last forever.

I build some medium duty and operate some heavy duty trailers that put on hundreds of thousands of miles - all oil flooded hubs. The HD stuff can go the best part of a million miles on the very conservatively sized bearings, but the farmyard garbage (typically Dexter) axles on smaller stuff have bearings far too small for really long service and usually fret the spindles to a point where they are under diameter where the inner races fit. Light duty stuff has small bearing compared with axle ratings, but most of those trailers are seldom loaded to limits and don't see much mileage, so can last a fair bit (I have gone up to 40 years on one I can attest to and have another with at LEAST 60 years of grease packed service, but doesn't get used much any more).

 

[nh_yota]

Depends on what you use the trailer for. I used to work with a couple of know-it-all rednecks. I was planning a trip & towing a trailer. They asked when was the last time I packed the bearings on my trailer. I told them either last year, or the one before. Both went ballistic & went into rants about how I needed to clean & repack bearings after EVERY use of the trailer!!! I let 'em rant until they ran out of breath, then I told 'em "I know you do that with your boat trailers, but I almost NEVER load or unload my MOTORCYCLE in a river or lake". It's amazing how blank an "expert" can look..........

What a bunch of BS

 

[Jinks]

What a bunch of BS

Which one of your sensibilities did I offend?......

 

[firebirdparts]

Well, let's face it; nobody anywhere thinks you repack a bearing everytime you turn a tire. These were shockingly absurd people.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

Well, let's face it; nobody anywhere thinks you repack a bearing everytime you turn a tire. These were shockingly absurd people.

Hell you say!

I tore my truck down right after parking it in the lot at work this morning and repacked the muffler bearings and changed the blinker fluid.

I plan on checking the ring gear clearance front and rear before driving it home. I’ll do the same tomorrow morning before making the arduous 5 mile trip to work.

Can’t be too careful, don’t want to get stranded in the suburbs.

 

[Monza Harry]

Wheel bearings on my truck [Sonoma] went 100,000 miles, I bought replacement bearings as "Preventative Maintenance" for that brake job [integral hub/rotor. Old ones still looked perfect, cleaned and left in my spares for "just in case". M0aintained they are nearly bullet proof. Bearing buddies are useful for not often used trailers, a squirt and go if you are going some extended distance, to make sure the existing grease isn't petrified so they aren't used dry. Full for dry use will cause issues, like oil being thrown out of the hub (as the bearings warm up to operating temp). "EZ-Lube" axles put the grease in a better place then the BB's, but any grease is better than no grease, any day. Harry

 

[csp]

Which one of your sensibilities did I offend?......

Pretty sure his comment was directed towards the guys who thought the bearings should be packed every use.