Community Forums

Danjo · 05-20-2012, 04:14 PM

How long can I use Buddy Bearings on my 5th wheel before I need to pull the bearings and grease them by hand. I give the buddy bearings about 4 to 5 shots of grease before each trip.

TXiceman · 05-20-2012, 04:41 PM

I have a feeling you are way over greasing the bearings and have probably blown the seals. You need to pull the wheels and make sure the seals have not allowed grease to get on the break linings.

Bearing buddies are really meant to be used on boat trailer bearings where the beatings are submerged on a regular basis.

If you have the E-Z lube axles, you do not need to be greasing them that often.

You do need to pull the wheels once a year or 10,000 miles and check the wheel bearing and brakes.

Ken

Cat320 · 05-20-2012, 06:19 PM

E-Z Lube and buddy bearings are the same. Agree with TXiceman, probably over doing the lube jobs.

TXiceman · 05-20-2012, 07:42 PM

The Bearing Buddies I have seen are NOT like the E-Z lube axles. The bearing buddies have a spring loaded reservoir to keep the bearings under pressure.

http://www.bearingbuddy.com/how.html

http://www.trailerenterprises.com/in...EZLubeHubs.htm

Ken

Papa_Jim · 05-20-2012, 10:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danjo

How long can I use Buddy Bearings on my 5th wheel before I need to pull the bearings and grease them by hand. I give the buddy bearings about 4 to 5 shots of grease before each trip.

I started using the Bearing Buddys on my boat trailer. I was sick and tired of taking the wheels off, cleaning the bearings or replacing them, repacking them with grease a couple of times a year.

The Bearing Buddy's have a spring loaded plate that has a relief hole in it, so if you pump too much grease in, it pushes the plate out against the spring until it reaches the relief hole and the excess grease pours out. It makes a real mess of the outside of the rim and tire. You soon learn how much grease to pump in by looking at the position of the spring loaded plate. I don't think it's possible to pump in too much grease and blow the seals. It allows you to keep the bearing hub absolutely full of grease without pressurizing the hub.

Bottom line, after installing the Bearing Buddys, I used that boat for ten more years without taking the wheels off or adjusting the bearings. I often casually checked the bearing free play just by yanking the wheel back and forth. It never changed.

So, on my 14' cargo trailer, dual axles with brakes, I installed Bearing Buddys. Exactly the same results. Never had a problem with bearings or brakes. I am really sold on using Bearing Buddys.

Cat320 · 05-21-2012, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TXiceman

The Bearing Buddies I have seen are NOT like the E-Z lube axles. The bearing buddies have a spring loaded reservoir to keep the bearings under pressure.

WelcomE to Bearingbuddy.com

E-Z Lube Trailer Axles

Ken

Interesting. On our Montana, the manual compared the EZ Lube axles as being the same as BBs. I've used both, but did not put near as much grease into the EZ Lubes as in the boat's BBs.

wa8yxm · 05-21-2012, 03:23 PM

How long can you use bearing buddies (You typed it backwards) before you need to hand pack.... I'm not sure but the term "Forever" comes to mind.

TXiceman · 05-21-2012, 05:30 PM

I have trouble with the axle manufacturers saying 10 to 12K miles between bearing repacks. This sounds excessive. My poor old Ford truck went about 95,000 mile before I repacked the front bearings. I put on new brakes and repacked the bearings.

I guess part of it goes back to PROPERLY packing them and setting the tension on them correctly plus using the right lubricant.

Ken

Dunner · 05-21-2012, 05:58 PM

Had them on my boat trailer. Some times, I would leave the trailer in the water all day and never had a bearing go bad.

Cat320 · 05-22-2012, 06:57 PM

It's spelled both ways...this was on a boat trailer site:
How to Replace Buddy Bearings on a Trailer

Ray,IN · 05-24-2012, 09:52 PM

Normal hubs have a large void between the bearings. With Bearing Buddys you must fill the entire hub before the outside bearing gets new grease. They also keep the grease under pressure to prevent water from entering the hub. This is a good thing for boat trailers, not so much for camping trailers, utility trailers, etc., as the constant pressure eventually pushes any oil that separates from the grease past the seals. I have had that happen on my farm trailers-until I realized what was happening. Greasy brake shoes on a trailer loaded with 200 bales of hay makes for an interesting drive to the hay barn.
E-Z lube axles are quite different; they are designed with passage holes from the inner to the outside bearing ( and special seals), no huge void in the hub to fill before the outer bearing gets grease. Guess I didn't need to explain, Ken's links did that.

3665RE · 05-28-2012, 05:08 AM

Hi

All of this depends on the trailer usage.

A trailer that sits all year then is used for a week or 2-week vacation will have wheel barring problems regardless of what kind of lubrication system you use. These should be disassembled and hand lubricated, inspected every year before the travel.

The reason, when the trailer sits like that the rollers get a flat spot on the ones with the weight on them. That would be the one that are down during storage. This flat spot results in rapid deterioration of the bearing surfaces.

When you remove the bearings for hand lubrication the inspection for irregularities is of more importance than lubrication. Any markings in the race or rollers should result in replacement of the bearing assembly.

A word of caution: Don’t use air to “Spin” the bearings when you have them in you’re had. They will fly apart.

For a trailer that is used often the inspection interval can be extended. My 2009 39’ fifth wheel has 38,000 miles on it. It has the easy lube hubs. I grease them once a year and they take very little grease. I haven’t ever removed the hubs and bears yet.

3665RE

camper33 · 05-28-2012, 06:11 AM

I have replaced many brake shoes because of over use of the EZ lube system. They seals are cheap and the grease pushes through under pressure and fills the brake drum and shoes get soaked in grease. I recommend remove the hub and inspect once a year, if needed wash, hand pack the bearings, and replace the seal and cotter pin or tab washer that holds the nut.

3665RE · 05-28-2012, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by camper33

I have replaced many brake shoes because of over use of the EZ lube system. They seals are cheap and the grease pushes through under pressure and fills the brake drum and shoes get soaked in grease. I recommend remove the hub and inspect once a year, if needed wash, hand pack the bearings, and replace the seal and cotter pin or tab washer that holds the nut.

There are 3 tricks to not pushing your seals out of the back of the EZ Lube hub. First jack the wheel off the ground and rotate it during the grease insertion process. Second don’t grab your grease gun with both hands and rapidly pump it. Third don’t use an air driven grease gun like you see at the oil & lube stores.

Follow these procedures and you won’t push your seals out of the back of the hub.

3665RE

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