Do they work? and get grease back to the far bearing?
Buddy bearings
- Thread starter Blaze
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They do work but is an invitation to over grease, contaminate brakes.
They really only service the outboard bearing.
The rear seal is the vulnerable seal to take in water.
The inboard bearings have almos all the weight load burden
A good grease pack should turn +50,000 miles easy.
It seems to me a boat trailer only benefits by displacing open space in the hub so water can't flood those voids.
I believe it would be better to check spindle tightness & inspects seals & boat trailers need intensive service & inspected often.
They really only service the outboard bearing.
The rear seal is the vulnerable seal to take in water.
The inboard bearings have almos all the weight load burden
A good grease pack should turn +50,000 miles easy.
It seems to me a boat trailer only benefits by displacing open space in the hub so water can't flood those voids.
I believe it would be better to check spindle tightness & inspects seals & boat trailers need intensive service & inspected often.
Kestas
Staff member
No comment on how well they work, but I wnted to stress the importance of maintaining trailer bearings.
If you look at their usage pattern - they are often immersed in water immediately after a long drive, which nicely heats up the bearings. Quenched in water, the vacuum created from the cooled bearing cavity wants to draw in water. A healthy seal can hold back some pressure, but only to a point. Any water sucked in will greatly compromise the grease lubricating properties and wreak havoc with the bearing.
If you look at their usage pattern - they are often immersed in water immediately after a long drive, which nicely heats up the bearings. Quenched in water, the vacuum created from the cooled bearing cavity wants to draw in water. A healthy seal can hold back some pressure, but only to a point. Any water sucked in will greatly compromise the grease lubricating properties and wreak havoc with the bearing.
Thanks for the replies. I'm in the process of replacing all the bearings, brakes, hubs and going to 16in rims etc on our 20 yr old horse trailer. I came across the buddy bearings on the ordering part and the oil bath sealed type too. I was worried about seals too on the oil bath type but I know they are using on semi's etc successfully.
We run them on a couple of our trailers that are used for hauling tractors, produce and other heavier stuff.
I still don't trust them, and inspect and repack every winter or early spring, but they work just fine for us so far.
No inside bearing issues at all. I suppose if we ran some sort of heavy grease that didn't flow much at all when warm it could be a problem, but plain old TSC #2 and the green grease has worked fine..even have inadvertantly filled all three axles worth with corn head grease a couple times.
The gents I talk with that trust the things all say the same thing. Don't overfill, just give 'em a couple shots on every use and you'll never blow out an inner seal.
I dunno about Boat trailer use or sticking the things under water, but it seems to me that the positive pressure would negate any chance of water getting in in the first place.
I still don't trust them, and inspect and repack every winter or early spring, but they work just fine for us so far.
No inside bearing issues at all. I suppose if we ran some sort of heavy grease that didn't flow much at all when warm it could be a problem, but plain old TSC #2 and the green grease has worked fine..even have inadvertantly filled all three axles worth with corn head grease a couple times.
The gents I talk with that trust the things all say the same thing. Don't overfill, just give 'em a couple shots on every use and you'll never blow out an inner seal.
I dunno about Boat trailer use or sticking the things under water, but it seems to me that the positive pressure would negate any chance of water getting in in the first place.
We call them bearing buddies here, which makes more sense. A friend of mine works at a trailer component manufacturer, he is their welder and makes axles and stuff - he hate bearing buddies and reckons he sees more failed bearing with them than without. He made an axle for me and the bearings failed within a year, I fitted bearing buddies and 6 years later the bearing haven't been touched. The positive pressure stops water entry when put in water hot. Our light trailer axle seals are not lip type - they are fixed on the spindle and rotate in the hub, the pressure won't damage the seal, it will just expel the excess grease.
If the spindles are rebuilt & pre loaded correctly they should go another 20 years on a dry land trailer.
Oil baths are great, better seals, you just need to maintain the oil level.
If you do the math you may be able to buy an entire new axle assemblies.
Oil baths are great, better seals, you just need to maintain the oil level.
If you do the math you may be able to buy an entire new axle assemblies.
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