Bearing Buddies Falling Off

[Goldfinch]

Any advice on how to stop a bearing buddy falling off one wheel in particular. Is it a wheel balance issue? It only seems to happen when I drive from the boat servicing place to my home, but nowhere else. Happened 3 times in a row. No pot holes the whole way, mostly smooth freeway.

Cheers
dave

[Noelm]

I have found that certain brands are not all that tight fitting, but you could try, removing it, cleaning the area and the buddy with some sort of solvent based cleaner ,to remove all the grease and oil from the fitting spot, and use some loctite or similar product, I have had some measure of success doing this. I guess you do have the right size buddy of course?

[Robbo76]

I had the same prob on my tin boat. I just put cable ties around buddy then joined it to rim.::) ( had mags on trailer) A bit dodgy, but worked.

Cheers,
Rob

[tednted]

Just rough up the the bearing buddie or score it so it's a tighter fit !!
I actually tap the edges of mine lightly with a Hammer & cold chisel , then tap them on and seal between the buddie & the hub with a bead of silastic
hope this helps
Cheers AL

[PADDLES]

i've had the same problem goldfinch, brand new $10.5k trailer and one bearing buddy keeps bouncing down the freeway. to be honest, i krapped myself thinking it was going to go through someone's windscreen. the dealer was excellent and replaced it no questions asked first time but now it's done it again i've just put a bearing cap with a dollop of grease on it instead.

[cormorant]

Coming home from service!!!! If the bloke did the bearings or happened to overfill with a air grease gun they can pop off especially as some insist on pumping them till the seals bleed.. Ask the service bloke if the touched them as maybe he isn't seating them or if half removing it as his gun gets too greater hold on the nipple


If he diddn't and he is a dwarf maybe you could buy him a stepladder so he doesn't use them as a step to get on the boat

You can tap the hub and use a pointed grub screw to hold them on as some hubs are just machined out of spec or run out towards the edge where the buddy fits. A set of calipers to measure it and check it is square would resolve that.

Some buddies have different sized length of lip so the longer the lip the more chance it has of meeting with a correctly sized bit of hub.

[cormorant]

Last one

If the bloke does service the bearings the grease won't expand from the heat on the way home but if there is a big air bubble in there when he packed them it might be enough to pop one off if it wasn't seated properly.

Truth is bearing run pretty cold if done right so unlikely but if it happens to be on a disc braked hub the brakes can put a lot of temp into a bearing and grease so check if he adjusted the brakes or if you have a rubbing pad on that disc.

[bennyboy]

Get some Durahub's a bit more expensive but have a rubber dyaphram (however you spell it) in them and won't pop off like a bearing buddy

[Spaniard_King]

Take em off clean em as good as ya can with a rag.. then use Loctuite 641 (super Bearing Mount) leave 24hrs before driving at high speed.

[Noelm]

yep, that's the way I have fixed them in the past, seems to work OK.

[Stik-ugly]

If the bearing buddy is metal you could try using a center pop and make a number of pop marks around the outside circumference of the bearing buddy this will tighten it up when refitted

[tunaticer]

I drilled and tapped 3 x 3mm holes in the edge of the hub and drilled matching holes in the bearing buddy. Short allen head screws tightened that protrude through the holes in the buddies has solved the problem forever for me. I lost about ten sets doing the drive to Stanage and back a few dozen times, this definitely solved the problem. Done about ten trips since and check the bearings twice a yr and they are still basically unworn.

Some corrugated roads will shake the fillings from your teeth, what chance has a bearing buddy got that is not bolted in place?

[wrxhoon]

Guys the best solution, use bearing buddy brand and you will never have a problem . Over the years I have found that all the cheap brands don't fit tight enough .

I use S/S bearing buddy brand 1980 (1.98") on my US Ford hubs and I never have any problem .

[tunaticer]

Mine are S/S Bearing Buddies ridgy didge and the hubs are tight to fit the buddies to.
Corrugations will soon loosen anything up unless it is bolted.

[yellahunter]

anyone know where to get the "bearing buddy" brand round the Gold Coast..?

[Noelm]

most good marine shops will have them, the discount stores will ususally only keep the rubbish/cheap ones.

[robersl]

I Had this same problem on a recent trip to lake mondy i lost 2 buddies and every time i replaced them the would pop off after going a 100 m we took the wheel off to check and found that it still needed the bearing done up a quarter turn as it was a bit loose put the new buddy on and it has now done about 1000k with the buddie not coming off (makes you wheel not sit on the axle straight if not tight enough popping the bearing off when the wheel turns

Regards Shane

[gtphantom]

Dura- hubs are the go!!!! especially if you gotta buy another set of buddiies anyway ! had four years outa the last set of bearings and only replaced them cos I thought I'd better-- otherwise they were good to go again -- nowhere near as messy either fitted them straight up to my new trailer
if you are going persist with the grease buddies -- make sure that the end of the axle isn't to long -- that is the threaded section I had the situation with on an axle where it used to throw the l/h grease nipple all the time but when I investigated the axle was rubbing on the buddie and loosening the l/h nipple but not the r/h --as well as working the buddie off !!
hope this helps

[crabbie]

Take the bearing buddy off and place on tow ball and and hit with a hammer (not to hard) this will increase the diameter of the buddy and you will get a tight fit in the hub
crabbie

[LittleSkipper]

Take em off clean em as good as ya can with a rag.. then use Loctuite 641 (super Bearing Mount) leave 24hrs before driving at high speed.

Giddy Spaniard King

Having an issue with a loose re-fitting of a genuine bearing buddie, just want to know why loctite 641? Opinions?


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[creat]

I lost a good bearing buddy the other day, was a bit loose after refitting, so I bought these el-cheapo ones from ebay and they fit real tight.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/201478034539?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT


But those dura hubs look great, seems they don't sell them in 45mm anymore, anyone know where u can get them in that size?

[chris_s]

Just run a thin bead of sikaflex around the buddie. Tap on hub, a rag with grease and wax remover to clean up and job done. To remove when the time comes tap of with nylon mallet clean off old bead and redo when doing bearings. Haven't lost one in 3 yrs.

[brett62]

Drill your hubs and tap a thread and use s/s grub screws. You only require one per hub, they will never come out. I also use RTV sealant when I install.

[grinner2]

Have had the same issue once before .Fixed the problem by removing the bearing buddy & (from the inside ) use a centre punch / hammer give the internal 3 roughly equally spaced & sized "pop marks " This causes the "casing " to have 3 slight "nipples " viewing from the outside .Which allows a much tighter fit when re-assembling .
Has not come off since ...problem solved & can be refitted at next bearing service without having to reapply lock tight ...
(Old Fitter & Turner Trick )

[LittleSkipper]

Just run a thin bead of sikaflex around the buddie. Tap on hub, a rag with grease and wax remover to clean up and job done. To remove when the time comes tap of with nylon mallet clean off old bead and redo when doing bearings. Haven't lost one in 3 yrs.

What type of sikaflex do you use? So many different types, just like loctite it's almost confusing! Thanks for all the hints & tips.


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[LittleSkipper]

Drill your hubs and tap a thread and use s/s grub screws. You only require one per hub, they will never come out. I also use RTV sealant when I install.

What size holes to drill for the grub screws and what size grub screws? What is RTV sealant? Thanks!


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[tunaticer]

What size holes to drill for the grub screws and what size grub screws? What is RTV sealant? Thanks!


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2.5mm holes, tapped M3, then fit M3x8mm socket head allen key bolts in Gr316 stainless steel. They will handle the salt and the tightening well. 10mm long is too long and will foul the castellated nut and or split pin.

[brett62]

What type of sikaflex do you use? So many different types, just like loctite it's almost confusing! Thanks for all the hints & tips.


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I used 6mm grub screws one in each hub and the RTV sealant is a gasket sealant blue in colour you can get from Repco or any car parts store. Easy to clean off when you need to remove the buddies and re-seal. It also makes it a little harder for someone to steal at the ramp.

[LittleSkipper]

Great advice guys. Thanks heaps!


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[ranmar850]

If the bearing buddy is metal you could try using a center pop and make a number of pop marks around the outside circumference of the bearing buddy this will tighten it up when refitted This works. The tapping idea, I have often considered, never done. If doing the centrepunch thing, lay the buddy sideways in a slightly opened vice to support it and punch from the inside, at least six times around the circumference.

I also had a hub that was very hard to keep anything in, I reckon it had been machined oversize, really had to punch anything out to have a hope of keeping it on that wheel. I do a long trip each year, 700 k's of bitumen then 60 k's of horrendously corrugated station road and track to finish, towing a heavily loaded 6m boat. This part of the trip is littered with broken trailer bits, and, often, broken trailers. I have given up on using the buddies for that trip--I just service the bearings before I leave, and fit plain caps. Far less likely to pop out on those trailer destroying corrugations. Just fit the buddies and a couple of pumps of grease before you launch.

[Dignity]

Pop them on, clean the area then wrap some self amalgamation tape around them, never lost one after that and not as easy to be stolen when at the ramp.

[No Fear]

We got some large heat shrink and never had an issue of one falling out. Heat shrink that size is expensive though.....