Bearing Buddies Falling Off

[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/201478034...%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.