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..?