"Hub in a tub"

[NAGG]

The cheap bearing sets seem to be hit and miss, I have had one bad one, (it wasn't really bad, just had the wrong size) and some good ones, and know of a couple of duds from other boaters.

Agree - 1 million & 1 percent

Fark the ARK ..... just dont do it .... hit & miss that they would even fit .

Buy the actual bearing buddies & use a little loctite .

I've thrown more than I'd like to admit .... when I go cheap

Chris

[NAGG]

I’ve been lucky. On a previous boat I changed the bearings which were rusty when they came out. So I put a full set of new ones in with seals and bearing buddies. 20 minute drive to the ramp nice and cold. Went fishing (bearings got dunked). Came home and jacked the trailer up to check for wobble. It had a little bit (nut needed 1/3 turn). Took the bearing buddy off and milky inside. Rear seal looked fine. Decided to change them all out. Next trip. Same thing again.

ended up going to Dura-hubs on the advice of Smithy through Ausfish. Never been happier.

If you do any real towing - they are the worst thing going ...... oil drains out quite easily & you have nothing (lubrication) .

sure if you have little drives to the local boat ramp ..... fine

Chris

[ranmar850]

Aah, gazza, nobody has pointed out the bleedin' obvious, here, but...if the bearing failed that catastrophically, to where the wheel was wobbling, it was past end of life before you even left home. Water ingress and the subsequent deterioration of the bearing to outright failure doesn't just happen in the few hours you were out on the water that time. You had water in there for months before it actually failed.

[gazza2006au]

Possibly Ran, the tinny i recently had towed 350kms than on its 3rd trip had a total bearing failure to the point the wheel was just hanging on

I much prefer to run Timken USA SKF bearings but im actually having a good run so far on the aluminium trailer using Chinese bearings i will be swapping them over tho

[stevej]

And there would have been signs easily found if you inspected the trailer
even when reloading on previous trips with no boat on the trailer which is easily done at the ramp takes 30 seconds
grease over the axle from the rear seal
knock the cap off it would have been milky
jack it up and rock the wheel or if it was that bad rocking it loaded would have showed noise and being able to feel it

all preventable

did 13,000 km in three years on the last trailer and the bearings looked like new when replaced each year.

[Noelm]

I found that wind down the window when towing the boat out of the ramp, the bearings will "rumble" without load, a sure sign they are on the way out, but more often than not....she'll be right kicks in and it's put off 'till next time, then, next time again...until!

[gazza2006au]

Yeah i have a good ear for mechanical noise i have towed some trailers with dry bearings where u can hear the bearings making a grind/loud humm noise easily noticed in quiet cars like my old excel and xtrail u can even start rolling than put the car in neutral and roll and listen to the bearings

[Greg P]

If you do any real towing - they are the worst thing going ...... oil drains out quite easily & you have nothing (lubrication) .

sure if you have little drives to the local boat ramp ..... fine

Chris

That’s why you run a mixture of grease and oil in durahubs (pack the bearings with grease as you would normally) . I use them exclusively now for nearly 10 years and they are without doubt a better solution than bearing buddies which are a point less addition. Trick with durahubs is to use the right speedy sleeve on the axle’s oil seal running area. No leaks, no fuss and when I inspect the bearings every six months they are looking new

[Noelm]

I once bought a bearing kit (from a proper bearing place) and it contained a double lip seal for the hub, instead of that useless rubber gizmo that comes with normal boat trailer kits, the bearings in that hub lasted for years, next time I do mine I might see if I can buy a proper seal and give it a go.

[NAGG]

Possibly Ran, the tinny i recently had towed 350kms than on its 3rd trip had a total bearing failure to the point the wheel was just hanging on

I much prefer to run Timken USA SKF bearings but im actually having a good run so far on the aluminium trailer using Chinese bearings i will be swapping them over tho

Stick with what you prefer - that's a good start right there.

A good run .... till it ends

350km is not a lot of towing - If bearings are well sealed & have enough grease they can last years . Eventually the rubber seals will perish or wear .
I think it took 4 years (on my very first boat - when I knew nothing about bearing maintenance ) before I dumped a bearing ........ that boat had been towed thousands of kilometres during that time (Syd - SWR , Syd-Narooma , Sydney- Bermagui ... several times) ...... then I dumped a bearing on a local trip. It's at that point that I realised that the bearings needed maintenance

Chris

[NAGG]

That’s why you run a mixture of grease and oil in durahubs (pack the bearings with grease as you would normally) . I use them exclusively now for nearly 10 years and they are without doubt a better solution than bearing buddies which are a point less addition. Trick with durahubs is to use the right speedy sleeve on the axle’s oil seal running area. No leaks, no fuss and when I inspect the bearings every six months they are looking new

Yes I've heard this approach Greg ..... but all you have done is created a bearing buddy with a slushy mix .

I've been running the same set of bearings now for 3 1/2 years with actual "Bearing Buddies" - my boat has been towed for about 15,000kms in that time ( Inc Syd-Lucinda & Syd-Airlie )
- They key being - loctite on the BBs & only giving the wheels a couple of squirts of grease every now & then .
Next weekend I'll do the bearings in preparation for the upcoming Whitsundays trip as I dont want to push my luck ...... but at this stage these is no sign of the need to do anything.
My biggest concern with BBs is losing them on crap roads or having them stolen

Chris

[stevej]

Had one bait with bearing buddies and removed them as seals were stuffed
only ever used marine seals and steel caps

nothing to fail or fall off, just maintenance and replacing axles when the seal surface is damaged and won’t seal

its amazing the difference moving to where I am now and mainly freshwater fishing over saltwater fishing
everything just stays looking new longer

[Noelm]

Genuine bearing buddies are fine, the cheap ones are rubbish and will fall off. When fitting them, clean the surface they fit into, I use cotton buds and thinners, make sure there is no grease on the surface, when "tapping" them in, make sure they stay straight, once they tip a bit, it bends them ever so slightly, loctite can be used, but I don't use it as long as you take care fitting them. Also, just a pump of grease now and then is all that's required, just keep a grease gun with bearing grease in it for your bearings only (not steering components) and you will be fine.

[stevej]

Won’t convert me to them as pointless additional source of failure.
But each to their own.

but back to the main question a fully assembled hub ready to slide on may just get you home and is a good idea

[NAGG]

Won’t convert me to them as pointless additional source of failure.
But each to their own.

but back to the main question a fully assembled hub ready to slide on may just get you home and is a good idea

Bearing buddy vs a cap - is hardly additional ..... I've been on trips where a bearing cap has come off & the bearing has gone poo poo. .... same result .

Each to their own - having used both , the preference for lots of towing is a bearing buddy.

Did that too (carry an assembled hub) - specially when running a single axle trailer .

For the past 20 years - I always carry what I need to do a full bearing replacement though with at least 2 sets of pre greased bearings .

Chris