Anyone put bearing buddies on their travel trailer?

[CoastyAV8R]

I really would like to do this so I don't have to tear everything apart once a year to repack the wheel bearings. My concern is if I pump too much grease into them I would contaminate the brakes. Does anybody have any thoughts or suggestions on why or why not I should slap a couple sets of bearing buddies on there?

The trailer is a 25' Keystone Toyhauler with torsion axles...





Thanks...

 

[MPBerk]

Hello shipmate... ..... How's Life in Corpus?



Should not be an issue as long as your not over greasin'. Couple a squirts, and watch the seal for excess being pushed out and clean it away... . should be fine. Would rcmn'd you tear down the hub sometime to inspt. the bearings.



Also, give the trailer/axle mfg a call and see what they recommend.



good day,

MP

(MLB Engineer)

 

[R-N-R]

more information

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

Good grease will last for years. AS you pointed out, the bearing buddy can contaminate the brakes. It is useful for boats where the grease may get contaminated with water.

 

[RKozy]

I used them on my 24 foot prowler for 12 years and never had a problem

 

[jeepit]

I have a Jeep hauler and have them on. A couple of squirts of grease once a year and you are ready to go.

 

[JDougherty]

i have had them on my boat trailer and in the last 12 years never repacked a bearing... just keep'em full of grease.

 

[ropinfool2]

I used to be a trailer mechanic, had many, many trailers come in with brakes full of grease. The bearing buddies were designed for boat trailers with no brakes. They are also designed to maintain pressure on the grease seal. I am not willing to take the chance that a 3. 00 seal will leak and fill my brakes with grease. Dexter axle came out with an axle that had grease fittings in the end of the spindle. We had many problems with this also. The problem is no one pulls the drums to check the seals but continues to pump grease into the hub. Even if you only pump once or twice, eventually the grease has to go somewhere. I am a believer in pulling my drums and repacking, by hand, my bearings twice a year. Have never had problems. Oh and just for more info, if the brake shoe is contaminated with grease it is NOT reusable. Don't let the tech spray it off with brake clean and put it back on, the grease fills the pores of the brake material and will ooze out when the brakes get warm. Just my opinion. John

 

[CoastyAV8R]

Thanks for all the info fellas. Contaminating the brakes with grease is my concern. My smaller enclosed trailer with no brakes has bearing buddy's and I fill em' up with no concerns as there are no brakes. I guess I'll just plan on tearing them down once and repacking them that way.



MPBerk,

I see your at Cape D. I love that area, I use to be stationed at the airsta in Astoria.

 

[JFPierce]

Originally posted by CoastyAV8R

I really would like to do this so I don't have to tear everything apart once a year to repack the wheel bearings. My concern is if I pump too much grease into them I would contaminate the brakes. Does anybody have any thoughts or suggestions on why or why not I should slap a couple sets of bearing buddies on there?

The trailer is a 25' Keystone Toyhauler with torsion axles...





Thanks...

 

[jray]

I too have to agree with Ropenfool on this one. Bearing buddies are great for brake-less type trailers. As for your travel trailer I recommend a true moly type grease for the bearings. The stuff that J. C. Whitney sells is incredible. Grease it and forget about it. I once greased the bearings/front hubs of my 1970 Chevy Blazer with moly grease back in 1990. After that the only thing that I did was check and replace front disk pads. In 1999 I had the ball joints replaced and the front-end rebuilt. I asked the mechanic how the wheel bearings looked and he said that they looked like new. Not bad for 120,000 miles and one packing. I'm sold on moly.





2003 SLT 3500 CC SWB 305/555 48RE

 

[Deezul1]

I too thought this was a great idea and did it. Then one day I pulled the brakes apart to check lining and they were FULL of grease. The bearing buddies had been on there 3-4 years.

 

[clem]

The other answer is to install Never LUB Bearings from Dexter They have a 5year Warnt or 100,000 miles They work great installed them along with self adjusting brakes.

 

[Nordby]

More input on an old subject. Just went through two horse trailers with Dexter ez-lub axles, 3 out of 4 of the seals were blown on each trailer. One is 6K lb axles, one is 7k lb axles.



One trailer we just bought, is a 2000 with Dexter Torqueflex axles andhad ~10K on it. The other was mine since 1997, had Torqueflex axles as well, and had 50K or so on it. The 1997 got a couple pumps of the gun once a year, but never pumped so much as to see old grease come back out.



Ruined, pulsing brakes and grooved drums on all that the seals broke, and the magnets quit performing well on grease-contaminated surfaces.



Best just to spend the extra 10 minutes per wheel, pull it, pack by hand, and inspect the race/bearing/seal/brakes/magnets while you are in there. Shoes for those dexter axles, and new seals, can be unreal!



Just my opinion, and trying to save someone some unnecessary $$$$'s.



Jon.

 

[Mtngoat]

I agree, put them on my 20 foot utility, and one seal blew out and 2 other wheels, the brakes were greasy, so I took em off, redid the brakes, and now I check them once a year. .



Robin