Bearing Buddies?

[warthog5]

Lets talk about systems that lube bearings now.....Since it's been brought up. on this thread.
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=18302

I've been working at this for about 2 decades now...... That is to get people to use the right terminoligy

People will use the phrase "Bearing Buddy" generically. Like the word "Coke" for some type of soda drink.

Here's the thing. The only thing that Bearing Buddies and a Posi-Lube spindle have in common is Grease!

Now Bearing Buddies have a spring in the cap......Posi Lube Spindles have a stamped metal cap and a Rupper plug in that cap aprox 1in in dia.

That's the easy way to ID the difference between the systems.

You want The Posi Lube system........You Don't want the Bearing Buddies.

Bearing Buddies are 1970's technology.....They have been the demise of many - many inner wheel bearings and Blowing the seals out. In a word....Their JUNK!

The springs never work right and if they do....The inner bearing is starved for grease. This is because the grease compress's the spring before it fills the inner bearing.


On a Posi Lubs system the spindle is Gun drilled.......Then it is cross drilled right between the seal and the inner bearing.

When you add grease to this system there is no preasure put on the seal, so the seal do not blow out.

The grease goes thru the spindle...Then Lubes the inner bearing....Then fills the whole inside of the hub.....then lubes the outter bearing.....Then comes out the in hole around the spindle nut.

This flushes the Whole hub and bearings. It's best to jack the wheel off the ground and slightly spin the wheel while greasing.

It acts just like a bearing packer.....and I put the bearings and hub assy together dry and use that to pack the bearings.


Never Ever do that with Bearing Buddies....You will blow the seal!.

Of the boat trailers I have had that had Bearing Buddies.....The axles were changed to have Posi Lube spindles...Including the one I have now....A Tri axle that My Parker sits on.

Now When ever I explain this...It educates a lot of people....But there is always 1 that says.....: I've had Bearing Buddies" forever and I never had a problem...... I say Good luck to You... :roll:

So learn what you have.....Call it the correct name....Not the generic name....A generic name confuses people as to giving you proper instruction when a question arises.

 

[mheltunen]

I totally agree that a posi lube system is far superior to bearing buddy’s. The only draw back is $. To go to a posi lube system the axels need to be replaced (or spindles) and that get expensive quickly. I’ve never had the posi lube setup on any of my 3 boat trailers and had relatively few problems in 20 years but I religiously replace the bearings/seals or disassemble my hubs and clean and re pack every other year. My use is only In fresh water as well so that helps me out. On average I trailer my vessels 500-1000 miles a year.


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[shawnee83]

Thanks for posting this detailed information on the bearing systems Wart. Good stuff. I’ve had a few issues with the generic Buddy Bearing type over the years but I was unfamiliar with the Posi Lube option. I will be checking them out for future reference. My 2006 Galvanized trailer is showing it’s age right now and I’m not far at all from either purchasing a new one or at least needing to do a rebuild of the springs etc... With either direction I go I will be looking at adding the Posi Lube then? I only tow about 4 miles round trip to my ramp and about 10 miles round trip once a year to my Yam Tech so I’m able to live with less than perfect for now but will have to deal with it in the next year or so.

 

[PKS1801]

My guess is that the number one cause of wheel failure on a trailer is the guy who says, "I grease my hubs every time the boat leaves the driveway". If it was ever fully packed, where did that grease go? It shouldn't be any different from how often you had to service your old truck, before they went to sealed hubs, and that was seldom to never for most folks who went over 100K miles.
The guys adding grease constantly are just blowing it out the seals, and letting water in. Maybe they are the ones who just pay someone else to fix the problems.

There is a third option, oil filled hubs, which I have never had. How have they worked out, as far as reliability goes?

 

[warthog5]

I've never owned oil filled, but it's a 50/50 deal with talking with people.....Most of the negative that I have heard, the axles were Posi-Lube anyway. IE: Gun drilled and cross drilled. So they did away with the oil cap and added the cap used for Posi-Lube with the Rubber plug in it and went to grease.

Probeally the #1 Dumb Ass thing that I have seen is sticking Bearing Buddy caps on a trailer that has Posi Lube spindles. That defeats the whole purpose and makes them back to Bearing Buddies. There is no place for the old grease and containments s to go.