A good bearing grease cap system? Bearing buddy?-gctid362338

[Guest Close Guest]

Hello all, My grease cap rubber cover seals are starting to get a bit soft due to the grease eating at them, I know in time they will give way this baoting summer, so I'm looking for a good bearing hub grease cap system that is better than whats on my Karavan trailer. I'm not sure what brand is on it, but I have to remove these rubber seals out of the middle of cap to get to the grease zerk fittings to grease them. Well they will not hold out this year.

What does everyone use and do you like bearing buddies? I have this sure lube system.

Attached files [img]/media/kunena/attachments/vb/665344=25566-lube_demo.gif[/img]

[2850Bounty Supporting Member Find all posts View Profile Close 2850Bounty]

Maybe post a photo of your hubs.

Since you mention removing a cap to access the zirk fitting, you probably have one of the true bearing lube systems mentioned below.

EZ Lube, Sure Lube, Super-Lube, Pozi-Lube (which look like Bearing Buddies) hubs/spindles.

All of these do an actual exchange of grease within the roller cages.... but not BB's.

Standard hubs can be fitted with Bearing Buddies, but understand that Bearing Buddies do not add grease to the actual bearings.

They simply apply some pressure to the inner hub area.

[Guest Close Guest]

Aaaawwww! I see what your saying now. Yea I will have to look into the type of hub and system on it.

[2850Bounty Supporting Member Find all posts View Profile Close 2850Bounty]

OK... your image did not show up for me earlier..... now it shows up.

That is one of the hubs that allows for an exchange of grease, and works best if you raise the wheel off the ground and spin it while you pump the new grease in.

You could probably use a rubber cap and SS clamp if you can not find a replacement rubber part.

Do not mix incompable greases.

[Guest Close Guest]

Yea, see that little center rubber cover seal, it's getting soft due to the grease purging, I try to clean out the old as much as possile but the end of those caps will slice your finger open, and I mean wide open. LOL! been there done that already! Ouch! So I wondering if I can find those center cap seals somewhere?

[Guest Close Guest]

On smaller trailers with no brakes, I have a very backwoods way of doing this.

I just use bearing buddies and then put the rear hub seals in backwards.

This purges the old grease out the back, and the buddies hold some pressure on the cavity to keep air and water out.

My bay boat trailer has the sure lube setup and it changes itself like rick already said. I'd just get new caps, outfits like six robblees have that stuff.

[Guest Close Guest]

While I cant help with a better system (been thinking about going to bearing buddies to)...west marine sells the rubber cap for the current system you have.

[Guest Close Guest]

StitchSC wrote:
While I cant help with a better system (been thinking about going to bearing buddies to)...west marine sells the rubber cap for the current system you have.

Really? good to know! I'll check them out then.

[2850Bounty Supporting Member Find all posts View Profile Close 2850Bounty]

Any large trailer supply company should have these.... or they'll know where to send you.

They may even be able to bring them in for you...... and for less than what West Moron wants.

[Guest Close Guest]

haha true very true! I was maybe thinking e-trailer store.

Ha cool I did find them!

http://www.etrailer.com/p-RG04-010.html

http://www.etrailer.com/comparison.a...0&pc2=RG04-040 good video on this link

Thanks guys for the help!

[Guest Close Guest]

commercial trucks have been using oil bath bearings for years and millions of miles with gross weights in excess of 84000 pounds.trouble free. i do not know why this system has not caught

on better in boat trailers. anyway i am converting my tandem axle caulkins.:bou-:livid::hor-

[2850Bounty Supporting Member Find all posts View Profile Close 2850Bounty]

sagebrush wrote:
commercial trucks have been using oil bath bearings for years and millions of miles with gross weights in excess of 84000 pounds.trouble free. i do not know why this system has not caught

on better in boat trailers. ................

Several boat trailer versions have been available for years.

I suppose that the lubrication is as good as the commercial truck systems are.

But if you were to lose one of these plastic reservoirs, you're pretty much done.

With the grease style......, she'll run on the hiway for quite a while!





The red arrow shows the refill plug.



.

[Guest Close Guest]

I have used bearing buddies for the last ten years now and I annually put on 5000-6500 kilo's. I have had bearing buddies fall off during trips and I have had water in my bearings (even after new seals installed.) If I were doing it over and had the chance for new system that greases through the middle of the shaft to the inner bearing that would be the way I would go or possibly with an oil system but I would make sure I check out the sercurity of the cap not coming off.

That said I now use blue loctite when I reinstall my bearing buddies after every springs regular bearing repack. It would be better to do in the fall but I don't have the time to spare then. Doing it in the spring gives me confidence for the coming year and gives you a chance to look at your inner wheel assembly.

Duct tap works great for a temporary cap on the highway!

Cheers!

[2850Bounty Supporting Member Find all posts View Profile Close 2850Bounty]

TrophyTroubles wrote:
........... when I reinstall my bearing buddies after every springs regular bearing repack.

:coo- .... and I wish that more people understood that this must be done just as with any regular hubs.

[88fourwinns Guru Find all posts View Profile Close 88fourwinns]

The system that you have is already the best one to have, just replace the rubber caps every few years if they are getting deteriorated, you can get em from champion trailers or e-trailer.

I have the same system, I installed it 8 years ago and I have not had to take the bearings apart once in those years, when I pump the grease through it comes out clean so no water. I'd never replace this system with bearing buddies which are inferior to the super lube for sure.