What size bearing buddies?/greasing wheel bearings?

[Gregg Hochhauser]

I recently purchased a '03 NX882 with Nitro galvanized trailer. I was looking to get a pair of bearing buddies for added protection, but I do not know what size to get? Does the NX882 trailer have a standard size hub? If so, what is it? Are bearing buddies recommended, I use the boat once a week on average.



Another question... how do you know when to grease the bearings and how much grease to add? I have added a couple of shots of grease to my bearings and all I can see is that the excess grease fills the visable surrounding area a bit. Does this mean it is full?



Thanks for any advice,



-Gregg

 

[James D.]

Gregg,



not sure if your trailer has the same hubs or not since it is a galvanized trailer. i have a 98' lx700 and its axle has the "tapered spindle" and takes the 1 3/8 x 1 1/16 wheel bearings. each hub is rated for 1750 lbs and the inside diameter where i installed the bearing buddies is 1.980" I had to take off the zerk fitting to install the bearing buddies. the zerk fitting is a way to push the grease inside the hub to pack the bearings (thus pushing the old grease out) without having to take everything apart. The buddy bearings are supposed to keep a positive pressure in the hub so that water doesn't get in but you will have to take the zerk fitting off. i had a bad problem with mine throwin grease and decided to just put on new hubs and a buddy bearing protector. so far it has worked well and i'm happy with them as no grease is coming out for the first time since i've owned my boat.



i have spoken to the mfg of the hubs and they recommend adding some grease "every" time before you put the trailer in the water. reason for this is that after the hubs warm up from driving, water can get in. i don't think many if anyone actually does this. some people i know that trailer a lot put in new wheel bearing once a year and don't do any maint to them. i greased mine every couple weeks during the season. there seems to be a lot of different info out there on the maint of the hubs and bearings.



below is a website to the manufacturer of the hubs and bearings.



ufpnet.com



following is a distributor of there products which ufp referred me to.



waymires.com



i plan on every winter to remove the buddy bearings, put the grease zerk back in, refill the bearings with grease thru the zerk fitting, put the fitting back in, and then put new bearing buddy protectors on and fill with new grease. i'm hoping that this will take care of me.



you will need to double check the sizes of the hubs and bearings as they may be different than mine.



hope this helps,



jd

 

[Jim B]

Gregg

on my 882 is have 1.980 size hubs like James D. mentioned. In my opinion you really dont need the bearing buddies. The spindle lube type you have work very well. I have had this type on my last boat trailer and my current one and have never had a bearing failure and have never needed any replacement bearngs, just a set of seals. I tow long distances often, my old trailer had over 60k miles on it and my current one has over 50k now. i have inspected the bearings and they look like new. All i do is once a monoth i pump grease into them until i see new grease coming out the overflow in the front, i use a coffee can or something like that to catch the old grease. by doing that it pushes out all the old grease and puts in new sort of like repacking them. You do need to remove a some of the grease from the cap before you put the rubber plugs back on so the grease can expand without blowing off the rubber cap. If you decide to get the bearing buddies dont over grease them because it can blow out the inner grease seal.

 

[Gregg Hochhauser]

Thanks for the help guys. I only trailer about 10-15 miles a week. I think I will pass on the bearing buddies for now and just make sure I keep the bearings well greased. However, I will not add grease every time I put the trailer in the water.



Thanks,



-Gregg

 

[JEFF WHITE]

i had the rubber plugs on my trailer(s),carried extras with me all the time from day 1,and i found they blow grease all over the wheels if you over grease them,and they at times suck some water in.hot hub,cold water,it creates a vacumn and the weakest part will suck water in.then the water mixes with the grease,well,sort of does,it heats up,produces steam,blows the rubber plugs off and grease all over the place.



get a set of buddys,repack your hubs with new grease,put the buddys on,put a little grease in them,put the bras on,done deal,no more worries.



downside,to grease the bearings,you have to take the buddies off,but no real big deal to me though,just takes an extra 5 min or so to do it.



my neighbor has a shorelander trailer,begining of the season,checks the grease,if it is ok,puts the solid hubcaps back on,the ones like on the older non front wheel drive cars.never had a problem with them in 5 yrs of ownership,and he has a 23 ft starcraft islander on a single axle trailer.he does michigan,ohio,new york,and the thousand islands with it quite often.put many a mile on the trailer.



others will argue with me on them,but i have replaced 1 set of bearings,races,and 2 sets of seals,will be in june, 9 yrs of ownership of the boat/trailer.

 

[Jim B]

magna, thats good advice on not backing the trailer in with the hubs still hot. Its something i forgot to mention. i always let mine cool before i dunk it in, i used to boat in salt water before i got a bass boat, salt water will ruin bearings quick so i got into the habit of letting them cool. No matter what kind of bearing caps you have if you back them in hot it can pull water in, sometimes past the bearing seal.