"BOAT TRAILER MAINTENANCE"

[5 BASS LIMIT]

Guys,
With the cold weather moving in this is a good time to bring your boat into the garage and do some PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE on your trailer.

1) I would start with the trailer bearings and seals , remove your tires and take your hubs apart clean every thing up and inspect the bearings and replace the seals(bearings also if they show any sign of wear or rust). Repack bearings and hubs install new seals and you are ready to roll for the new year of fishing not BREAKING DOWN on your first trip to the lake or a tournament at 3:30 in the morning .

2) Check your trailer lights and wiring to make sure every thing is working properly and replace any blown or cracked bulbs and lenses or light assemblies.

The whole purpose is PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE so you can get to and from the LAKE with no PROBLEMS. A little time now saves a big HEADACHE from happening later on.

If I can be of any help or answer any QUESTIONS feel free to post or PM and ask.

Anthony(5BASSLIMIT)

[acebarker]

Thanks for the info Anthony. With all the emphasis being put on the boat the poor trailer usually gets forgotten about.

[Fly Guy]

What is a good rule of thumb about how often to grease wheel bearings? Once a season? Every 25 launches? Thanks

Jeff

[5 BASS LIMIT]

Fly guy,
I would get in the habit of doing it once a year in the fall/winter because if you do have water in the grease it will not set all winter long with the water on the bearings causing bearings to rust and then cost you a trip to the lake or break down on the way home.


REMEMBER PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE!!!!!!!!!!!

Anthony(5BASSLIMIT)

[bassamasta]

It wouldn't hurt to tighten the nuts/bolts on the rails and fenders next time you launch your boat too.

[bassboy1]

One thing I am going to point out, touching on the bearing subject again, is bearing buddies. These are a great investment, for any boat trailer. You see, a hub without bearing buddies only has grease on the bearing themselves. Then the spindle takes up some space, but there is still airspace inside the hub, when mounted. Then, this airspace can fill up with water, and having water trapped in your hub is never good news. Now, on a utility trailer, this isn't important, as they don't ever get submerged, but look at the abuse your boat trailer gets, when it is doing its factory intended job.

But, what the bearing buddy does, is fill the hub completely. If the hub is full of grease, there is no place for water. You would have to loose some of the grease, in order to have a place for the water. Now, what the bearing buddy is, is a part that replaces the hub cap. It has a zerk fitting on the end plate, and the end plate is being pushed inward, towards the hub, on a spring. With the hub on the spindle, and the bearing buddy on, you put a grease gun up to the zerk, and pump in grease, until it pushes the spring outward a bit. Not all the way, as you need room for expansion, when it heats up, or else you will shoot seals off the backside. If you do end up loosing a little grease, the spring will compress a bit, and it will take up the space, thereby limiting water intrusion. Another advantage is, before every trip, it is so easy to check the grease levels. All I have to do is pull off an elastic rubber cap, and check the position of the spring. If it is low, I put a little more in. It is much easier, and cleaner than pulling off the steel cap, and wadding in a glob of that stuff.

But, a just because you have them, doesn't mean you should put off checking the parts annually or so. (Ours don't have a set schedule - moreso when we feel it needs to be inspected, not when the calender says so) You should still check them, but these make it easer to keep them greased the rest of the year, and often prolongs the life of the parts.

[slim]

Hey 5 bass, do you have any recommendations about getting the right seal, like a good store or internet site. Thanks

[5 BASS LIMIT]

Slim , Most of the marinas have them on the shelf just make sure it has what they call a dual or 2 lip seal. The purpose of that is that one keeps water out and the other keeps grease in. If you cant find them let me know. Best thing to do is remove the old one and clean it up and take it with you.

[cypress94]

I've got a question...I have a dual axle trailer, and when I bought the boat, after I got it home, I realized that all the inner seals were blown and there was grease all over my wheels. I have replaced and repacked each wheel at least 3 times, and everytime I do it, the seals keep blowing. They get hot, blow, and then they stay cool and are fine. I know how to pack bearings, have been doing it for years. I have tightened the castle nut to the point where I thought the wheel was a little "loose". But I can't keep those seals intact. I have buddy bearings, but after 50 miles or so, I have to recheck them, because the centrifugal force of the wheels turning makes them "back out". Are my hubs warped, or do I have bad spindles? I noticed that my hubs have zerck fittings on the inside of the hub, near the inner bearing. I typically only pack the bearings and fill the buddy bearing. Am I only getting grease on the outer bearing doing this? Thanks for the help!

[5 BASS LIMIT]

cypress94 , I think you may be over greasing them or you may have the wrong seals make sure that you have a double lipped seal ,one is to keep grease in the other keeps water and dirt out. When you get the new seals try them on the axle before you put them in the hub to see if they are a good snug fit. I know that there are some cheap made after market seals that are not worth the time it takes to go get them. In this case you get what you pay for and you dont want to break down on the way to the lake or home.

[cypress94]

Hey 5 Bass Limit, thanks! I've used several different seals, I've used some that I got from a friend of mine that owns a marine repair business (he and I are both certified Outboard Marine Engine techs, too!), and I have also taken them to Napa and used their bearings and seals, which are very expensive. I know that there is no way that I am putting too much grease in them, because as I have said I have put the buddy bearings back on, filled them until the blue cup is just barely beyond the outside of the rim, and then I'll test drive it, and check them. And typically they are hot, and the blue cup is recessed as if they need more grease. So I put a little more in, and let it go. After that typically, they get very hot, then the inner seal will let go, and after that they cool down and never get hot again! I don't see how they could get so hot, and then actually get cooler with less grease in the hub. I haven't noticed any unusual pitting or scoring on the spindles, but I don't have a dial indicator, or any other tool that I could use to check the spindles to see if they are warped or out of round. But like I've said, it's strange that after only 50 miles or so, i have to re-check the buddy bearings, to make sure that they aren't falling out of the hubs. I actually lost the first set that were on the boat!! Maybe my hubs are to blame??

[5 BASS LIMIT]

cypress94 , I think that the inside diaimeter ofthe hub may be too large and that is why your bearing buddies are not seating firmly in place usually you need .002 to .003 thousandths of an inch pinch which will hold them in place. If you replace the hub always replace the bearings with new ones, alotof the hub replacements come with CHINA made bearings which are not worth a dime. I take the races out and replace them with TIMKEN bearings which are a little more expensive but they are worth it. Something else you may want to look at is what they call a wear sleeve that you use high temperature rtv silicone to seal them on the spindle and use the same seals which will be a bit tighter and should stop the grease from blowing out.