Wheel bearing protectors flying off

Evan B

Evan B

Bobber Downey Jr.
Staff member
Admin
At my wits end here. I just lost my 9th bearing buddy of the season while towing to get gas this morning. I've lost one or two on every trip I've taken this year so far.

I installed new bearings two years ago and things have been totally fine until June when the season got underway. Only thing new is I put new wheels and tires on over the winter.

My axels seem fine. Wheels all good. Nothing seems out of the ordinary.

I've even relieved the pressure on them (which defeats the purpose of a bearing buddy since they're supposed to force new grease in with pressure) and still doing it. The one that just flew off I put on yesterday.

Anyone want to take a stab at it?

1000009887.jpg
 
headduck said:
Is it getting warm?

Maybe a wrap of electrical tape at the hub will provide enough bite?
Click to expand...
Nothing is warm. I check every time.

I did just go into Lowes and buy another brand of bearing protector. Seems to fit more snug and the necks have knurling which should help.
 
Rubber plumbing couplers with hose clamps. Have worked well for years.
You have to remove coupler to change tire.
 
I've never used them, but was curious about how they are installed. I found this video:



So it appears they are just pressed in and you have to select the size to match the actual ID of your hub. Do you have digital calipers and can get a solid measurement of your hub ID?
 
Merle said:
I've never used them, but was curious about how they are installed. I found this video:



So it appears they are just pressed in and you have to select the size to match the actual ID of your hub. Do you have digital calipers and can get a solid measurement of your hub ID?
Click to expand...

Yeah they're pretty standard. Mine are 1.98"

But these ones I just got seem to fit much tighter, so let's see how this trip goes.
 
Same hub each time?
Do you dunk when hubs are hot?
Heat is your enemy.
How far do you tow before launching?
Check temp on hubs before launch with hand? Are any hot to touch?
Grease….less is more. Too much you’ll blow the cap off, and diaphragm en-route if extensive distance.

Key point mentioned that I caught was “start of this season”.
New tires and wheels should not make a difference. They ride on hub.
Did bearings get repacked? Bearing buddies Overfilled?
Were hub nuts torqued down too tight creating excess heat possibly?
Heat is your enemy creating expansion in confined areas.
Any “milky” looking areas in the grease? If so compromised grease will expand exponentially.
If you see this jack up axle and spin the tire/wheel by hand.
Listen. Brake grind drag? = heat.
Hard to turn - hub nut too tight.
While axle is raised place bar under tire/wheel and pull up to check play, if any, between wheel/bearing race/hub.

I’m finished towing and hauling boats now after 40+ years but one thing I’d recommend to anyone hauling a boat with any significant weight would be to spec Vortex hubs. Pricey but worth every cent. The last 11 years I averaged 28K miles delivering boats with my, with dealer’s, and manufacturers spec trailers (mostly Road King) with zero failure rate. Canadian border to Key West. Retirement gig, wore out some trucks, but still funding some fishing.

Good luck going forward, let us know how you make out.
 
My bearing buddies pop off when it gets hot and I have axle grease on the outside. I thought I fixed it but sometimes I swear there is no grease and they still pop off. There must be a little in the cap still.
 
Too much grease. Poor fit bb too hub. Hand grease or ez lube axle does better job to grease bearings. Bb pressure slows water intrusion but better imo is to increase grease repack interval. Bb grease bearings poorly. Inside one gets minimal grease.
 
To answer a few questions above that I hadn't already addressed:

I think I've lost at least one from all four wheels at this point. I check my bearings after each trip for heat, and none of them are getting hot at all, even after 100mi to the coast. I had also thought about the "too much grease/pressure" thing after the first one flew off, and removed all four and made sure they weren't overfilled. Still obviously had issues.

I did just do my trip out to the coast and back this weekend and didn't lose a single one after losing that one going to get gas on Saturday morning. So that's progress at least. I did notice these bearing covers I got from Lowes fit way more snug than the Bearing Buddies, so if any more fly off, I'll try and replace with those.

Haven't really dialed in the issue causing it I don't think, but I'm glad my last trip went ok.
 
Evan, any updates?
I'm having the same issue on my utility trailer.
I put new Bearing Buddies on it and threw one off. Ordered the Reese brand and threw one off...both were on the same side.
They went on really hard, I started them with a rubber mallet and then used 1/4" flat plate against the face and a 2# sledge to seat it.
I didn't think it would ever come off but...
 
friend had that problem until he used brake cleaner to really clean the surfaces, roughed up the contact metal with oxide sandpaper, applied Loctite and then banged them on, at which point they stayed on
 
Old406Kid said:
Evan, any updates?
I'm having the same issue on my utility trailer.
I put new Bearing Buddies on it and threw one off. Ordered the Reese brand and threw one off...both were on the same side.
They went on really hard, I started them with a rubber mallet and then used 1/4" flat plate against the face and a 2# sledge to seat it.
I didn't think it would ever come off but...
Click to expand...
I did lose another one or two after my last post I think. Boat has been parked since the beginning of October so nothing since then.

Before next season, I plan to repack all the bearings and do a thorough cleaning of the contact surfaces where the covers slide on. 🤞🏼
 
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