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How To Grease Boat Trailer Bearings

How often do you grease boat trailer bearings?

The most effective way to keep your rig rolling is vigilance. How often to grease boat trailer bearings? Keep the bearings greased and take them apart and service them at least once per year.

Can you over grease trailer bearings?

There’s no such thing as too much grease for bearings! You would not pack grease in the hub otherwise and not in the drum since the brakes would not be able to grab with grease in the hub. Grease caps, dust caps, and bearing protectors have to be installed right to avoid losing them.

How often should you grease boat trailer hubs?

Standard tapered trailer wheel bearings are recommended to be re-packed with fresh bearing grease about every year or every 12,000 miles under normal use. In certain conditions this interval could be shorter, such as if you routinely tow the trailer under conditions of extreme heat or near its maximum load capacity.

How do I know if my trailer bearings need grease?

Keep your hand on the wheel and spin it. If you feel any motion that is not smooth, hear any noises, or if the wheel does not spin freely, the wheel bearing is defective or needs lubrication.

Can you mix Marine grease with regular grease?

Don’t Mix Grease, but Change If Needed If you can, start with completely clean parts and new grease. Otherwise, greasing more often will flush out the old incompatible grease faster.

Can you over grease a bearing?

Too much grease volume (overgreasing) in a bearing cavity will cause the rotating bearing elements to begin churning the grease, pushing it out of the way, resulting in energy loss and rising temperatures. This can result in accelerated wear of the rolling elements and then component failure.

Do you grease boat trailer rollers?

When the pin and split pin are in place, put grease all over them to ward off rust. Going through this procedure with all the rollers should take you around 20 minutes in total. Getting the boat on and off the trailer should now be a lot easier. Check your winch cable regularly for signs of wear.

Should I fill my trailer hub with grease?

1 and 2), pump a ring of grease into the entire circumference of the wheel hub and coat the hub cap inner wall. The housing should only be half full of grease. Too much grease causes churning and higher temperatures. Semi-fluid grease must be used with a vented hub cap.

Are bearing buddies a good idea?

Bearing Buddies are a great way to keep grease in a trailer hub. I recommend them as long as you are aware that it’s very easy to put too much grease in a hub with these which will blow out the seal. They have no problem being used on longer road trips so the would work well for you.

How often should I pack my trailer bearings?

How often should you repack your trailer bearings? The axle manufacturers recommend that you repack your trailer bearings once annually or every 12,000 km. If you are over-do for trailer wheel bearing maintenance, we would be happy to help you.

How often should you grease bearing buddies?

Every 3,000 to 3500 miles or annually, whichever comes first. Manufacturers recommend to remove old contaminated grease from the hub and repack with new grease instead of just adding more.

Can you put too much grease in a Bearing Buddy?

Can Bearing Buddy Bearing Protectors Be Over-Filled with Too Much Grease It is possible to over-fill a hub that has a Bearing Buddy bearing protector such as #BB1781. The convenience of easy filling through the zerk fitting can often mean we can be tempted to keep adding more grease.

How do you know when to replace trailer bearings?

Jack up the trailer and secure it on adequate capacity jack stands. Check wheels for side-to-side looseness – There should be a very slight amount of play in the wheel, typically 1/8-inch or less. If the wheels are loose or spin with a wobble, the bearings must be serviced or replaced.

What is the difference between marine grease and regular grease?

Technically marine grease has additives that make it hydrophobic (repels water). Standard grease is somewhat hydrophobic but not nearly as good as marine grease and standard grease will mix much more readily with water. Marine grease is much more resistant to this mixing.

What makes marine grease different?

Fresh and salt water attacks grease, but marine grease is designed to withstand water. The most important issue here is that you need to make sure whatever grease you use matches the grease already in place, because marine grease is not compatible with lithium-based grease.

Can I use red grease for boat trailer?

LMX Red Grease A heavy-duty, premium grease rated for just about every application, including marine trailer-wheel bearings. It resists water well and sticks in place, so it’s excellent in outdoor applications, but it isn’t specially formulated for wheel bearings.

What is the best lubricant for bearings?

Grease Lubricant: While some bearing applications use oil as a lubricant, grease is the lubricant of choice for 80 to 90 percent of bearings.