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Posts: 5874
| I've seen this before. Don't ask, but it was many years ago, on my brothers trailer. Bearing buddies are NOT a substitute for yearly, or twice yearly, maintenance on trailer brearings. Bearing Buddies are a weak attempt at trying to keep water from entering past the seals, when you back your trailer with warm hubs into the cold water. This creates a vaccuum effect, and water gets sucked in past the seals.
Bearing Buddies are supposed to put a positive pressure inside the hub to offset this. They do not pack new grease into the bearings when you "fill" them. You only should put enough grease in to compress the spring. That is what keeps pressure inside. To much grease, and you'll either pop the seal, or the Bearing Buddy will come off.
Now, if those bearing were not serviced regularly, it's likely they had water inside the hub, and then rust formed. Also, as you drive a hub with water in it, the water heats up, and melts the grease in the bearings, and they begin to run dry, and well, you see the result. Hopefully, the races are not welded to the axle shaft. If they are, you're looking at a new axle. And a bit more than $75.
I check my bearings in July, and then disassemble and repack in the fall when I winterize the rig. It's a bit of work, but I never have problems anymore. | |
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