wheel bearing problems

I have an extreme trailer and my hubs and rims are always covered with grease. Is that common? Do I have a bigger problem?

no it's not common, yes you have a problem, one (or more) of your seals is bad. once that grease is gone , your bearings will overheat and could lock-up. take apart, repack, and replace the seals. I have oil bath hubs on my trailer, much easier to deal with and you can see the oil level.

If it's just the outward side of the rim, your bearing buddies need to be replaced. If it's leaking from the inside where the axle comes in on the back side, then your seals are shot and you need to repack your bearings.

Just Front Side?? Or Front and rear??

Do you have bearing buddies?

Are you overfilling them?

There is a range of motion that the bearing buddies have. If you keep pumping grease into them until the spring loaded plunger reaches its limit you will either force grease past the seal or simply force the seal to push out.

If you are not over filling then either the seal or the bearing buddy is leaking. It is not unusual for the bearing buddy to leak a little, which is why many people put rubber caps over the bearing buddy so that they don't sling grease everywhere.

When you pump them up with grease, how long will they hold? If you can make a road trip and still have the bearing buddies doing their job then you are okay, except for the mess issue. If the grease comes out as fast as you put it in then you need to replace seals.

from what i can see, just the rear. I talk to extreme and told them that the trailer did sit for 2 years. They told me it may be old grease and that the bearing just need to be repacked. I hoping that's what it is.

If you repack the bearings you will put in new seals anyway. Bearing buddies do spit a little grease and the rubber covers can catch it. You don't want to overfill them, just get them so they move around a bit when you press on them.

If you are only getting grease out the back of the hub (boat side of the hub), then your seals are probably shot. Get new seals and repack the bearings. Check the axle and bearings for wear marks, replace any bad bearings.

Call extreme and they can either get you the seals or give you the correct size. Get an extra set of bearings too. It's not that bad of a DIY project if you are fairly capable. There are lots of internet articles on it too.

three of the bearings are holding grease with a little coming out onto the rim. The 4th is loosing grease from the front side quite a bit

Replace the bearing buddy on that 4th one, it could be done. The bearings could also be shot and it's heating up and liquifying the grease, so it leaks more.

Like Rod said, bearing buddies will leak a bit out the front, that is normal and expected. Big leak and something is funny.

If the grease is only on the wheels with brakes, your brakes might be dragging or just running hot. Disc brakes tend to run hotter than drums.

When I converted my trailer to discs I started having this problem. I couldn't find anything wrong with the brakes, but I have to use high temp grease to keep it from slinging out.

If your over packing them as evey one said then they will do that. If you have ever taken a bearing buddy apart (removed the clips & slid out the piston) you will see how they could never go bad. They use a o-ring to seal them and the spring to keep the load aginst the grease. If they are leaking that means their is too much grease and your seal area is dirty. Also you should never pack them so the spring is completly compresed. I personlay think the caps they put over them are a bad idea, you cant tell if the thing is working properly if you cant see it. I have never used them and mine have never leaked. Using WD 40 and a paper towel are the best way to keep the buddy`s clean and moving freely.
If your trailer is over 4 yrs old I would replace all of the bearings including the races, seals and clean the bearing buddy`s and just start fresh. Rember Vacation dosent start untill you get their, and if you break down on the way home that`s the only thing you will rember about that vacation.

Rember Vacation dosent start until you get there, and if you break down on the way home that`s the only thing you will rember about that vacation.

Quote of the day!!!

i have the trailer in the shop checking all the bearings and seals. Thank you guys for your input.