Bearing Buddy replacement

Has anybody ever replaced one of these. How hard is it. I pulled the cap of one aftern noticing alot of grease on my wheel. All the grease just came pooring out. Im leaving for Shasta in a week, I need to do it ASAP

Use a soft faced hammer and they just knock off. Is the grease on the inside or the outside of the wheel? What most people do not realize is that you should be able to push the bearing buddy in some and not have it stuck all the way out packed with grease. You can also take the bearing buddy apart and replace the defective o-ring. It could also be as simple as the o-ring on the outside where the buddy meets the hub.

Something to think about...when you pull up to the lake the bearings/hubs are hot. The first thing everyone does is dump their trailer in the water to launch the boat. Doing this cools the bearings/hubs very quickly and can draw water into the hubs. In reality the best time to grease is right before you dump the trailer in the water.

Edit: Some leakage is normal and not a concern. Sounds like you have the soft plastic caps over the bearing buddies right? They are doing their job of catching the grease then. Might just want to purchase a grease gun, and some good quality grease (You could even use the special marine bearing grease), if you do not already own one and add some grease before your trip.



(Message edited by peter_c on July 05, 2007)

You need a piece of wood and a large hammer. Basically, you just use the wood to soften the blow, but you need to hit it on one side then another side and work it out of the hub.

Take the new one and center it on the hub and use the wood block to again soften the blow. You want to somewhat drive this one straight in. They are basically a press fit, done with repeated blows.

You may want to inspect your bearings on that wheel. Grease should not "pour out" so something could be amiss. Worse case is replace the rear seal, get new bearings, pack them with grease, and reinstall the hub and bearing buddy.

Good luck.

Peter brings up a good point. You could buy a new buddy and simply replace the guts without taking the main case off. It's just a retaining ring, spring, and piston with a zerk fitting in the middle.

I bring my grease gun along for long trips. It is normal for grease to ooze out the front and into the cover. If grease is coming out the rear seal, that's when you have issues.

The grease is on the front of the wheel, not that back. I have the metal caps on the bearing buddy. The part on the underneath the cap where the nipple is..where you put the grease is complety gone I appreciate everybody's help. So I knock it out, inspect the bearings, if they are ok, I put the new buddy back in, pack it with grease and should be good to go.