Bearing check

**PawPaw Gene** · 09-07-2015, 03:55 PM

On the last trip I made I made my customary check of the hubs before I launch, I noticed the left one was warm to touch which wasn't bad but the right one was cold. OH,OH. This need further investigation. Well today with nothing better to do after eating all those ribs, beans, and tator salad, I decided to pull that hub.

Well it was well greased and no water inside, so far so good. Knocked out the inner bearing and seal and then washed the two bearings. Once I got most of the grease off I could see that the races were discolored. OK, a sign of overheating. I knocked out the races and got the new ones out of the tool box. Well what do you know, outer was right but the inner was wrong. Now I bought these 8 years ago when the boat was new and never had to used them. A good thing I found out that one wasn't right before I left the yard.

I measured all the sizes and took the old bearing with me to the parts store. They got out the ones that was suppose to be the ones, but the outer bearing wasn't right. The ID was too small to fit over the axle. After a couple of tries she was telling us that those were the only ones she had, when my son who was with me and had done parts work for years, asked her if she had another one with the same number as the one that didn't fit. She did and brought it to the front and It fit. The other by the same number was in the wrong box. Thank God for smart sons, who would've thought. Same problem with the seal but we finally got the right one. Good thing I had my calipers from my machining days.

Brought everything home, packed the bearing, installed them, put on the bearing buddy and greased them good. I then put on the dust cap, aired up the tire and put it on. Now it's ready to go.

Tomorrow or the next day I will pull the other one just to be safe as I have bought spares if I need them. If not they will go into the tool box until needed. At least this time I know I have the right ones.

I may be pulling my boat to D'Arbonne and I want it right before I leave. I remember Shadow have a problem a few years back and I never want to face that if I don't have to.
"gene"

**"G"** · 09-07-2015, 04:02 PM

I carry a complete new hub with bearings races and seals installed and packed with grease in my truck.......just makes me feel better on the road knowing I have that....also carry two sets of inner and outer bearings and races plus seals, grease and tools to install.

**prefers shiners** · 09-07-2015, 04:08 PM

An ounce of prevention....saves your butt from being stuck on the side of the road at night........that's a good save PPG.......

**RMGeorge** · 09-07-2015, 07:48 PM

I'm glad you posted this, Gene. If the hub had felt cold to me I would have never guessed that there was a problem.

**Redge** · 09-07-2015, 07:55 PM

Originally Posted by RMGeorge

I'm glad you posted this, Gene. If the hub had felt cold to me I would have never guessed that there was a problem.

X2!

**shadow** · 09-08-2015, 07:50 AM

Yea, I remember that problem well! If it wouldn't have been for Byrophrite (Ray) I would have had a real problem! Thank God he knew a business man in that area!

**jig rig** · 09-08-2015, 05:56 PM

Good reminder PPG. I try to go thru my bearings once a year. Reading your race will tell you the condition of your bearings.

**SeaRay** · 09-08-2015, 06:24 PM

Gene, I had the same thing happen a week ago with a part for my car. I ordered a left vent assembly for my car(I busted the original trying to fix a vent louver) and the one that was in the sealed package was for the right side, even though the part number said it was for left. Sent it back to dealer and got another one and it was also incorrect. Whoever packed that lot of parts must have partied the night before. Took 3 times before I got the correct one.

**PawPaw Gene** · 09-20-2015, 01:38 PM

Well this morning with nothing better to do I revisited my trailer bearings. As posted above I changed out both bearing and the seal on the left side and left the right side for later. Like most times when you plan to get back to something there are always a thousand other things to do.

I removed my tire and then the hub assembly. Took everything over to the wash basin and cleaned up the bearings and the races. I saw no signs of problems with the bearings but when I looked over the races, I found that the inner race had some water corrosion stains on it. So I knocked out both races, washed out the hub, installed new races, packed the new bearings, installed the seal and reassembled back on trailer. Now I have new bearings and new tires on the trailer and I'm ready to go.
One note, to anyone who does his own like I did, remember you need to pack the bearings not just apply grease to the outside of the bearing. Grease has to be forced between the rollers and the cage that holds the roller in place. It's a messy job but simple. Put some grease into the palm of your hand and with the other drag the bearing across the grease forcing it into the bearing until it come out the top side. Here is a "you tube video" showing how to do it. I don't know what he is referring to by overpacking a bearing especially on a boat trailer. On an auto too much grease can cause problems.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhL1uAp_WCw

Picture of my inner race showing the corrosion stains cause by water. This is how it starts out and from here can rapidly get very bad.

**jig rig** · 09-20-2015, 02:56 PM

Hey CDC Folks,

PPG did as instructed, he read the bearing race. He will lose points on his bearing packing. There is a much better way.

This the packer I use

List: Bearing Packers | O'Reilly Auto Parts

Keeps the grease clean and I can push the old grease out and see the new come in. Less than $20 on amazon/ebay.

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