Bearing Buddy trailer hubs overfilled

sooby, Aug 24, 2:47pm
Howdy folks,

Our boat trailer has Bearing Buddy hubs, one of which has been overfilled by previous owner and grease is escaping the seal and fouling the brake disk.

Once overfilled, are Bearing Buddys rubbish or can the seal be fixed?

Thanks!

tweake, Aug 24, 3:27pm
take them off, pull the bearings out and repack them. then reinstall but leave the bearing buddies out and fit standard caps.
check your brakes are not dragging and overheating the hub.

trouble is bearing buddy type systems can push grease into the bearings, which sounds good, but the grease gets in the way and causes damage to the bearings.

your better off just waiting at the ramp (better yet the car park) for the hub to cool down before putting it into the water. then just do regular maintenance like you should be doing anyway.

cjohnw, Aug 24, 4:07pm
Personally I would just replace them with new ones.
A 2 hub kit is about 50 bucks from memory.
But each to their own.

mrcat1, Aug 24, 7:52pm
Once again the miss conception too much grease will damage bearings.

sooby, Aug 25, 1:33am
Thanks guys,

Are the seals replaceable?

msigg, Aug 25, 2:03am
Yes, do bearings and seals together.

martin11, Aug 25, 2:26am
Bearing buddies are good if not overfilled and do save your bearings .
Had my Boat for over 8 years and have not had to renew bearings or seals yet . Just enough grease in the buddies to put pressure on the spring ,no more .

sooby, Aug 25, 6:12am
Sorry, I meant can I reuse my existing bearing buddies? Or do they need replacement?

martin11, Aug 25, 6:29am
Clean them and reuse if the cups and springs are okay .

sooby, Aug 25, 7:16am
Cheers martin11, much appreciated!

Do you think this is something a brake & clutch specialist would be likely to carry out, along with brake work?

msigg, Aug 25, 8:28am
You need to ask them. It is a simple job.40mins each side , so 3 hour charge plus parts.

tweake, Aug 25, 11:52am
do you have any information that says otherwise?
bearing manufactures list how much grease to use. why would they bother if to much grease wasn't an issue ?

xs1100, Dec 1, 10:55am
strip down and replace bearings and seals (not that expensive) heaps of people overfill brg buddies easiest way is pump grease in and take trailer for a drive so grease gets warm then regrease and take for a drive normally 3rd time and they ll be fine. dont overload them or as you have found they ll blow the seal out