Bearing savers

[floater]

I decided today to change the wheels and bearings on my Trailer, in the process i fitted some bearing savers that i bought about a year ago of Ebay, i managed to fit them but they needed a realy good thump with a rubber hammer

has anybody else fitted these before and did they feel really tight


Andy

Ps never take on apart if you havnt got a c clip removal tool !!

[Aidan]

If these are what I think they are, they do not work.
I think one should change bearings every year.
I have tried high carbon, Pressurised Grease, sealed units , YEah YEah, they do not work.
Perhaps it would be sufficient to change inner then outer then inner etc every year. The outer ones are easier and they are all easy if changed often.
Buy em in bulk...
Now if anyone has something that works for a few years, I am all ears, and of course I am talking about Salt water.

[Nasher]

Andy

The bearing savers are a very tight fit.

Aidan

My experiance has shown them to work very well as long as they are kept pressurised.

I Inspected my bearings a couple of weeks ago after they had been in the water at least 20 times, and there was no water in the bearings at all.

Nasher.

[floater]

my brother in law has them on his trailer and they seem to of worked well although he mixes sea water launches with fresh water (windermere)


my only worry is that if i need to change the Bearings Again i dont know how iam going to get the savers off to access the split pin


Andy

[Nasher]

Andy

They are a bit of a pain to get off again.

I tap them around their edge gently until they work their way out.

My opinion is that they are well worth fitting.

Nasher.

[Aidan]

You are probably right Nasher, I am sure they have to work for a while at least and sur that could be a 2nd year.

At the end of last Season, I had towed my boat 15 miles and I thought there was a little "rustle" flip me if the wheel was ready to overtake me as I got there..... It was riding the shaft on its outer some 3mm thick AKA a washer!!!
The drivers side was not much better. On saying that, it may have been sitting on the original bearings for some time as I bought the boat ex dem.
Few other things also not right when I got the boat. I mentioned it to the dealer one and never brought it up again. He was a bit disapointed when I told him that I was not interested in another boat from him. Also tried a few Porkey pies (lies) when I quizzed him on some of his sales patter. Hmmmm.

[Jimmy_Beam]

yeah, they work. Also, they wouldn't work if they weren't a tight fit. But still, you need to check wheel bearings every year and replace as necessary. If they look like nice shiny chrome, pack em and put them back in. If they start to have a brass appearence or you see black marks on the race that remain after a wiping, replace them. Allways replace bearing and races at the same time as they wear together. Never mix bearings up from side to side as after a bearing and race has been used together they become a matched set. Replace the o-rings on the bearing buddies every time you remove them, and allways check the inboard bearing seal for cracking or brittle rubber and replace as necessary. This is my advice for wheel bearing maintenance. I have never lost a wheel..

Chris
P.S. where's a piece of wood?

[jyasaki]

I've got a bit more.

Don't over-fill the hubs. Pump the grease in until the bearing buddy plate is *near* the stop, not up against it. Too much pressure will blow teh grease through the rear grease seal, ensuring problems the next time you launch (or whenever the corrosion decides to rear its head.)

Some people remove them by using a 2 or 3 foot piece of pipe that just fits over them, splitting it for a couple of inches (creates a couple of slots from the saw kerf), and using a hose clamp to secure it onto the BB. A little circular rocking should walk it out of the hub. A hammer works as well, reportedly.

Others have had problems with reinstalled BB's not staying in. Dimpling the mating surface with a center punch, and making the bore slightly out-of-round (whack it with a hammer) reportedly solves this.

Luck;

jky

[jwalker]

Originally Posted by floater

...my only worry is that if i need to change the Bearings Again i dont know how iam going to get the savers off to access the split pin

Kinda similar to Nasher's process but lock a pair of vicegrips onto the outer edge making sure you have the big circlip gripped with one of the jaws. Pull outwards on the vicegrip and tap the the vicegrip jaw outwards. This pulls the saver outwards on that side. Keep pulling on the grips and tap it on the other side and it walks out a bit. Repeat as necessary.

They refit much more easily if you can put a block of hard wood or metal over the end and whack that in the centre. It makes more of a difference to the ease of fitting than you might imagine.

[Milan]

Originally Posted by jwalker

Kinda similar to Nasher's process but lock a pair of vicegrips onto the outer edge making sure you have the big circlip gripped with one of the jaws. Pull outwards on the vicegrip and tap the the vicegrip jaw outwards. This pulls the saver outwards on that side. Keep pulling on the grips and tap it on the other side and it walks out a bit. Repeat as necessary.

They refit much more easily if you can put a block of hard wood or metal over the end and whack that in the centre. It makes more of a difference to the ease of fitting than you might imagine.

Good advice the only thing I would add is an old cloth or rag to cut down on the marks and scratches from the grips and hammer