Indespension Bearing savers

[jezza2011]

Hi My new axle has bearing saver on the Hubs
On my last trip I noticed the bearings seems a little warmer than I would like.
On ispection there seemed to be some ( but not much left) blue thin stuff much thinner that the grease I normally used to throw in my old bearings.

My question is what the hell is it?

and how do I get the bearing savers off the hubs?

Took the spings out to see what was in there but cant see how the things come off the hubs to inspect / grease properly the inner and outer bearings.

[captnjack]

Bearing savers are press fit onto hubs. Take a block of wood and hammer then wiggle them back and forth until you can pull them off.

I would guess the thin blue stuff is a water-grease emulsion, typically not very good at lubrication.

[jezza2011]

If thats the case with the grease then thats a poor job on their part as the axel is brand new and has only been moved 4 times.!!!
Without any grease in the bearings...
I have never had any issues in the past with bearings and the last set were in for about 15 years!!!! well greased and never an issue. Even with weekly dippings in the sea!!


I better get them off then and grease them up properly.

[captnjack]

Some of the newer hubs use sealed bearings with an oil bath. Although they have clear bearing covers so you can see they have oil and I don't think its blue.

Is it a boat trailer or a flat utility type trailer? Maybe the builder used a poor quality or non-marine grease?

[Bigmuz7]

AFAIK leakage is ok due to the positive pressure that should be maintained in the bearing savers, so keep them pumped up with grease and keep them full.

As to the heat, how hot are we talking ? warm ish ? too hot to touch?, if its new like you say, it may settle once the bearings have bedded in, but it could also mean the hub nuts are too tight, and backing off the castelated nut one ridge might help. Also .. are you sure its the bearings making the hub hot and not just a brake pulling on harder than another ?

[Trailer Guy]

As mentioned above, bearing savers are an interference fit.

First of all - reassemble the bits you've taken apart You don't need to take them apart to get them off, or grease the bearings. The spring is to push the black disc in towards the hub (with the grease behind it). You'll see a grease nipple in the middle of the black disc - that's the bit you need to ensure you keep clean and use regularly Once you start pumping grease in to them, you'll know when they're full as grease will squirt out of the pin-hole overflow hole on the side of the cylinder.

I'd be very surprised if Indespension had supplied a trailer with poorly greased drums. It may have happened, I think it unlikely, but it's obviously worth checking.

Jack the trailer up. Take the wheel off. Use a soft face mallet (or, as mentioned, put a block of wood between a ball pein hammer and the bearing saver) and hit the chromed, side face of the cylinder. Turn the wheel 90 degrees and do the same. Do this, rotating the wheel, you won't need to hit it particularly hard, and you'll soon see it start to move.

Eventually it'll come off and you'll see the hub nut, with split pin through it, underneath. Look inside the bearing saver and you should see plenty of grease - this is the blue stuff. In my experience this blue grease is a perfectly good, lithium based, hub grease. I use it myself on services. Bearing savers are actually one of the bits of trailer kit that do live up to the hype! I've had a set on my Roller Coaster 1.3 for donkeys' years and my last set of bearings lasted eight years, with minimal service work (it's a bit of a busman's holiday )

If the black disc is near the outer face of the bearing saver then it should be full of grease. If it's sunk in, towards the drum, you know it needs filling up with grease.

If that's clear as mud, feel free to drop me a line, I'll happily talk you through it.

[jezza2011]

Yep Thanks Trailer.

The bearings were almost hot but not too hot to touch.

The savers had nothing in them appart from some very un-grease like blue ( very blue) "gell"
Not like the normal grease from past experiences.( should of taken a piccy)

Greased up via the nipples.

They are now nicley full of proper marine bearing grease that I have used for decades and has naver let me down.

Will keep an eye and make sure they are cool on the next run.

I will have a good going over of the beearing if they seem hot again after a run.

Thanks Guys

[Hightower]

With regard warm bearings. Might you have a braked axle? The warmth might have been generated by the brakes?

[Trailer Guy]

^^^ more likely

[jyasaki]

The blue stuff is the oil coming out of the soap carrier. Fairly normal, and won't hurt anything. It seems to be especially with aluminum complex grease, which is what I use. Made by Sta-Lube; it's a powder blue color, though the oil that separates tends to be a deeper blue.

It would be a good idea to find out what grease was used in the hubs; Aluminum complex grease doesn't play nice with the more common lithium based greases.

As far as hub temps, I use a little IR non-contact temp guage when I'm feeling paranoid. Point it at the hub, and hit the button. On my trailer, one side runs at about 90 degrees F (warm to the touch) and the other runs about 98F (had a problem once, and the spindle got a little screwed up.) As long as it's under about 135, I wouldn't worry about it much (though to be fair, I don't know how fast teh temp would rise with a failing bearing, either.)

jky