Bearing savers

floater · 21 January 2007, 21:59

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 · 21 January 2007, 22:09

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 · 21 January 2007, 22:15

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 · 21 January 2007, 22:24

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 · 21 January 2007, 22:26

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 · 21 January 2007, 22:27

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 · 22 January 2007, 00:17

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 · 22 January 2007, 00:32

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 · 22 January 2007, 02:35

Quote:

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 · 22 January 2007, 09:01

Quote:

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

timboli · 22 January 2007, 09:25

When I fitted some,they were so tight I had to trim down the savers a tad on a lathe,they worked well after that.

Bigmuz7 · 22 January 2007, 13:02

Savers worked for me, but they are not perfect, keeping them just full of grease is the key, but in the end I still got a little water in once, so for peace of mind, my service cycle is : Brake cables every year, bearings and pads every second year

Leroy · 22 January 2007, 16:57

I fitted some over a year ago and have had no problems even with regular salt water dips.
I also fitted an extra oil seal at the back of the hub to stop any water ingress and loss of grease etc.

Shep Smythe · 22 January 2007, 17:12

Has anyone a link to these 'Bearing Savers'?

SS

Bigmuz7 · 22 January 2007, 17:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shep Smythe

Has anyone a link to these 'Bearing Savers'?

SS

Here ya go shep. 3rd row down.

http://www.western-towing.co.uk/acat...sion_hubs.html

you need to check your hub mfr first tho

wavelength · 22 January 2007, 17:49

Aidan-we used to change wheel bearings every year in the dim distant after experiencing bearing failures on the road. Then we started using castrol heavy grease which really is very thick waterproof stuff . And in the twenty or so years since have never had a wheel bearing problem. Just brought one of our boats back from storage to give it a spruce up before a course. 6 years old still on its original bearings with castrol heavy and bearing savers and its been down to the south coast loadsa times (300 miles each way), up to Scotland, used every week during the season etc etc and the bearings still look and sound fine. Problem is they have stopped making castrol heavy- and I am about to run out of the stuff!

and yes bearing savers are a helluva tight fit when you first put them on

!

Biggles · 22 January 2007, 17:50

Looks like I got them on my trailer. Do you need to do something special with them. I just put a grease gun on them once in a while.

By the way how easy is it to change the brakes ? I've always been pretty useless at changing drum brakes and I should imagine they would be in a bad condition if they've been stuck in saltwater.

Cypman · 22 January 2007, 18:41

This is not a solution for you ,but if anyone is looking to replace or purchase a trailer I would thoroughly recommend Elxis in Greece. My trailer was no more expensive than the usual range available in UK. However, it comes with hydraulically operated disc brakes and hubs that do not need touching for 3 years, Indeed, my trailer has been in and out of the water for over 2 years in the very saline Eastern Mediterranean without any problems.. Maybe there is a dealer in UK who would look at importing them!!! (www.elxiscenter.com)

Bigmuz7 · 22 January 2007, 18:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cypman

This is not a solution for you ,but if anyone is looking to replace or purchase a trailer I would thoroughly recommend Elxis in Greece. My trailer was no more expensive than the usual range available in UK. However, it comes with hydraulically operated disc brakes and hubs that do not need touching for 3 years, Indeed, my trailer has been in and out of the water for over 2 years in the very saline Eastern Mediterranean without any problems.. Maybe there is a dealer in UK who would look at importing them!!! (www.elxiscenter.com)

Yea I've seen a couple of manufacturers offering disks as an option. To me it looks a damn fine idea. Maybe some peeps on here could offer some comment ?

sparkey · 22 January 2007, 19:53

On my last boat I went through 2 sets of bearings every year.
I then fitted a set of bearing savers and got 2 seasons out of a set of bearings.
I found the secret of fitting them is to put them into the deep freeze for 24 hours before trying to fit them. The cold contracted them enough to only require a light tap of the rubber hammer to fully install same.
Don’t refill same with grease for a further 4 hours until the bearing savers have defrosted and expanded to make a tight fit.
Have them fitted on my current boat now for one season (Launching and recovering most weekends from April to October ) and have just serviced the trailer for the coming year and found the old bearings perfect