Wheel Bearings

[Slaka]

I bought my boat second hand and the trailer has the wheel bearings where you can top up the grease via a grease nipple. This is my first boat so I am not overly knowledgeable yet, do you need to use marine grease or will normal grease do? Also how much should be put in?

[a boat]

Hi Slaka, welcome to the world of boating. In wheel bearings make sure you only use wheel bearing grease. Marine grease that you use on the grease nipples of the outboard will not be suitable.

We sell it via the grease gun tube and not that dear, I think around $20.

Any more questions please feel free to ask,

Huey.

[IWANNABROCK]

If you have just bought the set up, I recomend you pull wheel bearings out, flush the old grease out and repack bearings and hub. that way you know bearings are in good nick,check that the case hardening has not come off or replace bearings and seals, for the sake of 1 hours work and probably $50.00 parts beats being let down on side of road.

[gone_wishin]

Hi Slaka, welcome to the world of boating. In wheel bearings make sure you only use wheel bearing grease. Marine grease that you use on the grease nipples of the outboard will not be suitable.

We sell it via the grease gun tube and not that dear, I think around $20.

Any more questions please feel free to ask,

Huey.

Huey,

What's the difference? is it the heat rating?

I've been using the marine grease on mine but I might be about to learn something.

[squizzytaylor]

Wheel bearing grease is hi-temp resistant, marine grease is super tacky to resist washout, EP greases are designed for suspension and steering components and are suitable for EP..Extreme pressure applications. Totally different greases for totally different applications.

Ex-oil co rep.

Geoff

Edited December 5, 2007 by squizzytaylor

[gone_wishin]

Where can I use this

That's what I use on the wheel bearings, trailer hitch and outboard steering

Edited December 5, 2007 by gone_wishin

[squizzytaylor]

A few companies over the years have put out universal greases Gone wishin but the bottom line is there is always a trade off of sorts. Having said that, that would probably be suitable for most applications but not under extreme situations ie Long distance towing and or offroad towing etc. Its probably literally speaking a bearing grease with some ep additives (molybdenum or similar). Watch out too as a lot of "wheel bearing greases" are designed for non-brake or drum brake applications which do not generate heat like discs, although this is usually on the pack it can also be well disguised and in very small writing.

Cheers

geoff

[macka17]

A few companies over the years have put out universal greases Gone wishin but the bottom line is there is always a trade off of sorts. Having said that, that would probably be suitable for most applications but not under extreme situations ie Long distance towing and or offroad towing etc. Its probably literally speaking a bearing grease with some ep additives (molybdenum or similar). Watch out too as a lot of "wheel bearing greases" are designed for non-brake or drum brake applications which do not generate heat like discs, although this is usually on the pack it can also be well disguised and in very small writing.

Cheers

geoff

Hi. Wheel bearings need HMP(High Melting Point) Grease. Don't use anything else if towing any distances.

Marine grease is Tacky. Or a gel Like Ampol.

Like he said. Remove strip clean. Replace if necessary. When filling with grease after. You'll find that the end plate with nipple on it. Is spring loaded. Pump grease till 3/4 of way out. NEVER fill it up.

Leave room for grease/air to expand when you stick them in water after a long trip. Otherwise you can blow rear seal. and negate reason for having them on there.

Regards

Macka17

[a boat]

Hi Wishin, I would use that on the wheel bearings, trailer coupling and anything else you want to grease on the trailer. I would not use that with the grease nipples of an outboard.

Cheers,

Huey.

[gone_wishin]

Thanks for the info guys, and sorry for hijacking the thread slaka.

[Geoff]

I bought my boat second hand and the trailer has the wheel bearings where you can top up the grease via a grease nipple. This is my first boat so I am not overly knowledgeable yet, do you need to use marine grease or will normal grease do? Also how much should be put in?

Here is a web site you may find helpful

http://www.reygarza.net/Bearing_maintenance.html

Geoff

[pelican]

Having tried many different brands of grease over years I have found that Shell Nautilus marine bearing grease has served us well. It is a high temp high pressure bearing grease calcuim , lithium I think that is thick and tacky and seems to resist water ingress. Not as cheap as some and I'm sure there are others just as good. When you put it next to normal grease you can see and feel a signficant difference in texture.

I know as years go on I probably get better at maintainance and see the warning signs earlier but we haven't had a failure using it and that is a pretty remarkable comment with some of the high load and speed runs it has survived.

The single biggest reason for failure we used to have was buying cheaper no name bearings- they are crap - don't even consider them. The other one is cheap seals just don't last and get a feathered lip. Buy quality bearings at the bearing specialist shops and they are cheap and the grease is cheap as well if you are paying cash and grab 4 gun tubes or a large tub. Oh yes and buy a spare pair of bearings and leave them in the trailer tool kit along with enough tools to do a roadside repair if doing a long trip.

The other failures we have experienced would come in 2 types - seal failure leading to dirt in grease and from trailer not being used for ages and rust scale from hub or shaft working it's way through grease to bearings. Using nautilis as it is so tacky we haven't had this and for the extra couple of bucks in grease we now pack the complete hub chockkas with grease , use bearing budddies and check the rear seal after we have launched the boat. It's bright blue colour helps you notice if you have afailure. The grease doesn't seem to want to mix with salt water unlike others nor absorb humidity and even on a failing bearing it still stayed tacky enough to stop a complete failure.

Biggest way to stop failure even if you don't want to repack every 6 months ( we don't) is to just jack up the trailer and feel for any slop in the bearing , spin it for any noise or resistance and check the temp of the hub after a run- should be just warm to touch -not hot- if it passes and you know you packed it with good grease and bearings last time and you can't see any seal leakage you should be OK. Most mates I see with failures and the couple I have helped on the side of the road are generally poorly installed ,adjusted , packed or just outright overloaded trailers or wrong set up.

Use the right grease for the right job and for motors use the one suggested by manufacturer as they generally don't harden with air exposure and many greases have different bases most of which are not compatable and can cause all sorts of seperation or even a corrosive mix.

Edited January 4, 2008 by pelican

[johnno]

also i handy tip i use when doing grease work.

is put on 2-3 pairs of those disposable gloves

then you can pull a pair off and move on with each step.And not have grease everywhere.

I also find i can not get that grease smell out of my hands for about a week if not using it without gloves.

[netic]

Mate there is also the Dura Hub System

from what some other boaters have told me its awesome

http://www.durahub.com/

Edited December 6, 2007 by netic