I'm a big fan of bearing buddies.

Installed set on both my boat trailers 20+ years ago. I've never, repeat NEVER repacked the bearings once on either trailer.

Every spring I check to make sure grease levels good, but careful not to overfill (my Dad did that, blew inner seals on his boat trailer...what a mess).

Last summer borrowed utility trailer and pulled 3 ATV's from Omaha to central Colorado, spent 10 days roaming around the mountains. I checked the hubs several times making sure they were cool to touch. Just 5 miles from home smoke from trailer...bearing shot.

Talking to RV/Trailer dealer yesterday and he does not recommend bearing buddies on a car trailer. He recommends repacking bearings every two years. Of course, his company does that service for a "minimal charge."

Anyone use bearing buddies on their ATV trailers? Thanks, D.

 

I have used the on every trailer i have built or owned. The good ones actually have a relief hole in them so you cannot over grease. Well as long as you stop pumping once grease starts coming out that hole. Should have asked that dealer why new trailers all come with a grease fitting already in the axle? At work we made our own and drilled the hubs and added fittings on our big Dollie for moving modular homes. about 2000km trip everything was cool to touch..

 

Thanks!

 

My trailer came with the Dexter axle E-Z Lube system. It's like having Bearing Buddies built into the axle. I grease it once a year and haven't had any problems yet.

 

Bearing buddies are wonderfull accessories to any trailer, however.....they are NOT designed to do away with repacking the wheel bearings on any trailer. I have used bearing buddies of some sort since they came on the market years back. However I still go thru the wheel bearing once a year or mabey once every two years depending on how often the trailer is used. Every bearing buddy manufacturer still recommends proper bearing maintenance on a regular schedule. I have only lost one bearing/wheel in all my years of trailering and it had a bearing buddy on it.....when I left home.
Somewhere along the route it came off, spun the grease out and fried the bearing. Wheel came off as I was backing into my pole barn, I had no idea that it had burned out before that while driving 65 mph down the expressway. On my boat trailer (water) it gets packed every spring but on my utility trailer every two years unless it gets used a lot. Do NOT depend on your bearing buddies as a replacement for bearing maintenance.

 

Found this old post and thought I'd add my opinion as well.

For me, I have trailers with Hubs that came with sealed end caps and also with grease zerk (re: bearing buddy design). For me, I do not use their Hub's outer side grease zerk. For all my many trailers (re: boat, 2 x utility, enclosed and RV trailers), I manually repack their inner grease every spring the old school / manual way. During this task, I also remove their brake drums, check rear seal for leaks (replace seal when needed). While brake drums are off, I also check their brake pad thickness and magnet thickness. And, give it a nice cleaning using brake cleaner spray. And while the wheels are off, I also inject grease into their leaf spring suspension Wet Bolt with brass bushing system as well. Ya. Lots of brake inspection / cleaning and other greasing areas - while their wheels / brake drums are removed. And, I only use Marine grade wheel bearing grease for all my trailers - even for my dry land trailer hubs.

If a person only uses factory grease zerks every spring, how do these many other areas get inspected / cleaned / replaced (if needed) and get greased as well?

To me, it isn't about using outer hub's grease zerks (like Grease Buddy design) - cause its so easy. It's about NOT using the easy way - cause it avoids mandatory maintenance of its many other critical areas. Old school / manual method doing the total job works best for me.... Something that many trailer owners won't do - until it's too late. Ouch!