"Bearing protectors"

[sschmez]

G'Day all

I noticed after my last trip that the wheel bearings on the camper were a bit loose and had a bit of a knock when I wobbled the wheel.

Seeing that the Disco was in getting a new head and didn't require any attention from me, I had some free time to do some maintainance on the camper. I know that my trailer has alko h/d off road electric brakes, so off I went to get some new bearings and seals. (I'm the 2nd owner and don't know if/when they were done)

Not so easy it seems - no book or list to tell which bearings I need - so home again to pull them apart and get the numbers. I discovered that they were all perfect and just needed adjusting up. A repack (marine high temp bearing grease as per another thread) and all seems fine.

My questions are in regards to these bearing protectors and their suitability for a trailer with electric brakes.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2007/03/84.jpg

Does anyone use them ?
Are they successful?
Do they force grease past the seal and into the brake drum ? - and make the brakes useless ?

A seach of google and of this site hasn't revealed much.

Here's what I've got under the trailer:

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2007/07/456.jpg

All info much appreciated

Stevo

[ladas]

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/L68149-10-TIMKEN-TAPERED-BEARING-CUP-AND-CONE-SET_W0QQitemZ4622395624QQcategoryZ32636QQcmdZViewI tem

[ladas]

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/LM12749-LM12710-TIMKEN-TAPERED-BEARING-SET-21-91X16-57_W0QQitemZ140058072852QQcategoryZ32636QQcmdZView Item

[JDNSW]

I have no actual experience of them, but I would point out that they are designed for use on boat trailers where the hubs are regularly submerged, often when hot. The idea of them is that the bearing is completely full of grease under pressure (no air) of the spring to exclude water. This being the case they rely on a good seal on the inside - my experience is that trailers rarely have the seal running on a very good surface, but this is rarely a problem, but probably would be if running these gadgets.

They seem to be a good idea for boat trailers, but I have difficulties seeing any advantage to them on any other sort of trailer (unless you are regularly deep wading) that would be worth the risk of grease on the brakes.

John

[sschmez]

Thanx for that Ladas,
seems expensive though when you add the postage

and thanx John, I wonder if anyone here is actually using them ???

maybe I should have put this into technical
someone must be buying them ... they're sold everywhere

[JDNSW]

......
and thanx John, I wonder if anyone here is actually using them ???

....

They are actually very common on boat trailers, and a good idea too! If I owned a trailer boat I would probably use them, particularly if I had to travel far to launch it - if its only a couple of blocks they will run for years on rusty bearings!

John

[sschmez]

So, I guess no-one on this site uses bearing protectors

;)
BUMP
;)

[Blknight.aus]

wrong I use them, if your careful about how much grease you put in them theyre great..

I use them after i do the bearings and then replace them with the normal cap.


usually what I do is this.

repack the bearings as per normal but only smear the seal and not put any grease behind it and the rear bearing.

fill every else with grease as per normal, and re-assemble

fit the bearing protector and fill itup ( the little plate with the grease nipple moves outwards as you pump grease in

take it for a drive and it normally uses all the grease... I leave it till I next need the trailer I fill it up again and then when i get back if it hasnt completely empties I pull it off and put the cap on, if its completely emptied (plate in the rest position) it gets refilled for the next run.

This eleminates 90 % of the air and leaves the hubs full of grease, any water ingress past the seal is usually limited to just past the seal as it cant migrate past the grease to the bearings.

[sschmez]

I use them after i do the bearings and then replace them with the normal cap.

Thanx Dave,
so you remove them to avoid the sort of problems that I'm wary of/anticipating.

[Blknight.aus]

yep I use em to make sure that everything is packed up properly and then put the normal hubs seals back on..

you could leave them on but Ive found that as they stick out a fair way and generally dont rust tight themselves in place they fall off when your on the rough stuff or they get knocked off.

Just dont keep filling them up every time you drive if you leave them fitted.

[seqfisho]

There is also a similar designed unit that runs the bearings in oil, just like landy bearings, they are called Dura Hub

You can read about them here.

www.durahub.com

Probably over overkill for large parrallel bearings that are regularly serviced, but the idea of oil filled like the landy bearings is attractive, but you would want to be sure they didnt come off over corrugations etc :o

[Blknight.aus]

not sure this is such a hot idea on a trailer, if the trailer gets left unmoved the top of the seal will dry and crack a little when you turn it it weeps oil, when was the last time you checked your trailer bearings?

The other down side to oil filled bearings is as they sit at night they get cold any moisture condensing on the seal will slowly migrate into the hub, not so bad if your moving it every day as the seal will get a wipe of oil to keep its integrity as it rotates, but let it sit......

[JDNSW]

The oil filled hub would be even more a liability if the seal does not have a very good surface on the axle - I note that they suggest smoothing it with 80 grade if you can feel ridges, suggesting they have at least thought about it. But the sealing surface on most axles, unlike most vehicle equivalents, is not heat treated, and is rather soft, and hence unlikely to continue to provide a good sealing surface, even if it is to start with.

John

[mcrover]

I have had no end of trouble with them as they are very rarely used properly like Dave has stated they should be used.

I once towed vans and did maintenence on vans for a cirtain company called Lowline who hire and sell vans as well as other things and we would not use them as people were tempted to keep pumping grease into them damaging the seal.

I also did a bearing job for a bus company who's trailers were towed behind the busses from Vic to NT and WA etc and they insisted on having them as they had had some bearing problems in the past.

At each stop the driver would put 2 pumps of grease in each and I told them in the politest way possible that this would have the opposite effect but insisted on it anyway and just outside Adelaide lost a wheel and tried to take us to court.

If you do use them, put a speedy sleeve on the sealing surface so it wont wear and you will know it is flat and do just as Dave said and use them for packing only.

I have never had a failure from hand packing and a normal cap (other than old age or if it sat around for too long) as long as if it sits for more than 6 months you repack before you go on a trip and you make sure they are adjusted correctly which is to finger tight and maybe just enough to get a split pin in any more and the bearing wont self lube and will make a dry groove on the shell which will prematurly wear you bearing and cage.

Hope that is of sime help

[Merv]

They are great for any trailer, except one that is taken offroad as they get knocked off to easily.

[DiscoTDI]

I use them on my boat trailer and find them fantastic, I travel 200km to get to water and do not like the idea of getting a bearing full of water and dragging it home again. You should not get grease through on the inside of your drum as it is more likley to squeeze out of the floating plate that has the grease nipple on it rather than the rear seal. All they are designed to do is add a little positive pressure to the grease so that water does not get sucked in when the hub is suddenly cooled and to keep a bit of foreign matter out.

Good idea if you do a lot of water crossing with a trailer, but not so good if you do alot of rock hopping as they tend to get smashed off.