"Bearing protectors"

**sschmez** · 22nd March 2007, 10:59 PM

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.

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:

All info much appreciated

Stevo

**ladas** · 22nd March 2007, 11:37 PM

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/L68149-10-TIM...QQcmdZViewItem

**ladas** · 22nd March 2007, 11:38 PM

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/LM12749-LM127...QQcmdZViewItem

**JDNSW** · 23rd March 2007, 06:29 AM

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** · 23rd March 2007, 07:43 PM

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** · 23rd March 2007, 07:49 PM

Originally Posted by sschmez

......
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** · 13th April 2007, 05:46 PM

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

BUMP

**Blknight.aus** · 13th April 2007, 07:16 PM

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** · 14th April 2007, 02:31 PM

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** · 14th April 2007, 05:33 PM

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.

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