greasing bearings and alittle trickle of water came out

[bahama bound]

Heading to Cumberland island for a week ,about 240 miles ,went to pump up my bearings and all was fine til the last wheel and upon the hub being filled with with grease a trickle of water came out ? I guess this means I should go ahead and replace this set of bearings ??? And the seal ?

[Norca]

How long ago since You used the trailer last time?
How old are the bearings?
If it has been sitting less than a couple of weeks, You should be fine but since bearings are cheap
and You have time to do it now, why not change them as a precaution, that is what I would have done.

[NiceAft]

when I last replaced my bearings, I just replaced the seals also. If you have the tools, I would just do it for the peace of mind.

Ray

[bahama bound]

Trailer is not old ,guess it was at the holy city cruise here in Charleston in oct ?it is a tandem axle and of course it would be on the brake axle ! Disc brakes at that ! Just one more thing to squeeze in ? It was just a trickle ,but still its only been used in salt .

[Buell_S1W]

Agree with others here, replace the bearing(s) and seals especially as salt water is involved. Also, don't fit Chinese made bearings & seals unless there is no alternative.

[Tomfoolery]

Jack up the wheel and give it a spin (might have to remove the caliper). If you can hear it turn, the bearings are beyond gone. Probably little rust spots - the pitting makes the bearings noisy.

But even if you can't hear it, they may be bad or well on their way, so if caution is the order of the day, just replace them. You have to replace the seal anyway, as you can't get it out to get the inner bearing and race without wrecking the seal.

[bahama bound]

Pulled it apart and the bearings were clean but looked cheap and poor quality .of course marked made in china ,trailer is a couple years old with little use but it sure takes its toll ,brake pads fell apart when I took caliper loose ! Going to replace them .looks like back of seal rusted out .going to spray cold galvanized paint over the hub after I put new seal in and I guess what I get back do the other three .

[Tomfoolery]

Maybe a stupid question, but are you using double-lipped seals?

[bahama bound]

Trailer is two years old .been in the water maybe 6 times and maybe 950 miles ? But yeah I'm going to get the good seals that have the stainless metal ring .we plan on keeping it rolling over the summer .

[Tomfoolery]

Just make sure they're double-lip seals. Seals normally only resist pressure in one direction (keeping the grease in), but water is also trying to get in from the other side, so there's another lip outboard of the grease lip. Just sayin'.

[bahama bound]

First time I have seen that you are supposed to put gasket sealer around the flange on the seal before you press it in place .

[yukonbob]

Whether or not you replace them try and let them cool down before you launch. See lots of people drive for hours pull right up to the ramp and back it in the water. Warm bearings + cold H2o = water in bearings. Not to mention your rear diff etc.

[bahama bound]

Never thought of that .with disc brakes the hub has got to be warm .think I'm going to clean everything up and paint it all with galvanize paint ,except the actual rotor pad surface might have to leave pads out for this trip ??but I'm pulling it with the dodge 3500 dually so brakes should not be that big of a deal .i think the technical law is over 3500 lbs

[kadet]

...drive for hours pull right up to the ramp and back it in the water. ..

Yeah that's going to happen with my , NOT

[Azzarac]

might have to leave pads out

I do not recommend doing this unless you de-activate the brake actuator. If pressure is applied to the calipers with out pads installed the piston could possibly extend far enough to contact the rotor. Since calipers slide in order to equalize pressure on both sides of the rotor it may be possible to extend the piston far enough to pop out of the caliper dumping all of your brake fluid and ruining the caliper and/or rotor. Actually, I wouldn't do this even with the actuator de-activated. It's just not advisable.