Bearing buddies and repacking grease

[Rapscallion]

How often do you tear down and repack your hubs when utilizing a Bearing Buddy system?
I've got three years on mine with no sign of seal leakage.

[jokerjim]

Be careful when you remove the bearing buddies. You can open up the hub(soft metal)up if you rock the buddies too much when you remove them. Then when you install them, the first time you hit the road they will come flying off. There has been alot of discussion on this site about bearing buddies.

[Binks61]

I've got an 04 and have pulled and inspected them twice. Due for a third time this year ( soooo every three years)
I have not found any issues to date. Clean, repack and new rear seals. That said, I plan on a long haul this year ( Pittsburgh to Lake Michigan) so I plan on changing the bearing/races & seals this spring.

[djcoop52]

I repack every year use the buddy bearings just to keep grease level up. No matter how good the seals some water is going to infiltrate would not trust grease not to break down. Repack mine before putting away for the winter.

[Hot Runr Guy]

x2 Every fall, after the last trip, I pull the hubs and inspect. This way, if there is a problem, water isn't sitting and freezing in the hubs all winter long. One less thing to deal with in the spring.

HRG

[Rapscallion]

I will repack and install new seals soon. I like the idea of pulling the BB's for an inspection once a year.

[jkbrink]

Originally Posted by jokerjim

Be careful when you remove the bearing buddies. You can open up the hub(soft metal)up if you rock the buddies too much when you remove them. Then when you install them, the first time you hit the road they will come flying off. There has been alot of discussion on this site about bearing buddies.

If the fit gets too sloppy, clean the grease out of them, place them over a (pipe??) rounded surface, the closer to the diameter of the buddy the better but anything rounded will work. Use a hammer and a center punch, tap (not hammer) the center punch around the diameter of the mating surface of the buddy. This will stretch the diameter of the buddy back to a better fit. Worked for me till I went to lubed hubs- - -jerr

[Rapscallion]

I've been successful in removing them unharmed by tapping with a mallet to loosen them, wrapping in a cloth to prevent gouging, then using a pipe wrench to turn while pulling outward (basicly unscrewing them even though they aren't threaded). They come out relatively easy and aren't beat up or deformed.

[ffishman]

I now have Liqui-lubes, but when I had Bearing buddies, I broke them down and repacked every year. To me, it was cheap insurance.

[hawg]

Raps, take a serious look at LiquaLube. About the same amount of work as repacking, which isn't much, and they are great. I still wonder why I waited so long to do it. I repacked my bearing buddies almost every year, I don't think they last any longer than regular hubs. If you grease to often you blow out back seals and thats just as bad as a small leakage on regular hubs. LiquaLube is not an expensive conversion.