Grease for hubs...

[GBS]

I used to buy the pricy Evinrude/Johnson blue marine grease. Still have a full tube for my gun. Needed a can to use for repacking my bearings. Harder to find locally, although I'm sure with a bit of a drive, or a click on Amazon, I could. The usual boat dealer I bought it from has none, and noted that nothing they had should be combined with it.
Any other flavors you recommend?
Any of them useable in a mixed situation, so I can use up the tube I do have?
I do use bearing buddies, which seem over the years to have done their job of keeping water out...

[Clairebear]

Any good quality grease will do the job. I use Valvoline because thats what my local supplier has.
ANY grease on those bearings is better than no grease.
Don't over think it.

[Marty59]

Before mixing different types of grease I look at a grease compatibility chart. Here is a good one. If what you have is compatible with what you can buy then go for it.

https://www.machinerylubrication.com...-compatibility

Marty

[Bobby Winds]

Lucas Red n Tacky

[Snowking]

How many years since you pulled your bearings apart and repacked. Might be a good time to do it that way you can clean out all the old grease. Sounds like you are going to repack them anyways. Start with a different brand that way. I use amsoils marine grease. I have a place I can buy it locally. Little more driving as they closed the store that was very close to me. https://www.amsoil.com/p/synthetic-w...nt-grease-gwr/
I would either keep your rude grease for your rude motor grease points. If it has them. I would not mix two different greases together just to use up the tube you have.
I would warn you about reusing bearing buddy’s. Be very careful taking them off and putting back on. After reinstalling I have lost a few. I think I bent them out of round taking them off.

[GBS]

It's been 2 1/2 years. Not many miles put on the trailer. I do check the Buddies a couple of times each summer, hardly ever need to add more than a pump from the grease gun. It may be time to give up on the $$ brand, and get one that is easy to find near home. Just trying to pinch a penny....

[REW]

Remove the hubs.
Remove the rear seal.
Remove and clean all of the grease from the bearings, bearing races, hubs and axles. Be sure that every surface is clean of anything and dry.

Then, put in fresh grease of your choice.

Install new fresh seals.

Replace the hubs and tighten the hub nuts correctly and add the cotter pin to hold the adjustment in place.

Replace the wheels and tires and you will be good to go with correct tire inflation pressure.

Good luck

Note:
When removing bearing buddys, tap on one side of the buddy bearings just enough to put a thin screw driver in between the top of the hub - bearing area and the under edge of the bearing buddy. Repeat for the other side of the bearing buddy

Now, with a pair of equal sized screw drivers or pry bars, pry the bearing buddies out of the hubs making sure that the entire hub is coming out vertically and not tipped to one side. If the hub gets tipped to one side, sto, and tap on the top of the tipped side of the bearing buddy - to avoid trying to get the buddy out while it is in tipped position, which will enlarge the top of the hub surface by belling out the top edge of the hub and thus tend to make the hub want to throw a new bearing buddy.

Best wishes

[Bstar]

Originally Posted by GBS

I used to buy the pricy Evinrude/Johnson blue marine grease. Still have a full tube for my gun. Needed a can to use for repacking my bearings. Harder to find locally, although I'm sure with a bit of a drive, or a click on Amazon, I could. The usual boat dealer I bought it from has none, and noted that nothing they had should be combined with it.
Any other flavors you recommend?
Any of them useable in a mixed situation, so I can use up the tube I do have?
I do use bearing buddies, which seem over the years to have done their job of keeping water out...

You can find the Evinrude/Johnson grease here http://shop.evinrude.com/product/776...1_lb_Container

[GBS]

Thanks for the link. May be time to switch to Lucas. Have a newish travel trailer now too, so next spring will be a bearing extravaganza for all the toys. Would be nice to use the same thing on all of them...

[REW]

With respect to the comment by Snow King about losing a bearing buddy, or buddies.

One of the biggest reasons for this type of failure is caused by the method used to remove the bearing buddies or dust caps.

The correct way to remove a dust cover or a bearing buddy, is to pull it straight off of the hub, without tilting the bearing buddy.

To do this take a very very thin chisel and drive it in between the hub and the bearing buddy to very slightly open a gap between the bearing buddy and the wheel hub.

Then you go directly across the hub to the other side of the bearing buddy or dust cap and repeat the process so very slightly open the gap between the hub and the bearing buddy and or dust cap.

Now, with a very thin gap on each side of the hub, insert a pair of matching screwdrivers in the thin gap between the hub and the bearing buddy, at the same time.

Then, began to pry the bearing buddy or dust cover off of the hub by pushing or pulling on both screwdrivers at the same time.

When the hub is far enough off so that the thin screwdrivers can't be used any more, use a thicker pair of screwdrivers to be able to continue the straight off movement of the bearing buddy or dust cover.

Then, if necessary go to a third pair of screwdrivers that are ven thicker to complete the removal of the bearing buddies.

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If when you go to insert the bearing buddies or dust cover back into the hub and find that when you insert the bearng buddy, that the bearing buddy or dust cover go nearly all of the way into the hub before encountering any resistance - you likely have a belled out or a hub that is flared out on the top edge of the hub.

To restore the end of the hub to a none flared out shape, a heavy hammer is your best friend.

With the tire and rim off of the hub and the hub securely supported by a jack stand, take the bearing buddy or dust cap - and begin to insert it into the hub. As you insert the hub, try inserting it first from all sides of the hub. i.e. you are locating the spot on the hub where it has belled out the most. Then, with that side of the hub rotated to the top side, give the hub a good wack with the heavy hammer. This will begin to remove the belled out characteristic of the hub.

Then, continue with the same action, until you can just barely get the bearing buddy started into the hub. By just being able to start the bearing buddy into the hub - it means that you have removed the belled out character of the bearing hub.

Now, with the bearing buddy just barely started into the hub, place a steel plate or similar object over the top out side edges of the bearing buddy and use a heavy hammer that is hitting in the center of the bearing buddy so that the buddy is driven square into the hub, with no TILTING at all. If you remove and replace the bearing buddy straight out of the hub and straight back into the hub - without tilting the buddy, you will never bell out the end of the hub and you can repeat the process many times over the life of the trailer hub without ever enlarging the outside end of the hub.

If the outside end of the hub is not enlarged, the buddys will remain secure and will not fall out while traveling on the road.

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By the way, if you do not have bearing buddys but rather - just simple dust covers obtain a piece of pipe that just fits closely on the top side of the dust cover such that when placed over the top of the dust cover, the pipe comes down on the flanged edge of the dust cover.

Now, you can take a heavy hammer, and while holding the pipe section over the dust cover with the bipe contacting the flanged edge of the dust cover, simply hit the top edge of the pipe and the dust cover will be driven in securely, with no belling out of the wheel hub or any denting or damage to the top center portion of the dust cover.

Some folks beat directly on the center of the dust cover and this results in damage and denting of the dust cover which is not a good idea.

Best wishes.