# Trouble installing new bearing buddies



## basstender10.6 (Jun 29, 2011)

I just bought new stainless steel bearing buddies (not the original but a copy but a company called "red line trailer"). I got the correct size and everything but they will not go in. They will go in a little just enough to hold the position but once you try to put them in more, they fall out. Any suggestions?


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## Loggerhead Mike (Jun 29, 2011)

Sand the inside of the hub, make sure its a smooth and even surface. Did you measure them with a micrometer?

Some of those offbrands take a good lick to go in


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## basstender10.6 (Jun 29, 2011)

Loggerhead Mike said:


> Sand the inside of the hub, make sure its a smooth and even surface. Did you measure them with a micrometer?
> 
> Some of those offbrands take a good lick to go in


No, i haven't measured. Yea, I agree, if you open two packages of bearing buddies made by the cheap brands they could be off badly enough to cause a problem.


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## Wistex (Mar 7, 2012)

Every set of bearing buddies i have ever installed had to be fitted. it seems they come oversize and need to be ground down a few thousands. reduce and try the fit. don't over do it.


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## TNtroller (Mar 8, 2012)

If you can get the BB started on the opening so to speak, then get a small hammer and a block of 2x4, make sure it is fitted flush, and then tap the BB on using the wood block and hammer. Go easy at 1st, and increase your impacts depending on the progress.


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## bigwave (Mar 9, 2012)

+2 On above post...I have had to use a 2x4 every time. If you get it started short light taps will ease it into the hub. It works, but dont force it...it will bend the bearing housing and then your back to square one.


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## PSG-1 (Mar 9, 2012)

I've never had to grind down the outside of bearing buddys, and I wouldn't recommend doing it, as then the fit may be loose, and it will fall off when you hit a bump. Even when a set fits tightly, they can still fall off when you hit a pothole. (I tack weld the BB to the hub to prevent this, either that, or a few wraps of duct tape)

A 2 lb hammer works good to tap it in just enough to hold it, then, use a block of wood and the hammer to drive it the rest of the way in. On the ones that seem oversized, you may have to start the BB with a slight skew, and then tap around the circumference of the housing to get it started.


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## Dbarba11 (Mar 19, 2012)

I had a heck of a time installing mine a few weeks ago. Tried the 2x4 method and it just wouldn't go. What did the trick was getting it started and using a larger rubber mallet. The increased surface area of the mallet helped drastically.


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## flatboat (Mar 21, 2012)

oh my ,thats what i did wrong , i didn't weld em . now i know why they leak . uh oh .thats chrome , don't you have to preheat that to stop it from cracking ? how do you keep the grease in if the seals are burnt from all that preheat. then what about the heat to stress relieve it . i'm so confused .can't they make them out of rubber , kinda like a condom . you fill up wth grease and it keeps a little pressure on it.


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## PSG-1 (Mar 22, 2012)

flatboat said:


> oh my ,thats what i did wrong , i didn't weld em . now i know why they leak . uh oh .thats chrome , don't you have to preheat that to stop it from cracking ?



It's actually a chrome plating on mild steel, which does not require a preheat, especially for a small tack weld with a MIG.






> how do you keep the grease in if the seals are burnt from all that preheat.





You wrap around the outside of it with a wet rag, except for the spot you're about to tack weld, and you stuff a wet rag into the face of the BB. Again, a quick tack weld isn't putting off a lot of heat, and if you wrap with wet rags, it keeps the heat from damaging anything.






> then what about the heat to stress relieve it .






Again, it's not pure chromium, nor chrome moly steel, so it does not require preheat or stress relieving. 






> i'm so confused .can't they make them out of rubber , kinda like a condom . you fill up wth grease and it keeps a little pressure on it.





No, what they should do is cut internal threads into the face of the hub, and external threads on the BB, so the BB simply threads into the hub, instead of trying to press-fit it. 

Either that, or drill and tap about 1/4" from the edge of the hub, for setscrews to hold a BB in place, put 3 of them at 120 degrees apart, around the circumference. That would also work.


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## Snitzel (Mar 22, 2012)

Something else to check...if the bearing/hub overheated at some time in the past, it is possible that the area that the BB fits into may have warped or gotten out of round. If that is the case, you will need to change the hum or you will lose your BB as you motor down the road....


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## basstender10.6 (Mar 22, 2012)

I have installed the bearing buddies properly. It took a little going but, they finally went in. My only concern is that they might pop off on the road because they only go in about less than a half inch.


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## PSG-1 (Mar 22, 2012)

basstender10.6 said:


> I have installed the bearing buddies properly. It took a little going but, they finally went in. My only concern is that they might pop off on the road because they only go in about less than a half inch.



Exactly. There's not much mating surface when they;re installed. That's why I tack weld mine, to keep them from falling off if I hit a pothole. But, as I said, you can also degrease the BB and the hub really good, and make a few wraps with some black duct tape. it may not be pretty, but it will keep the BB from being lost, and dirt getting into the bearings.


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## JamesM56alum (Mar 23, 2012)

I personally cant stand bearing buddies but if i was going to use some i would buy the rigid brand, they'er a little more beefy than the knock off's and just as PSG suggested i would put a quick spot weld on them just to keep them in place, last thing you want to do is go driving down the road and have one fall off on a long trip and sling all the axle grease out and burn up a perfectly good bearing.


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## PSG-1 (Mar 23, 2012)

JamesM56alum said:


> I personally cant stand bearing buddies but if i was going to use some i would buy the rigid brand, they'er a little more beefy than the knock off's and just as PSG suggested i would put a quick spot weld on them just to keep them in place, last thing you want to do is go driving down the road and have one fall off on a long trip and sling all the axle grease out and burn up a perfectly good bearing.




Not to mention having dirt, etc, get inside the bearings, in addition to them losing grease and running hot, add a little abrasive like sand, and it's time to replace the hub, bearings, races, seals, etc.

I've personally had a BB fall off a trailer hub at least 3 times over the past 20 years, so, I've learned to go ahead and tack weld or wrap them with duct tape. It's ridiculous that you have to do something like that because of a piss-poor design, like I said, if they'd drill and tap the edges of a hub for setscrews, that would hold a BB securely. I think if I ever need to replace hubs, I'm going to try doing that with the new ones, I might be on to something with this idea.


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## seastar (Mar 30, 2012)

I would toss the bearing buddies in the freezer for a few hours. Heat the outside of the hub where the buddy goes and then try tapping them in. If they don't go in now, there is a size problem that should be addressed.


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## Quackrstackr (Mar 30, 2012)

I've owned 5 boat trailers with BB's in the last 25 years and I've never had one fall off. Some of those trailers have been hauled down gravel and dirt roads that will crack your transom and loosen your fillings, too.

Interesting.

The biggest problem with them is people overpressurizing them and blowing their grease seal out the back side of the hub... something that they may or may not notice until the damage is already done.


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## basstender10.6 (Apr 10, 2012)

Wow, lots of great advice. Sorry, I have not been following this thread lately, I have been very busy the last month. I just purchased a new boat from a friend, and need to go pick it up an hour and a half away. I knocked the bearing buddies in real good, but I think I am also going to duck tape them just in case. But here is the question.... If you weld the BB on, doesn't that mean you cant ever take it off?


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## PSG-1 (Apr 11, 2012)

basstender10.6 said:


> Wow, lots of great advice. Sorry, I have not been following this thread lately, I have been very busy the last month. I just purchased a new boat from a friend, and need to go pick it up an hour and a half away. I knocked the bearing buddies in real good, but I think I am also going to duck tape them just in case. But here is the question.... If you weld the BB on, doesn't that mean you cant ever take it off?



If it's just a small tack weld, you can thin it down with a grinder, then when you tap the BB, the remainder of the weld will crack and you can take the BB off. Use a stainless rod to make the tack weld, as the nickel content of the ss rod prevents hot-short cracking of the weld, since the hub is made of cast iron.


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