# lost or stolen bearing buddies?



## WhiteMoose (Apr 11, 2012)

Put my boat in the river for the first time this year last week. Everything went fine until I went to take my boat out and when I was strapping everything down to leave, I noticed that BOTH of my bearing buddies were missing and all the grease was pouring out. I know they were there when I left the house because I gave them a shot of grease that morning. I've had these in for over a year with no problems, so I find it really suspicious that both of them would fall out on the same trip. The ramp I was at is off the beaten track and there are some questionable people there sometimes. I'm thinking that someone ripped them off while I was out catching catfish. :evil: 

Well I limped home and re-packed the bearings using new grease caps from Bass Pro because I couldn't find anywhere that carried bearing buddies in my area and I had an outing planned the next day so I couldn't wait for a mail order. I hope the Bass Pro caps perform as well.


----------



## Gramps50 (Apr 11, 2012)

I would have to agree that some sleaze bag stole your BB, what's the chance of both of them falling out on the same trip when you haven't had any problems with them. 

I could say more but will refrain as this is a family forum


----------



## WhiteMoose (Apr 11, 2012)

I just think it would be a weird thing for someone to steal. I mean they aren't worth THAT much. They could have broke the window in my car and gotten some better loot, and they would have had to have a mallet to get them out. I guess I wouldn't put it past people these days though.


----------



## fender66 (Apr 11, 2012)

That really just sucks. Hate to hear stories like this.

How'd you end up getting the rig home?


----------



## WhiteMoose (Apr 11, 2012)

I only had about a 15 mile drive, so I just took it slow. I stopped to check them halfway and they wern't hot yet. 
Looking back, I should have just put some duct tape over them. #-o


----------



## PSG-1 (Apr 11, 2012)

Again, this is another good reason for tack welding the BB to the hub. Not only can impact with potholes jar bearing buddies loose, but also because people will steal ANYTHING. A set of bearing buddies is only 20 bucks, but that's a hit of rock for a crackhead thief. 

Just the other day, I had to tack weld the nuts onto the bolts for the trailer jack on a man's trailer. Seems the last time he was at the public boat ramp, some smelly ball of anal lint (and that's putting it nicely) stole the jack from his trailer. I've heard of people parking at that same ramp, coming back to find their catalytic converter cut off and stolen. I hate a thief. Only good one is one with a 44 magnum slug through his dome.


----------



## muskiemike12 (Apr 11, 2012)

Some years back I lost both the bb off a trailer. 60 miles from nowhere in the Superior National Forest. 20 miles of gravel road and 15 miles of forest logging road was the cause. I cut some mt. dew cans in half and duct taped them over the hubs. Made it home (300 miles) no problem after a week in the wilderness.


----------



## Loggerhead Mike (Apr 11, 2012)

I had my trailer tag stole acouple weeks ago. To bad for them it went dead 3 days later. Theifs will steal just for the hell of it.


----------



## bcbouy (Apr 11, 2012)

i had an aluminum tool box that was bolted to the box of my work truck stolen in broad daylight right on the side of a busy road ,i was only gone 20 min. crackheds stole it for scrap.good thing it was the company truck not mine.


----------



## PSG-1 (Apr 12, 2012)

It's too bad that US laws don;t provide for harsh punishment of thieves, like they do in the Middle East. 

But instead of taking off the hand cleanly, my suggestion would be to lay the thief's hand out on a steel table, then take a 2 pound cross-peen hammer, and smash each finger into hamburger, one at a time.

If they do it again, do the same thing to the other hand. And if that doesn't work..... well, they've got 10 toes, we can start on that. Can't do much stealing without hands or feet can they?

(If you think that's evil, you should hear my suggested punishment for rapists and child molesters) :twisted:


----------



## FuzzyGrub (Apr 12, 2012)

That does seem like such an odd item to steal. 

I have never lost one on my single axle trailer. I have an older dual axle trailer (ez-loader) that has 4 bearing buddies. I trailer the boat 150 miles, twice a year. On each trip, one or two of the bearing buddies come off. I don't loose them, since this trailer is so old it has hub caps.  

PS: Having them tack welded, sounds like a great idea.


----------



## Specknreds (Apr 12, 2012)

I solved mine by taking a cold chisel and putting a couple of burrs on the tapered part of the bb.

Seems like spare tires are the hottest items stole around here. Last year I launched in New Orleans and someone took all of my hangers/brackets off my trailer. at least they left my bunk boards :roll: . I still havent figured that one out. If you leave your truck in the wrong spot in New Orleans, feel lucky if its just sitting on blocks with no wheels when you return.


----------



## S&amp;MFISH (Apr 13, 2012)

Here's one for you. Last Friday I took the two youngest Grandsons to a small lake about 75 miles south of me. This place is so out of the way that only the locals and a few of us outsiders know about it. Gravel road to a gravel ramp. I launched the boat, parked the truck and trailer out of the way,in the weeds. Fished all day,and loaded up the boat. When I got home and unhooked the trailer,I noticed the plastic cap off of the tongue jack was gone. There was only 3 other groups there besides us. One of the jerks snatched it,because they just don't fall off. Worst part of it was that I went to Wallyworld and bought a pair of BB covers for $2.49,that covered the tube perfectly. I just hope the jerk broke the cap getting it off,rendering it useless. I guess I should be lucky they didn't steal my "Ultimate Bunkboards". Then I would have been out over $100 instead of just $2.50.


----------



## basstender10.6 (Apr 14, 2012)

Wow that really sucks. I would be more concerned about damaging the bearings and races on the way home rather than the $20 for new BB. I really don't see them so easy to be stolen. Some times those suckers take a lot of banding with a hammer to get out, plus they had to be filthy with grease. I don't understand why he didn't steal something that is easier to take and cleaner. I have been lucky with the thieves, never have had a problem. Although in the winter I take off the jack, and both tires to prevent anyone from taking that stuff while I am not near the boat for a few months.


----------



## samzerelli (Apr 14, 2012)

I found some generic bearing buddies at Harbor Freight for $13 a pair.


----------



## Sawdust Farmer (Apr 14, 2012)

WhiteMoose said:


> ... I know they were there when I left the house because I gave them a shot of grease that morning. ....



I had a set on a personal watercraft trailer that would push themselves off if they were overfilled with grease. I would think that they would be way down the list of things for a thief to steel, but it really wouldn't surprise me.

sf


----------



## PSG-1 (Apr 15, 2012)

Hard to believe grease pressure would blow the BB off the hub before it would blow out the inside seals.

Most of the better designs have a small vent hole for the grease, so the pressure will let off from this point, before it damages a seal.


----------



## Sawdust Farmer (Apr 15, 2012)

PSG-1 said:


> Hard to believe grease pressure would blow the BB off the hub before it would blow out the inside seals.
> 
> Most of the better designs have a small vent hole for the grease, so the pressure will let off from this point, before it damages a seal.



Yep, didn't take me long to replace them with a better set.


----------



## JamesM56alum (Apr 15, 2012)

PSG-1 said:


> Again, this is another good reason for tack welding the BB to the hub. Not only can impact with potholes jar bearing buddies loose, but also because people will steal ANYTHING. A set of bearing buddies is only 20 bucks, but that's a hit of rock for a crackhead thief.
> 
> Just the other day, I had to tack weld the nuts onto the bolts for the trailer jack on a man's trailer. Seems the last time he was at the public boat ramp, some smelly ball of anal lint (and that's putting it nicely) stole the jack from his trailer. I've heard of people parking at that same ramp, coming back to find their catalytic converter cut off and stolen. I hate a thief. Only good one is one with a 44 magnum slug through his dome.




x2


----------



## bumpyroad (Apr 17, 2012)

WhiteMoose said:


> I just think it would be a weird thing for someone to steal. I mean they aren't worth THAT much. They could have broke the window in my car and gotten some better loot, and they would have had to have a mallet to get them out. I guess I wouldn't put it past people these days though.



yep, a mallet and large screwdriver or something to start prying them. perhaps they were overfilled and grease expanded when hot and pushed against them?
bumpy


----------



## WhiteMoose (Apr 18, 2012)

I guess they could have been overloaded with grease and popped, but I doubt it. I only filled them enough to make the blue part barely moveable. 
The road was a little rough for a ways there, but I had my eyes peeled while driving 10 mph the whole way home and should have been able to spot one if they fell out there.


----------



## San Dimas (Nov 26, 2012)

Had my front keel roller stolen 2 weeks ago while I was out on the lake. :x


----------



## sawmill (Nov 26, 2012)

I had a set stollen a few years back. My trailer had been to Canada several times and hauled all over Mich. Went to the river at a public ramp came back to no hubs. My neighbor had an older style easy loader trail and was at a ramp on Lake Mich and when he came back all the rollers were gone off his trailer That sucked real bad


----------



## theyyounggun (Nov 26, 2012)

Cant stand thieves. Ive had a ton of stuff stolen.


----------



## New River Rat (Dec 8, 2012)

I now have 3 trailers, all with Bearing Buddies. Excuse me. All with different _*size *_Bearing Buddies. I have a hard time determining which to order from my PC, much less trying to "shop" at a boat ramp.








I have never understood thievery or vandalism. Or supporting habits/diseases. I remember reading on a fishing site that someone came back to load their boat and a thief had hooked a chain to his exhaust and used a 4X4 to jerk the catalytic converters off.


----------



## PSG-1 (Dec 8, 2012)

New River Rat said:


> I now have 3 trailers, all with Bearing Buddies. Excuse me. All with different _*size *_Bearing Buddies. I have a hard time determining which to order from my PC, much less trying to "shop" at a boat ramp.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Again, the only part of Sharia law that I DO agree with is chopping off the hand of a convicted thief, except, like I said, it should be done more slowly, with a 2 lb cross peen hammer, one finger at a time.
I have NO use for a common thief.


That chart of all the different size BB's is another pet peeve for me. I just cannot understand why trailer parts mfgs cannot just have 1 or 2 sizes of things, why do they insist on having 47 different sizes? Try looking through an Expediter trailer parts catalog, looking for a replacement part, it's enough to give you a nervous breakdown.

On that note, one day, I hope to open up a specialty fastener store. We'll be dealing exclusively in oddball-sized fasteners and such, and ONLY the oddball stuff. 

Why? Because it seems every time I do a job, that's what I run into...oddball stuff you can't find at the hardware store, it's gotta be special ordered from Zimbabwe, but that'll be a back order, it might get here in about 6 months, as they're having trouble finding wood for their fire pits that they hand forge their fasteners over. Oh, and when you get it, you'll discover it's 1/8 inch too short! Grrrr!



Want regular bolts and nuts, go to Home Depot. 

Need some oddball stuff? Then come to "[email protected] BOLTS AND NUMB NUTS" Not only am I the President and the largest stockholder in the company, as well as salesman of the year, but I'll most likely be the #1 customer!

I actually saw a set of numb nuts one time, used to mount the bumper on my GMC Z-71. I was trying to figure out why none of my sockets would fit this thing, and then I looked at it. Instead of having 6 equal sized flats, 4 of them were equal, but 2 parallel sides were longer than the other sides. WTF?? I'd love to see the proprietary socket used for that, I bet they want 200 dollars for that tool. By the way, we'll have those in stock at BBNN, as well. LMAO!!


----------



## PATRIOT (Dec 30, 2012)

I've got a set you can have. Don't use BB's anymore. Modified my hubs to do without.


----------



## russ010 (Dec 31, 2012)

samzerelli said:


> I found some generic bearing buddies at Harbor Freight for $13 a pair.



I've learned long ago to stick with actual Bearing Buddy brand. I bought some of the Bill Dance bearing buddies for my last boat. Got to the ramp, unloaded and thought all was well. When we got back to the ramp to load the boat, one of the guys was looking at my rebuild and noticed that the bearing knock-off bearing buddies were broken off -- and it was broken off inside the hub.

I replaced those with a set from Harbor Freight just until my actual Bearing Buddies arrived the mail. Apparently they were damaged or something. I drove to the lake and when I got their I noticed a funny smell and checked the hubs - hot as a firecracker and soaked in grease. Took the buddies off there and there was no grease inside. Ended up having to get 2 new hubs because of the damage that was already done.

Just keep a check on the grease. Hopefully they will work great for you


----------

