bearing question

[crazymanme2]

If your hub was that hot the grease turned to liquid.If its in there yet(the grease),I'm not sure unless you look.I'm thinking something must have been done wrong maybe.I would pull each wheel apart & inspect & let us know what you find or pics are better yet.Relook at your seals,they may be toast also.
The way you explained I don't believe you over tightened the bearings.When you first put your bearing together if your not familiar with doing this you should check after only a couple of miles down the road
.

 

[Quackrstackr]

If your hub was that hot the grease turned to liquid.

Agreed.

If your hubs got that hot, you need to pull the whole thing apart again, clean and repack. You may have heat damage to your new bearings.

I am assuming that you did but I am going to ask anyway.... you did change the races out in the hubs when you installed the new bearings?

 

[WhiteMoose]

Yes, I replaced the racers. I pretty much followed the steps shown in this video- [youtube]HsCH1d6R7J0[/youtube]

I will pick up new seals tonight and check things out. :x

 

[CarlF]

Mine get hot. I pulled off the interstate after about 30 min. of 70 mph driving to check them out and I could have almost cooked eggs on them.

Damn, you are lucky you made it home. Definately something very wrong, I make the same trip with my trailer & the hubs are barely warm to the touch.

 

[WhiteMoose]

Took the caps off and they are still full of grease, but as you can see by the color of the grease, water has already gotten in. I'm at a loss at what to do now. Get bearing buddies and try repacking them again I guess. :x

 

[Quackrstackr]

If your cap was letting grease out when you tried to add more, there's your leak path for water unless your rear seal is not square to your axle.

Having grease heavily laden with water just makes the heat problem worse.

Did you check them and find how hot they were before or after you put the trailer in the water?

 

[WhiteMoose]

They were hot before I even put the trailer in water. Is there a good way to tell if the rear seal is leaking other then clean everything off back there and pump it as full with grease as I can? In which case, it would be need to be replaced anyway, so I don't think that would do any good.

 

[crazymanme2]

Quackrstackr,your comment(Having grease heavily laden with water just makes the heat problem worse.)could you explain your logic there.

Water has nothing to do with heat.All water will do is rust your bearings if you have not been using a good water proof grease.By using a good grease I don't care if water gets in hub because the grease will do its job & when I grease my bearing buddies the water gets pushed out anyways.

The grease that I use doesn't seem to let the water mix with it like some of the other greases I have used & seen.
When I put a shot of grease in my bearing buddies only sometimes will a couple drops of water come out & that just a very little bit & I have had no heat issues.I believe the key is to make sure the hub is FULLY packed with grease so there is no room for water but not too much to leave room for expansion of the grease.

 

[Quackrstackr]

The water cuts down on the viscosity of the grease and hampers it's ability to lubricate your bearings. If you're already having bearing/heat issues... water in the grease is going to make it worse.

If they were getting that hot.. the water is going to try to turn to steam inside the hub.

What do they clean vehicle undercarriages and grease traps in restaurants with? Steam.

WM, if there is grease on the back side of your hub (and it was previously clean), your seal is leaking. There should be no grease or oily film with good seals.

 

[crazymanme2]

This ending comment should pull you to the site that I found it on.

If you want to avoid water wash out use an aluminum complex grease with moly and it will not mix with water thus lasting longer and you ultimately don't have to grease as much and end up using much less over the period of a year and end up saving you money in the long run. Also aluminum complex will mix with any other base complex with exception to a bentone which wont mix with anything.

https://www.klr650.marknet.us/grease101.html

It also mentions about boat trailer bearings.

 

[Quackrstackr]

That link says the same thing that I did in my first paragraph only his wording is much better and he went into more detail. :lol:

The extreme heat/steam part of it that I mentioned is also relevant. Not only will it attempt to strip the grease from the bearings, it will create positive pressure inside your hubs possibly causing your seal or cap to leak. You can test this theory out by pouring a good dose of it into the crankcase of your atv or truck and watch all of the seals blow while driving down the road but I wouldn't recommend it. :lol:

 

[Lil Jon]

If you are getting water in your bearings, something is wrong and needs attention. Water in your hubs is bad no matter what kind of grease you have in it. I would sugguest replacing the seals and installing bearing buddies. When tightening your bearings rotate the hub counterclock wise while snuggung up the bearing nut. Just snug it not tight. The hub should rotate freely with no noises or drag. This is how we tighten bearings on US Navy aircraft, and it works on boat trailers too. Best of luck to ya, and rember water, especially salt water in your bearings is bad.

 

[Waterwings]

I always try to use the bearing grease that is Lithium-based, as I've heard it dissipates heat better, and is more water-resilient (for lack of a better word).