Bearing Buddies

[Ted]

So I just put some money down on a Compac 19.

It's in Miami, I am in Orlando. The previous owner is an hour away from the trailer (he kept it in the water), but he told me that the trailer will need new Bearing Buddies. So... I am thinking that I will buy a new pair and take them with me when I go down for the pickup, sometime next week.  The boat has not been on the trailer for over two years, so I expect I will have some work to do.

I don't relish the thought of bringing the boat home on a trailer I don't really know and particularly more so without working Bearing Buddies.

I know nobody can definitively tell me without seeing the trailer... but I wonder if there is a standard size that I might expect. If I buy the wrong ones, I can always return them.

Any ideas? They come in a bunch of sizes. The boat is a 1990 Mark III, so maybe that gives a bit of direction as to which ones assuming the trailer came with the boat.

[Billy]

I don't even have bearing buddies on my trailer 

I would find out what model the trailer is and then find a trailer shop with in the vicinity. Then you could just get whatever you need there locally. Or at least find out if they have it in stock.

The good news is you will have the hour to pull the trailer w/out the boat. So if something goes wrong, heaven forbid, the boat won't be on the trailer.

And congratulations on the new boat!

[ribbed_rotting_rusting]

Congrats on the boat. The PO should be able to give you info off of title or registration(not sure how Florida handles boat trailers).  The worry is the bearings, and Billy is right about the trailer shop. I would find out make of trailer to find out the inner seal that holds inner bearing in.Though if you pop off what ever is currently over the axle hub and either water or rust is present you know bearings need to be repacked. I cannot emphasize this enough, seized bearings with the boat on would be a complete disaster. The good thing is that the trailer is probably new enough that everything should be a standard size. Repacked bearings is a small cost compared to the alternative, and having the bearings repacked with no boat on should be a relatively easy matter.I would just plan on having them repacked and find the shop to do it. It does not have to be on a lift, so that really helps in terms of time and expense.If the shop is any good you will proably won't incur much over the minimum labor charge and seals with cotter pins. Lights are nice, good tires help, and a decent coupler really helps. But even the coupler has safety chains, whereas there is no backup for bearings. The worse would be bad races that bearings run against, just because they either need to be pressed out of drum, or pounded out with brass drift. But even then the alternative is unthinkable. Think of no drain plug replaced on engine, or no oil in transmission, rusty bearings or bearings with water in them is the equivalent for trailer axles. Frozen bearings can result in axle seizure that can flatten tire, break the axle stub off resulting in tire with drum is place bouncing down the road, or even a fire where the drum gets so hot that a grease fire results. I use to co-own 55 OTR tractors using a pool of 500 trailers that I didn't own. The trailers were always the biggest headache, and because of the time axle failure would waste I always had the trailers get what is called a DOT inspection, and even then I had to emphasize inspecting axle grease(semi trailers use 90 wt gear oil).
I really would tell the PO you wanted the trailer hubs repacked. I would really be worried if he just pulled axle Buddy's off and had no replacement covers. Like I said more than once repacking them is cheap insurance.        Mike

[skip1930]

My CP-19 was equipped by Performance Trailer [Now out of Business] with Bearing Buddies.

Buy a good quality hand pump grease gun from NAPA or CarQuest and two tubes of red bearing grease and prize out the soft rubber cap of the Bearing Buddies that covers the Zerk with a small flat blade screw driver and pump a bunch of grease into the bearing.

It would be easier to jack the empty trailer and each trailer wheel off the ground with a little $20, 2000 lb bottle jack and spin the wheel/bearing assembly to work the grease around.

Drive home.

JUST BECAUSE THE TRAILER HAS BEEN SITTING AROUND UNUSED DOESN"T MEAN THE OLD GREASE HAS SOMEHOW GONE AWAY. IT'S STILL THERE.
If it sat in old grease any number of years and rain has not displaced or flushed out the old grease it has never had a chance to rust. I have dealt with 80+ year old cars and when opening them up, bearings, trans, axles, steering boxes don't seem to be lacking lubrication.

Pump some more red grease into the hardened rollers/balls, races, and cages through the Zerk. That pushes the old black grease, any rust, and sand out and puts the new grease in. You'll see the black grease and any crud squeeze out and when you see the red grease emerge, that's enough. Stop pumping. Any dot or two of rust on rolling mating surfaces will be worn away in the first mile or so. Anyway you'll be driving the unloaded trailer over to the nearest air pump and putting in the maximum amount of air pressure indicated on the tier's sidewall. That will get the bearings ready to go.

Is it going to be a 1-7/8 or a 2 inch ball and hitch? Check that out. Speaking of that...a thin loc-nut is under the trailer's hitch and once down on the tow vehicle's ball it wouldn't hurt to ratchet that nut up and that pulls the hitch down and tighter on the ball. But not so tight you can't get the handle locking lever on and off the ball. If in doubt use the bottle jack to jack up on the trailer and see if the tow vehicle lifts up without popping off the ball. The hitch should grab the ball that well.

skip.

[Koinonia]

just in case it here and I missed it take some pb blaster with you and a tool box so you can get your lug nuts off if needed.  If its been in salt water from time to time things get kinda siezed.  Id really look into what the old bearing grease looks like.  If its been dunked in the past the water can have a bad effect, while pulling the hubs off a friends trailer to get my santana 20 the grease was so thin it came out like aunt jamimas!  A spare might be in order to, those small wheel/tires arent to expensive.  The two different common sized of bearings are good to have.  Might be good to buy the stuff at wally world so you can return whichever bearing set is the wrong size.  The little stuff may add up a little but man being stuck on the side of the interstate sucks!!

For my hauling I carry,
10 ton bottle jack
assorted 4X4 chunks of wood and some 2X4s
two sets of bearings
two spare tires
various nuts and bolts for supports, lugnuts, ect
extra trailer light
extra pair of red flags {im a wide load}
Tool box with the basics

Dont freak out, this is for a triple axle trailer with 15k lbs carrying capacity!  And I do hate being on the side of the interstate, with three axles if a tire blows and an exit is close I just slow down and cruise to the next exit!
Crap for a small trailer if your not completely prepared wally world carries the basics as well and they are all over.

[Ted]

Thanks for all the great info!

For $200 the PO took the trailer to a shop where they put on new bearings and new buddy bearings as well as a new set of lights. That gives me confidence that I didn't have before.  I haven't trailered anything as a 19 before and all I have is a Chevy Colorado.

The packing list for trailering is a great idea - I will certainly be posting that in my garage for future reference before setting out. I pick the boat up tomorrow morning!  I have a couple days off so I will be puttering around with her and can't wait to get started.

[MacGyver]

what kind of Colorado is it? 4wd? 2wd? extended cab, etc?

I pulled our 19 home from Wentzville MO (around 100 miles or so one way) with a 4wd Superbcab Ranger with 4.0 V6.
Pulled pretty nicely  , and definitely told you she was back there, but not as bad as a different enclosed I had pulled before back and forth to Chicago. I might have been more nervous than anything pulling the boat as I had just gone through a massive hailstorm with biggest hail I had ever seen  , and had several issues like a tire blow on the trailer, and lights were a mess......It was a ADVENTURE  ........

I am glad to see that you had the company do all of that. Most times greases are not compatible with each other. I have heard of issues from the incompatibilities. Atleast now you know the trailer is ready.

Good Luck! Don't be in a hurry!

Mac

[ribbed_rotting_rusting]

              Ted, forethought and preparation are some of the requirements for a safe sailor, and you just showed you have that in your makeup. There are always times when you are nervous and don't want to try something new, but the knowledge that you have done all that you can to prepare will carry you through those times.You will probably see broken down trailers on the highway even in the relative short distance you travel, and you have the satisfaction that you have done the smart and responsible things to keep yourself from ending up like that.

  CONGRATULATIONS on the boat, you will find it rewarding and satisfying in ways that non-sailors probably won't understand.    Mike

[skip1930]

"Most times greases are not compatible with each other." Right. And one of many reasons to R and R [remove and replace] the old grease and push out impurities with new grease.

skip.

[Ted]

what kind of Colorado is it? 4wd? 2wd? extended cab, etc?

It's just a 2 WD, four door Colorado Z71. It pulled my sixteen without a though so I think I will be okay if I take things easy.

[MacGyver]

You should be fine then, I think the payload on that vehicle is like 3 to 4000 lbs.

Let us know how it goes towing it, I am always curious as to peoples towing experiences.

When my neighbor went with me to haul the boat to his storage area he is letting me use, he said how nice my truck towed the boat, which surprised me.
He even said he barely could tell we were towing and that I had plenty of power.... made me feel pretty good, as I know they towed these boats with cars years ago........ how or why they did that is beyond me.... LOL   

Have a Safe Trip!

Mac

[Koinonia]

Thats pretty sweet that the PO took the trailer in and had that done so you can pick up and go with a free mind.  Peace of mind is priceless!!

[Ted]

Yes - the PO was a good guy.

Adoption is all but done - just have to file the papers with the DMV. Here are some pics I took at a rest stop on 95 today, about halfway between Miami and Orlando:





The trailer was bouncing a ton as I drove through Miami (95 is not too "smooth" in town). I stopped and put air in the tires (they only had 30 pounds). After that, she pulled like a dream. The boat lets you know it's back there, but that's to be expected. I kept it between 55 and 60, though a few times I let it drift up to the low 60s before I realized I was going that fast.

So... thanks for the advice here - it all worked out. I have a boat to clean up and I will do some "re-rigging" now that I have it home.

[Salty19]

It's look like the boat boat is sitting too far back on the trailer.  I have the same boat and trailer..our winch is much closer to the tow vehicle, and the bunks sit further aft on the boat.  Might want to check tongue weight just in case.  Should be darn close to 300lbs.

[MacGyver]

I was looking at that too Salty, but then I see it is where mine sits on my trailer..... I am going to check my tongue weight one time and see what it is........

Maybe this next CLR I will see how yours sits cause I want to make adjustments to mine if needed for sure. Maybe then I will feel comfortable to run somewhere else with it......

Mac