i am greasing the bearings on my used boat trailer for the first time.Never done it before any suggestions.Its a single axle jon boat trailer
Bearing Buddies !!!! ,,,, as ULTRA150 said ... pull them apart one time, clean and inspect the bearings and races .... with repeated dunkings, water to intrude and cause rust and pitting. Replace or re-install the bearings and or races as necessary and install the bearing buddies. Now all you have to do is use a grease gun occasionally to keep your wheels spinning free and quiet.
Go with the buddy bearing caps they keep grease in the bearings when hot and keep the water out when you back your trailer into the water. You can hand grease till the cows come home and never do as good as buddy bearing will.
This is a little messy but it works. More than likely, you will have to remove the dust caps on the end of the axle. These can be pried off with a screw driver and replaced by tapping with a leather or rubber hammer. If you don't have one of these, use a block of wood between the hammer and cover. There should be a cotter pin holding a keeper and castellated (notched) nut on the axle nut. Remove the cotter pin and don't destroy it. If you have new ones, reassemble using them. You can use the old ones if they are not damaged. Remove the bearing and clean it in solvent. Gasoline or charcoal lighter works fine. Remove all the old grease. Let it evaporate. You can use rubber gloves or a clean plastic bag or just your bare hands, if you don't mind getting messy, for the next step. Place a hand full of grease in your hand and squish the fresh grease through the bearing. Reassemble without the retainer. Tighten the nut to 15 ft. lbs. if you have a torque wrench and back off and tighten as much as you can with your fingers. If you don't have a torque wrench, use a channel lock pliers. Be careful and tighten the nut until you can no longer hold the pliers closed. Back the nut off and finger tighten.
The best way I have found is to remove the dust covers and replace them with Bearing Buddy's. These are caps with grease fittings built into them. You then grease the bearings with Marine Grade grease until the plate on the Bearing Buddy reaches the end of its travel( the directions are real easy) and you are done without opening the bearings to the outside world(dirt).
I used 50% Vaseline and 50% graphite. Worked great as I used my boat in salt water. I use to carry a spare set of bearings when towing my boat. A failed wheel bearing can stop you just as easily as a flat tire.
