dust caps or bearing buddys?

[QUOTE=peter;518814]Another confession:

For a long time I pumped them full. Gotta do a good job filing them right. Slung grease all over the inside side of the wheel for years. Never had a problem though. I do it per the instructions now.

Tip: When you are messing with your bearings, take a quick look at the weld that joins the spindle to the axel. Especially if it is an older trailer. They can crack and break. Maybe not that common but it happened to me. Fortunately it gave way when I was pushing the boat around on the driveway. So I get home and when rolling the boat by hand it breaks. I felt lucky![/QUOTE]

axel

can you not just purchase the cool run hubs like rangers have on them from a manufacturer to fit any trailer? My ranger has them on its trailer and i Have only had one problem with a bearing going bad in 5 years. They recommended that we change the hubs every 3 years or so. Tehre is a dust cap on the front adn u put 90 weight gear oil in it. They are easy to change all u do is take the castle nut off the back heat it and they come out. I think its around 100 bucks for one of them and thats everything u just bolt it up it even has the brake rotor on it. I got 2 when i when the bearing went bad and replaced both sides then kept the one that i had replaced that was still good but i figured if i lost one the other one had the same miles on it so why take a chance. Kinda like replacing headlights. I keep the old one in a the tool box of the truck at all times with the tools to change it with cause we just left for guntersville from richmond and it we lost the bearing in williamsburg but luckily i have family in the burg and was able to limp there and go up to london to pittsburg and get the stuff we needed to change the bearing....

Thanks for that information Peter. I use a hand grease gun and put just enough grease in the bearing buddies to see the spring come all the way out and a little bit of grease leak out of the front from behind the spring. Then I wipe off that grease with a clean paper towel or two. Maybe I'm putting in too much grease? Perhaps that's why one of my inner seals leaks some grease.