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Dorsey Bearing Buddies Removing the Cap


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K, this sounds like a very stupid question, but I was going to add some grease to my Bearing Buddies last night and could not figure out how to get the caps off. There is a mettle spring loaded ring around the outside then a plastic cap on the inside. Does anyone have experience with these?

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If it is a normal bearing buddy all you need is a small flat head screwdriver to pop off the metal cap. That should expose the zerk fitting. I got my hubs serviced this year and was told to add grease only one or two times a year depending on how far you trailer. Remember to use the marine grease as well.

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If it is a normal bearing buddy all you need is a small flat head screwdriver to pop off the metal cap. That should expose the zerk fitting. I got my hubs serviced this year and was told to add grease only one or two times a year depending on how far you trailer. Remember to use the marine grease as well.

I actually tried that but started to bend the metal ring. The cap itself is plastic and there is a very thin metal ring arround the oustide of the cap. Apparently to hold the cap on. Could you please verify that I should indeed 1st remove that metal ring so I can then remove the plastic cap?

Thanks.

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Actually after looking at the bearing buddy website, I kinda dont' think they are bearing buddies. My last boat had EZ Hubs with plastic covers so maybe I need to call my dealer to find out what brand these are. You would think I would have gotten documentation on them :) .

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The protector is held in the hub by an interface fit. To remove one, lay a block of wood over the front of the protector and strike the wood with a hammer. Place the wood on the opposite side and hit it again. Continue this procedure until you "walk" the protector out of the hub. Don't disassemble the protector to attempt to remove it.

To install a protector, line it up with the hub, lay a block of wood over the front of the protector and strike the wood with a hammer. The protector is designed to fit tightly into the hub; therefore, it must be carefully aligned with the hub before hammering.

I can fax you the manual if you pm me your #. Mine's a Dorsey, with bearing buddies, from the same dealer I suspect.

Edited by tgaugh
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Ouch, My eyes! The glare from those shiny rims is blinding!

It looks like they're bearing buddies but, if they are, the caps come off super easy.

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Those look a lot like my oil bath hubs. Take a look at the cast part of the hub, close to the hub face and in-line with the lugs. On the side of the hub you should see an alen head bolt. If you have this, they are oil bath hubs.

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I spoke with my dealer and after some back and forth (they assumed they were normal bearing buddies) they determined that they are indeed no-maintenance oil bath hubs. How cool is that, "no maintance". While I don't belive they are "no" maintance, they should at least be very low maintenace.

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Those look a lot like my oil bath hubs. Take a look at the cast part of the hub, close to the hub face and in-line with the lugs. On the side of the hub you should see an alen head bolt. If you have this, they are oil bath hubs.

Do you have to do any maintance on yours? I pulled the trailer about 300 miles this weekend the hubs where nice and cool. In your opinion, are these better or worse or just different than normal grease hubs?

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Those look a lot like my oil bath hubs. Take a look at the cast part of the hub, close to the hub face and in-line with the lugs. On the side of the hub you should see an alen head bolt. If you have this, they are oil bath hubs.

Do you have to do any maintance on yours? I pulled the trailer about 300 miles this weekend the hubs where nice and cool. In your opinion, are these better or worse or just different than normal grease hubs?

I have the oil bath hubs on my 05 Boatmate trailer. I really like them so far. They are zero mtc except for checking the oil level routinely and changing the oil at set intervals. The only drawback I could see is if somehow you lost all the oil out of one, the bearings would not last long. With grease, even if most of the grease was slung out, there would probably be enough to protect the bearing to get you home or to the nearest gas station.

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Those look a lot like my oil bath hubs. Take a look at the cast part of the hub, close to the hub face and in-line with the lugs. On the side of the hub you should see an alen head bolt. If you have this, they are oil bath hubs.

Do you have to do any maintance on yours? I pulled the trailer about 300 miles this weekend the hubs where nice and cool. In your opinion, are these better or worse or just different than normal grease hubs?

I have the oil bath hubs on my 05 Boatmate trailer. I really like them so far. They are zero mtc except for checking the oil level routinely and changing the oil at set intervals. The only drawback I could see is if somehow you lost all the oil out of one, the bearings would not last long. With grease, even if most of the grease was slung out, there would probably be enough to protect the bearing to get you home or to the nearest gas station.

Is the proces of changing oil very involved? At what intervals do you change yours?

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I haven't changed the oil in my hubs yet since I don't have that far to trailer to the lake. If I remember correctly, the procedure is fairly easy. It's just a matter of draining and refilling the reservoir.

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I spoke with my dealer and after some back and forth (they assumed they were normal bearing buddies) they determined that they are indeed no-maintenance oil bath hubs. How cool is that, "no maintance". While I don't belive they are "no" maintance, they should at least be very low maintenace.

I'll look at my manual for the trailer tonight. I can't remember the exact interval. I don't use my trailer often so I haven't changed the oil since delivery of the boat in July of '04. I plan on doing it at the end of the season just to see how the oil has held up and to see if there has been any water penetration. I do however, check to make sure the hubs have oil before using the trailer.

I'm betting you can get a hose with a threaded nipple to insert in the hub where the alen head screw is. This would make emptying and filling the hubs a breeze. You'd just need to rotate the hub where the screw is at the top (12 o'clock), remove it, insert the nipple & hose, rotate the hub to where the hole is at 6 o'clock until the fluid is drained, then rotate it back to the 12 o'clock position for filling.

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I do however, check to make sure the hubs have oil before using the trailer.

How do you check if the hubs have oil? I either can't see through the plastic or they are so full that I can't see a distinctive line of oil.

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How do you check if the hubs have oil? I either can't see through the plastic or they are so full that I can't see a distinctive line of oil.

It's blind faith.... ;)

If the oil gets low, the plastic reservoir window will look hazy and lighter colored where the oil is not touching it. It should otherwise look dark brown, kinda like tinted plexiglass if you've ever seen that.

Edited by sliver
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I do however, check to make sure the hubs have oil before using the trailer.

How do you check if the hubs have oil? I either can't see through the plastic or they are so full that I can't see a distinctive line of oil.

Are you sure you have oil bath hubs? Do you know exactly what they are?

From looking at the picture linked to above, it looks to me like you have regular bearing buddies or another brands equivalent, not oil bath hubs. Then you're talking grease, not oil.

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I do however, check to make sure the hubs have oil before using the trailer.

How do you check if the hubs have oil? I either can't see through the plastic or they are so full that I can't see a distinctive line of oil.

Are you sure you have oil bath hubs? Do you know exactly what they are?

From looking at the picture linked to above, it looks to me like you have regular bearing buddies or another brands equivalent, not oil bath hubs. Then you're talking grease, not oil.

Yes, I have verified that they are indeed oil bath hubs. The dealer verified this for me and last night I did find the Allen screw in the hub. I have an email into Dorsey Trailers to find out the make and model of them so I can find better maintenance advice than what was offered by my dealer, "They are maintenance free". I have a hard time believing anything that deals with bearings is "maintenance free". Thanks for checking.

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I have an email into Dorsey Trailers to find out the make and model of them so I can find better maintenance advice than what was offered by my dealer, "They are maintenance free". I have a hard time believing anything that deals with bearings is "maintenance free". Thanks for checking.

I used to manage a bike shop while I put myself through college and have worked on bikes for the majority of my life. After seeing the punishment bearings can take in a human powered vehicle such as a bicycle, even sealed bearings, there's no way I'll ever trust that bearings are maintenance free....especially not in a 2+ ton motorized vehicle or a trailer with a nearly 2 ton load.

Edited by sliver
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To change the oil you need to remove the wheel/tire. There is a hex head set screw on the hub that you remove to drain and fill the oil. The hubs on the Extreme trailers require 50W motor oil. Very simple to do. If the resivor window is dark the oil is full. When the level goes low it is easy to see.

I have a bit of experience (that I wish I didn't have) with changing the oil for oil bath hubs.

Coming back from a trip I lost a seal on one of my hubs. Noticed just before getting home so not sure how far I drove that way. The seal on the other side, brake axle, was starting to seep a bit. The 50W makes a mess when it spews out!

Cause of the failure was the brakes were not releasing all the way and causing extreme heat. One trip to towing to Shasta, another to Lake Billy plus a bunch of local short trips and the brake rotors were shot.

Entire brake system, actuator, pads, rotors, calipers were replaced under warranty. Seals were replaced on both sides and bearings on side that lost seal.

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To change the oil you need to remove the wheel/tire. There is a hex head set screw on the hub that you remove to drain and fill the oil.

There should be no need to remove the wheel if you have a hose with the proper threaded nipple. There are also hoses with plastic nipples that compress to fit a range of hole diameters.

Otherwise, if you plan to simply let it drain straight out of the hub, then yes, you'll need to remove the wheel.

It's probably not a bad idea to tow the trailer briefly before draining the oil to make sure any contaminants are floating/suspended in the oil instead of settled out.

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To change the oil you need to remove the wheel/tire. There is a hex head set screw on the hub that you remove to drain and fill the oil.

There should be no need to remove the wheel if you have a hose with the proper threaded nipple. There are also hoses with plastic nipples that compress to fit a range of hole diameters.

Otherwise, if you plan to simply let it drain straight out of the hub, then yes, you'll need to remove the wheel.

It's probably not a bad idea to tow the trailer briefly before draining the oil to make sure any contaminants are floating/suspended in the oil instead of settled out.

I looked over the wheel/hub setup last night and on an Extreme trailer with UFP brand oil bath hubs (same manufacturer as the actuator) there is no way to access the fill/drain hole without removing the wheel.

It might be possible to access the drain/fill hole if the wheel center cover that goes over the hub is not installed but I can't be sure as mine are installed.

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I looked over the wheel/hub setup last night and on an Extreme trailer with UFP brand oil bath hubs (same manufacturer as the actuator) there is no way to access the fill/drain hole without removing the wheel.

It might be possible to access the drain/fill hole if the wheel center cover that goes over the hub is not installed but I can't be sure as mine are installed.

Since he has chromed steel wheels, the hub flange shouldn't be thick enough to prevent access to the drain/fill plug. Aluminum wheels on the other hand....I can see how they'd cause a problem and require removal. That's a good point hukk!

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