What are the pros and cons of installing bearing buddies on horse trailers ?

Bearing Buddies revolutionised the marine trailer industry, not so much so the horse trailers. Before their introduction, it was not uncommon to see boat trailers broken down along side the roadways, to and from the watery vacation spots. Burnt, broken spindles and bearings often left the trailers abandon, sitting askew on the remaining good wheels.

Their bearings took a beating, heating the hub on its journey to the waterways, whilst elevating the surrounding hub and bearing spaces to a high temperature. At its destination, the whole warm lot was then quenched into the water. This contracted the air within the hubs, and caused water to be literally sucked into the void and bearings' surfaces. The water's collodial suspension, containing the launching areas' sediment, coated the bearings' surfaces with a contaminent not unlike a sand blasting material. Since the pertoleum based grease was further diluted by the water, the bearings' life span was now measured in short miles and not years.

A horse trailer typically doesn't involve this severe service, as the hubs are not usually immersed. They do however suffer a common problem with the marine industry, associated with seasonal storage. Grease is an oil product, thickened to allow it to stay into place for proper lubrication. When a trailer is set aside for a few months and not moved, the grease will slough off the top of the bearings and races, exposing the metals to the moist outside air. During a day's cycle, the temperature inside the hub with change. This causes the outside air to be constantly drawn into and expelled from the hubs' spaces. Over time this moisture will cause the exposed metals to rust.

When the trailer is first moved after storage, this surface rust is gound up and distributed into the grease surrounding the bearings. In a worse case scenario, the metals have rusted together, and the trailer's first movement may have broken some of the bearings' parts. A trailer constantly used year round, will not have this problem.

Synthetic grease is a wonderful product. It offers much more lubrication, for a longer time, under extreme conditions, than the petrolem based fluids it replaces. Installing this product greatly enhances the life span of any bearing it protects.

Bearing Buddies seal the bearing hub area, and provide a constantly pressurised grease to the bearings. This eliminates most of the interior air void spaces, and always provides a constant lubricant to the bearings. The bearings and grease are never contaminated after they are serviced, and the life spans are measured by many years with no annual repacking being necessary.

The problem with Bearing Buddies being used on horse trailers, involves those that require annual inspections. The BBs are by their very nature, difficult to remove and replace, which is necessary, when the retaining hardware has to be accessed to pull the hubs. More damage is typically done to bearings, because of improper repacking procedures, than a lack of bearing lubrication.

Many weekend warriors do not pull their trailers more than a few thousand miles a year. A well packed bearing with synthetic grease, typically can run 20 -30K+  without any attention. Annual inspections and manufacturers typically want them and the brakes, inspected every year, regardless of usage. Brakes and bearings don't wear out on an annual basis, unless you haul commercially.

Because of this requirement, the BBs become a liability, obstructing easy access to the hubs' removal process. For that only reason, I would not recommend them for horse trailer usage, that requires annual inspections. Having stated that, I will also say that everyone of my trailers is equipped with BBs, including those for my boats, horses and utility trailers. My annual maintenance consists of no more than a squirt or two of grease into the hubs of each wheel. The BBs have a visual inspection, indicating any need for further lubrication, and have eliminated any bearing failures since their installations.

Your usage and inspection requirements, will dictate if the Bearing Buddies are apropos for your needs. They work very well and have saved many problems, since being introduced into the market place. No I don't work for the manufacturer, but I used to sell them and have installed many sets onto the trailers of satisified customers..

I had a trailer mechanic complain about Bearing Buddies overpressurizing and putting grease into the brake area.  Any truth to this.  It seemed plausible to me.

Like anything else, if the hubs aren't properly serviced, bad things will happen. The hubs serve as a resevoir for the grease. They include a spring loaded piston, that provides the positive pressure within the hubs' area. If too much grease is installed, excessive pressure will cause the grease seal to leak, and you can end up with grease within the wheel/brake areas, ruining the brake shoes..

Properly serviced to less than a maximum piston travel, they usually opperate flawlessly. This is not a case where if a little lube is good, more should be better.

When a bearing is engulfed in clean grease and protected from moisture, it can remain stationary for a substantial amount of time with no rust issues. Over years of loading with no movement, it may or may not suffer mechanical deformities. For seasonal usage, the BBs will eliminate any storage issues concerning rust.