FISHING
DAVID BROWN Have you checked
your wheel bearings lately?
Now that spring is officially here, there is no time like the present for you boaters and fishermen out there to either repack the grease in your trailer bearings, or replace them altogether There is nothing worse than being stuck on the side of the road with a seized or over heated bearing, preventing you from making it to the lake as planned. I know this from experience as it has happened to me – just once! Two years ago, while travelling to my
brother’s place in North Bay as a stopover on our annual fishing trip to Temagami, I blew a bearing on my boat trailer. And boy, did it go! When I stopped at his place, the bearing and hub were so hot they couldn’t be handled for at least an hour. There was grease everywhere on the inside of the tire rim and the inner bearing race was welded to the axle spindle and could only be removed with a grinder and coal chisel. For you non-mechanical types the race is what the bearing spins in as the wheel turns on the axle spindle.
While removing the race, the spindle was accidentally scored by the grinder. And, even though I was able to find a replacement 3500
14 BOUNDER MAGAZINE
lb. rated hub at a specialty shop in town, the fix was only temporary as afterward the hub always leaked grease between the seal and inner bearing because of the beating the axle undertook.
Prior to leaving home, I thought I was prepared for my journey north after squeezing some water-resistant bearing grease into my Dexter E-Z Lube axle. This type of axle sys- tem consists of an axle that has been specially drilled and assembled with grease fittings at either end. When grease is pumped into the fitting, it is channeled to the inner bearing, then to the outer bearing and eventually back out the grease cap hole resulting in a complete bearing repack. At least that is the theory when you have good operating parts and you don’t accidentally blow the rear hub seal. Apparently, some water got into
my system while launching my boat and unknown to me while travelling the heat allowed some older grease to mix with water, eventually destroying the lubricating capacity of the grease and the bearing exploded. This was likely the direct result of me not repacking the
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