It actually presses the grease in from the spring loaded cap. The spring loaded cap is not water tight since it would create an airlock and the spring-loaded cap would only press air and not the grease.
I've had over 37 years of easily a 1000 miles per year in nothing but salt water ( my 15' aluminum Northport/Mirrocraft crab machine) I've NEVER touched a trailer bearing outside of keeping that spring cap at 1/2 way to 75% full. And YES the inboard bearing seals will explode if you overpack it via the spring-loaded cap zerk,
Nor have I EVER EVER HEARD OF A SINGLE BEARING BUDDY FAILURE in all the decades and decades that they've existed.
It could be smaller trailers fair much better with bearing buddies? Or it just could be distrust of tech (aka lazy) versus old school DIY.
They do speak for themselves though after all these years. That is undeniable.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Walleyed
Do remember that a "Bearing Buddy" only provides a bit of a water seal to the axle/bearings. It doesn't actually lube the bearings, especially the inside bearing. You still need to do a yearly cleaning and re-lubing of the bearings.
However, if you have ez-lube type of axle or hub, they do replace the old grease in the bearings. Knowing this, I extend my bearing jobs to every 2 years, depending on use.
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