Blue Goo (Grease) from bearing

[Morpheus]

Well tonight I was in the garage (where the boat is) and noticed blue goo on the rim of one of the tires. I checked the others and only the one has it. I stuck my finger in it and it was thick and when I washed it off I could tell it was grease so I'm going to assume it's bearing grease from the bearing buddy on that axle (tandem axle trailer) It's a 2006 purchased Oct of 06 I've not had the bearings serviced.

Why would it leak like that? It's been sitting in the garage (with the boat on it) for a few months.

Should I be concerned? Should I do anything? If I do do anything is it ok to tow the trailer/boat somewhere to be serviced? Should I do it myself?

 

[Fishnut]

I wouldn't advise you on this but I get the blue stuff coming out of all my hubs. For instance if you have buddy covers the "blue" syrup you see will collect in the cap. I keep pumping grease in until the buddy springs are tight together. My fishing boat eats the stuff but then again I put the trailer in and out of the water at least once or twice a week.

It would be interesting to know how many folks here repack their own bearings. In saltwater I have been told it should be done every 48 months.

 

[JimHamilton]

Sometimes grease squeezes out from the dust cap, or 'Buddy Thingy' and ends up on the rim. Nothing to worry about...next time you have the cap off, use some Permatex on the sealing surface when you put it back on.

 

[Fishnut]

Sometimes grease squeezes out from the dust cap, or 'Buddy Thingy' and ends up on the rim. Nothing to worry about...next time you have the cap off, use some Permatex on the sealing surface when you put it back on.

Don't you want the water/grease to come out? The saltwater is corrosive to the bearings so I would think you would want it to have a way to get out under the rotation and heat friction when traveling.

 

[Morpheus]

Sometimes grease squeezes out from the dust cap, or 'Buddy Thingy' and ends up on the rim. Nothing to worry about...next time you have the cap off, use some Permatex on the sealing surface when you put it back on.

Ok I understand it can come out, but the question I have is the boat has been sitting on the trailer since beginning of Nov and has not moved and yesterday is when I saw that it had leaked the blue grease. As I said before I've not had them services nor have I ever taken those dust caps off. (I'm a computer programmer not a mechanic so I'm clueless)

Was thinking should I maybe jack the boat up and put stands under it to getthe weight off the axels and wheels since it's been sitting? If so where would I jack it up (remember if you use a name of some area or part I probably won't know what your talking about).

 

[JimHamilton]

Fishnut - some subscribe to totally isolating the bearings from the environment. 'Bearing Buddies' do this as do the oil bath hubs. Others, including myself, rely on a hub full of grease to keep the water from getting to the bearings. The rubber plug in the picture of the dust cap above, can expand/contract to allow 'containment' of the grease, but if a little gets out, it's really no more than a cosmetic problem.

Morpheus - If you are using 'Bearing Buddies' then the pressure of the spring inside the cap can force grease out. If you have dust caps like mine, temperature/barometric changes might be the culprit. If you'd be more comfortable with the trailer wheels off the ground, then by all means indulge, but I doubt it will have any effect on your grease 'leak'. It's not a bad idea to jack the wheel off the ground a couple times a season and spin it, checking for a free spin...any grinding or hesitation is grounds for a bearing change, but not to be confused with 'normal' brake drag (a drum brake should be adjusted so the shoe just touches the drum -- a disc brake can also have a little drag, especially if the trailer has been sitting for a spell).

Where to jack?
Some will put the jack and jack stands only under the axle. I don't believe that's necessary. I like to jack from the frame behind the (rear) trailer wheel (use a piece of wood between the jack and frame, allowing enough room to get the jack stand in between the jack and wheel...if you let the trailer tongue jack down all the way before you do any jacking it'll be a little more stable, then after you've got the trailer up and blocked, carefully raise the tongue with the trailer jack.

 

[Morpheus]

Thanks for the tips and info, I was also thinking of jacking the trailer up also so I can put the outdrive all the way down right now it's about 90% down but any further and it would hit the floor.

Once on jacks is it stable enough to still board and do work on or is that not advisable. I have some projects I'd like to do.

Someone would making a killing if they had DIY videos of step by step on how do do maint on trailers and boats/engines.

 

[Fishnut]

Someone would making a killing if they had DIY videos of step by step on how do do maint on trailers and boats/engines.[/quote]

Something a little less intense than Ship Shape TV. I think a nice video would do.

Chapter One, change the oil
Chapter Two change filters
Chapter Three Change outdrive fluid
Chapter four boat cleaning
Chapter five where is that subpump?
Chapter six What do you mean there's water coming in my bilige
Chapter seven Where can I drill holes for my electronics
Chapter eight where do I put my gps antenna
Chapter nine Where do I glue my transducer
Chapter ten Why does it say if I don't use YB in the service manual I will void my warrant.
Chapter eleven To wax or not wax the non-skid, that is the question
Chapter twelve everything you need to know about trailers
Chapter thirteen. What jobs are not DIY.

There you go, everything you need to know and more video.

 

[2000SEARAY280SS]

Morpheus,

If you just want to raise the boat jack it up under the axel as close to the wheel as you can get and put it on a couple of 2X6's to get the drive down then you don't need to worry about the jack stands. As for the bearings I agree with Jim and his thoughts. Don't forget to raise the drive when you pull the boat off the 2x6's.

 

[Tail Chaser 661]

Greases have oils and soaps in them.
The soaps a thickener, and oils more liquid in grease Sometimes they separate a little. This is normal and does not hurt anything. I usually have a little sneak past my bearing buddys.
Synthetics seem to do this more.