Why Would Bearing Buddy of Trailer Hub Fall Out

Question:

Hi. My boat shop replaced my four bearing buddies on my 94 zeiman trailer. I drove the 20 miles home and found that one of the BB had fallen out. The shop gave me another one and it came out. I installed one of the old ones and it also came off. I jacked the trailer up and the wheel spins smooth. There is detectable play when I rock the tire in a couple spots, but probably just a millimeter or 2. At closer inspection, when I set the BB into the hub by hand, at least 50 of it disappears before a mallet is needed to tap it in. Also, the problem wheel is a braking wheel. Is it possible that when the mechanic removed the old one, the hub lost enough metal so that the BB no longer grab properly, and the vibration from braking or something else is rattling it loose?

asked by: Eric M

Expert Reply:

It's definitely possible that something happened to the center bore of your hub where the Bearing Buddy/dust cover usually fits and that is why it keeps falling out like you described. Easiest way to determine that would be to take a digital caliper like the part # PTW80157 and measure the bore and then compare it to the other hubs to see if there's a difference. It sounds like yours happens to be bigger somehow.

You might need a new hub which to help with that I would need to know the capacity of your axle as well as the bolt pattern of the wheels.

expert reply by: Jameson C