Tony,
You are correct to a point. The outboard bearing is well greased by the
spring assisted piston. However, you must completely fill the hub (with
no air pockets) in order to get grease to the back (inboard) bearing.
The bearing that fails most often is the outboard bearing. Your buddy
bearing greaser address that bearing. The inboard bearing however seems
to not fail nearly as often. Remember to have a seal that is compatible
with buddy bearings, if you choose to go that way. You can tell if it is
correct by looking at the rubber lip. It will be pointing toward the
center of the trailer to let grease out as the buddy bearing cap pushes
new grease into the outboard bearing. You can tell if it is working by
sticking your finger in the back where the seal touches the axle, new
grease should be present if it is doing its job. By the way you can turn
the original seal around and get the same effect. (Providing it is not a
double lip style). The minimum spare is one greased outboard cone in a
zip lock bag.
Yes, I have considered a dual axle trailer. The thought of a blow out
while zipping along at 60 + mph gets very scarrrrrry.
The wheel bearing is a standard bearing that should be available at any
good bearing shop. Based upon your landing style (rough or smooth, grass
or pavement) I would replace them every hundred or so landings. (you are
logging the number of touch downs aren't you?) If you are a smooth
greaser then say 200 landings before replacement. If you are replacing
the tire, that would be the best time to do the bearings if you are not
counting landings. It is a good indicator of the wear and abuse (oops
usage) the wheel assy. has seen. The tail wheel is a cheep bearing and
should cost Americans no more than $2.00 each retail. I'll bring some to
Sun-N-Fun if anyone wants some for $1.00 each. They are what is referred
to as a un ground bearing and they are normally used in wheel barrows, go
carts ect. for slow speed applications (are we slow ???) Again, replace
them at the annual inspection. Having the tail wheel go semi-unsteerable
or wobbly on landing can effect direction control and as any tail dragger
pilot knows, you must have good control or the ends swap on you leading
to much red faced chatting at the end of the day.
Jim
writes:
> Ferg,
> Hand packing is good I have no doubt. Its the traditional way but I
> have to
> say that I don't agree with you when it comes to the Bearing
> Buddies. I
> have a 950kg 1/2 cabin speed boat on a single axle trailer that I
> drag up
> and down the coast on expressways between 50-60 mph. I have always
> been
> anxious about losing control if I lose a wheel, and to that end I
> have been
> using bearing buddies with more confidence for the last few years.
> The
> spring tension to keep the bearing competely packed is arguable i.e.
> whether the buddies truly have enough pressure there but I have
> never had a
> problem and I regularly have to totally submerge the wheels to put
> the boat
> in and out. I think a combination of both ideas would definitely end
> up
> with the best solution but the Bearing Buddies are cheap insurance
> for any
> single axle trailering. The true answer is to have dual axle
> trailer, but
> if you were going to do that you might as well modify your Europa
> and turn
> it into a twin. Any takers! :-)
> Reg
> Tony Renshaw
>
> >Bravo, James Nelson!!
> > Bearing buddies are OK for the teeny trailer with the 8foot
> Sabot and
> >the tiddly oars. Having had the failure to the inner cone as
> described
> >by "europajim", I can serve as confirmation to his words.
> > When we are readying the WW II aircraft annually, the
> bearings come off
> >and are 'palmed' on both sides until sated with grease.
> > What one does is to take a tablespoon or more of the icky
> stuff onto
> >the palm of the stupid hand, grasp the bearing at the periphery
> with the
> >smart hand, and slap the bearing into the grease - rotating the
> bearing
> >with each slap until the 360degs is done. Then, turn over the
> bearing
> >and repeat for the side - replenishing the icky as required. Like
> >banging your head against the wall, after a while it becomes fun.
> >Familiarity will quickly tell you when the bearing is packed, as
> excess
> >icky comes out the top.
> > By the way, don't forget the aircraft wheels when you do
> the trailer
> >annually!
> > Yours for icky,
> >Ferg #A064
> >
> >The Europa List is supported by Aviators Network UK -
> info@avnet.co.uk
> >
> >
> Reg
> Tony Renshaw
> Builder No.236
> The Europa List is supported by Aviators Network UK -
> info@avnet.co.uk
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