Hello/Thanks/Help

[KevinWA]

Hello All

First off I would like to thank everyone for all the tips and ideas about these cool little trailers.

Last month we picked up a 1978 Trillium 4500. After lots of scrubing a cleaning we went out camping for a week. Before we left we installed a new set of tires and wheels for peace of mind. I also installed some bearing buddys....after the 4 hour drive I noticed the hubs to be "warm to the touch", normal I guess?

Everything seemed OK, till I checked the fuse on the power converter....it was wraped in tin foil.....so we did not leave it un attended till it was replaced. Since the fuse has been replaced and did not blow......not sure what to think, but I was more than a little alarmed to see the tin foil....I guess I should have checked it first.

Our door has a bit of sag, but seals good. Are there and quick fixes for the door?

We are thinking about painting the trailer the original color because the gel coat has seen better days and is getting thin in a few spots. I fear buffing it will burn thru what is left......does anyone know what a paint code will match best to the inside color (beige/tan?) Does anyone have pics of a home painted roler and brush jobbie to give us some inspiration?

We are towing the trailer with a 2004 Jeep TJ (wrangler), while not the best tow rig it seems to do OK....is anyone else on here towing with a jeep?

I am still looking for the T molding for the inside...and if I find anything I will let you all know.

Long winded...sorry and thanks for any tips and help.

Just counting the days till we can get back out there.

Kevin

[KevinWA]

Hey All....also looking for mounting location/ideas for installing a car stereo and speakers. Thanks

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by KevinWA

Before we left we installed a new set of tires and wheels for peace of mind. I also installed some bearing buddys....after the 4 hour drive I noticed the hubs to be "warm to the touch", normal I guess?

Kevin

Hey Kevin... did you just add the Bearing Buddys and greased the zerk, or did you grease the bearings first? Remember, Bearing Buddys are not intended for trailer trailers, but for boat trailers. They're designed to keep water and dirt out of the hub and bearings. Unless you've turned your trailer in to a watercraft, you may want to rethink the bearing buddys.

[Mark Shaffer]

Alot of new travel trailers come stock with bearing buddy type systems. Bearing Buddys web site states that they are for RV's and any type of trailer.

Copied and pasted below from their web site.

WHY TRAILERS NEED BEARING PROTECTION

Utility Equipment, ATV, Horse, Camping, and other occasional use trailers
These trailers, because they are not used regularly, are also subject to bearing corrosion and failure from condensation moisture from air sucked into hot hubs as they cool. Moisture stays in the hubs causing rust and pitting until they are reheated when the trailer is used again.
BEARING BUDDY® VS. OIL BATH
Some trailer manufacturers are offering an oil bath system as an alternative to a standard bearing protector, such as Bearing Buddy®. They claim that since long haul trucks use this system it must be a superior system to a grease packed hub. What they fail to recognize is that America's highways are the perfect environment and application, as the constant miles and tire rotation keeps the bearings well lubricated. Boat trailers, however, operate in a completely different environment. The hubs on a trailer can heat up during long trips and when they are dipped into cool lake water, the sudden temperature change creates a vacuum inside the hub. This vacuum will draw any condensation, moisture, or impurities directly into the bearings, which can cause premature bearing failure.
Standard bearing protectors, such as Bearing Buddy®, make it easy to visually check the amount of grease inside grease packed hubs. The internal spring piston exerts about 3 p.s.i. against the grease to ensure that no water enters the hub when the hub is submerged during loading and unloading. When properly maintained, there are no voids inside the hub where condensation can form during winter storage.

[KevinWA]

Thanks for the heads up. I use the bearing buddys on my utility/atv hauler and have had no bad luck with them yet..(fingers crossed). I heard that it was a bad idea to use the buddies if you had elec brakes( if your seal was to let go it would lube the brakes!).

But I did do the lazy and install the bearing buddys with out re-packing the bearings...maybe I pushed some junk in the bearings? I will haul them apart for a good going over before the next trip.

I hope I do not cause a fire storm here......but why would the buddys be bad ?


Thanks again,

Kevin

[Lee Senn]

Kevin Eric can, and I hope will, give a better explanation but here is what I understood from his workshop at Bandon. Bearing buddies simply fill the cap space with grease they do not force the grease into the bearings as packing will. The result is the bearings are surrounded by grease but the grease may not reach the surfaces that need the lubrication. Lee

[ThomasE]

My Burro has bearing buddy installed, was there when I bought it and assuming it was factory installed. I've read the same thing, if you pump grease in there like mad it can blow the seal and force grease into the drum. But as long as you lube appropriately there should be no problem. I always check my brakes too by manually applying them to see if they can slow down the trailer and truck on every trip. Warm hubs are fine, if you can't hold your hands on them for a while then that's too hot.