New boat trailer bearing options

[SeacretSailor]

We are getting a our new boat in April and it is spec’ed with an ext1900 extreme roller trailer with al-ko axles. We trailer the boat a lot with plenty of salt water dunks and I have concerns over the ‘sealed’ wheel bearings longevity.

We currently have an American trailer with larger taper roller bearings with bearing buddies that work great and are simple maintenance. This trailer will be sold with our current boat so it is not an option to keep it, plus we want to ‘upgrade’ to a roller trailer for ease of launch.

So my questions
- what are my options for best bearing life. I don’t have access to machine presses just basic tools and the boat is stored 20 mins away.
- How long can I expect the sealed bearings to last, if flushed?
- Can I upgrade them?
- Is there a better trailer option than the extreme trailers for bearing life (boat is under 1500kg)?

 

[simonfraser]

Rinsing and greasing are essential for a longer life
alko axles have pressed in bearings and buddies are not available
I have just made one, don’t know how successful they are going to be
i have started to put red strawberry grease in mine initially with a grease needle
next lot that goes in will have the existing grease removed and red put in from the start

without rinsing and buddies or injecting grease i get one years use out of them

don’t think the red grease is suitable for road use

 

[ontheplane]

Can you get away with not putting the wheels in the drink any further than 1/3 - ie not getting the bearings wet? If not, it’s replace every year even with flashing I’m afraid. Bearing buddies are ok, but still don’t give much more than 2 years