saw this today on my trailer--kind of stumped

[sailor55330]

So, I was walking around the trailer today and noticed this on the right front wheel. Discoloration due to some sort of grease/oil residue on the center cap. It comes off as you can see by the finger smudge. None of the other 3 wheels have this on it (picture of the right rear for comparison). I pulled the rubber cap over the zerc and all looks normal--full of thick grease). I compared it to the other three as well. I'm not sure if this is something picked up on the road or what. Very strange that it's so localized. I'm not sure what grease was used by Eagle, but it is red, so it's definitely not coming from the zerc. I crawled under the boat and the backside seals all look fine (but now I need to clean the underside of some road tar--damn it!). Also, when I tow, it's for about 100 miles at a time and there have been no issues with heat in the hubs that can be detected with touch. ( know the rim is filthy, but the sprinkler system hits it daily---Hotsauce fixes that quickly )

I'm not sure what this is and I may be overly cautious, but it's strange. Any thoughts?

Thanks!

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[Tuscany]

If it’s not a seal...

It could be several things.
The usual reason for that?
It’s very easy to think that bearing buddies should be loaded and under full pressure. Too much grease makes heat, which thins the grease when running and allows it to pass thru the bearing buddy seal because of the pressure. Just a couple squirts per season, and not a full load.

[cmattj]

Doesn’t look terrible ( if it’s never been wiped down before.

Check for loose bearing as it may be slightly loose and building heat. If not and it rolls smooth then possibly what we would call seapage as the grease does break down with heat ,and your seeing road grime collect on the oily residue.

Keep an eye and as when I would tow ... keep a heat gun to see temps. 100 miles is a long tow.

Trailer fairly new so probably nothing to worry about .

[Tuscany]

The one thing that is odd about this, is that it seems to be leaking grease outside of the bearing buddy. It has to be coming from where the buddy is pressed in, or the buddy cracked. Both are unlikely IMO. Very possible the assembler just used the cone to get the excess off of his finger when assembling.
Anyway, if you are paranoid, I would start by pulling the wheel, and cleaning up the grease on the hub and inside of the chrome cone. Check the buddy for cracks. If it reappears, I would pull the complete hub, clean and repack, reseal, new buddy and reassemble.

Nothing is worse than a bearing problem on a boating trip...well, maybe ⛈🌪 on top of it.

[sailor55330]

Thanks for the responses. This is definitely something new as I usually keep the boat and trailer pretty clean, especially if I'm going to take it somehwere that others will see it (yeaah, I know....but we all do it) plus keeping mechanical things clean makes it easy to spot the unusual. This has not been on the center cap before. The trailer is very new, only getting it last year and literally it has less than 1000 miles on it. There is enough grease on and around the zerk under the dustcap that I could see no need to add more--if anything, it's too full maybe? I agree that it could be seepage from heat that has broken down some of the grease and then attracted contaminants.

It'll have to wait about a week before I can really dig into it.

Thanks again

[JTinMO]

Being so new I doubt there is an issue. Pulling the wheel off to check bearings is not hard. I would do it just to be sure. If it were me I would probably get them off and make a run to NAPA and put new bearings/seals in while it was apart. $25 and an hour or two of your time and you are set.

[Silverbullet555]

My guess is just some seepage. Those aren't bearing buddies. They have a drilled axle and a zerk in the middle. I have similar and run a second cap over the black rubber plug. I check them in occasion, but other than that don't worry too much.

[vans]

My guess is just some seepage. Those aren't bearing buddies. They have a drilled axle and a zerk in the middle. I have similar and run a second cap over the black rubber plug. I check them in occasion, but other than that don't worry too much.

X2
I have same, don’t overfill!

[Big Block Power]

I would sell it to Bbp

[sailor55330]

One of these days BBP, I'm going to show up at your house with a bill of sale and watch you freak out.

[Big Block Power]

One of these days BBP, I'm going to show up at your house with a bill of sale and watch you freak out.

Money's always in my freezer. Lol

[BIGGUSBLOCKUS]

Those look like Dexter EZ Lube hubs to me. Way better than Bearing Buddies. I would also say some seepage and then some water added to the seepage is responsible for what you are seeing. Nothing to be concerned about.