Enclosed bearing cages.

[tbone9]

Well it was time for new bearings and with wider tires thought I'd go to an 18 bearing set up. I made my own enclosed cages and filled the center with grease. The outer bearing is still exposed to the elements but the inner one is completely sealed. I liked the idea of having the through bolts sealed in grease as well. Less chance for leakage. I seal welded a flange on each side of the cage (pipe) to eliminate leaks there too, and siliconed the flanges together. Also put a purge plug on the bottom of the housing to relieve pressure that may build up during use or while greasing.

[tonyk72]

Great idea! Thanks for sharing!

[CBass]

I like this alot, I think this will be my next move on my Max II.

[tbone9]

Thanks for the kind words. The maiden voyage went well. My plan is to purge the bearing housing once a year before winter. When greasing it purges both bearings from the inside out as well. I'm gonna run with the purge plugs in for a while yet then go to regular pipe plugs. Less chance of leakage or breaking the purge plug.

[tbone9]

Here is just an update. So far the enclosed bearing cages are working great and keeping the tub water tight. I just did his mod to another machine however this time I did not weld the flanges to the pipe. I figure it was over kill since the grease seals it all anyway. But mostly because I got lazy. The other benefit to this mod was 4 out of 6 axels were slightly wore at the bearing seat. So between the set screws and the outer bearing in a new local it solidified thing again. Axels ain't cheap and I think the machinists at work would get mad if I gave them 4 axels to spray. One here and there they're fine with. Don't wanna wear out my welcome. Without welding this can be an easy mod for someone. Hope others can benefit from this as I have from so many on here.

[akcrawler]

Good idea. I have the factory cages and they are okay, but they collect a lot of junk. I like the clean exterior on yours. Did you paint or powder coat them before you put them on? How do you add grease to the bearing against the tub? Is it just open to the grease in the cage?

I wonder if a guy could modify the factory cages to close them up and seal weld the whole assemby? I am going to take a look and see if I can get everything to work that way.

Thank you for sharing.

[tbone9]

They are stainless steel tube. No paint required. The inner bearing is lubed for life because no water or dirt can even get at it. However when I grease the tube grease actually lubes both bearings from the inside out. I dont think it'd be too hard to enclose the factory ones once you've got them off.

[tbone9]

Water tight bearings

Thought I’d share a way to enclose factory bearing cages. They’re completely filled with grease.

[john swenson]

beautiful job t bone ! so that whole pipe enclosure is filled with grease ? i see it will also add some good strength to axles . johnboy va.

[tbone9]

Thanks. Yes they are packed with grease. I Fish out of one of my IV s all summer and never bilged once.

[john swenson]

so how does the grease get into the sealed bearing ? if that whole tube is water tight .. could the rubber seal on the bearing be removed so the inner bearing is always bathed in grease ? maybe that would'nt add any life to the bearing . j.b.

[tbone9]

Yes you could remove the inner seal. In fact we do that on some equipment at work. I didn’t remove it on this set up because the grease gets forced past it anyway. It hasn’t popped the other seal out iether.

[garretttpe]

can you tell us the OD, ID, and wall thickness of the pip you used?
thanks

[tbone9]

4” schedule 10 stainless. Kind of an odd size but fit perfect. If you can’t find any I have extra.

[Gene Boyd]

I have been thinking about doing this, thanks great idea.