oil trailer hubs
 

Anyone have any experience with the trailer hubs that hold oil, not the grease fitting type. I noticed a spray pattern of oil on my rim last time I trailered the boat. I drained whatever oil was left and pulled the hub off, it's leaking somehow I'm just not sure how the cap seals. Thanks for the help.

Most trailer supply places have the parts to repair oilbath hubs. They have a seal on the back side of the spindle and o-ring seals upfront. Do a google search in your area. Worst case scenerio , take it apart and carry it in.

If you have an older boatmate trailer w/reliable brand axles. You will most likely need to order the seals from boatmate directly,,, the inner race has a seal as well as the cap has an o-ring behind the threads... Seal kit Is cheap, if it's leaking I would recomend changing them all... Just in case. I lost a wheel this summer due to that...

John -

Posted in the Moomba Forums for you as well. You need to replace the seals for sure, something caused them to fail. You should change your bearings as well, especially if you do not know when for sure or how your seals failed. With having failed seals you probably sucked mositure into your hubs. Water damage to your bearings will feel more or less like an outer race damage. And even though there may not be noticeable vibration or actually bearing damage caused from the water damage yet, over a short period of time it wil develop. With the cost of the bearings and seals I would change both.

http://www.pacifictrailers.com/Trail...68149/L44649-/

That link is for if you have the Gold Series hubs on your boat, you will just need to figure out the ID's for the bearings and get the correct seals accordingly. You may also want to verify that they bearing numbers are correct as well, and they should be inprinted on the inner race of the cone bearings.

I'd like advice. I too was about to change the oil in my Trailer Buddy Gold series oil bath hubs.

http://www.ufpnet.com/Portals/0/trai...ygoldmaint.pdf

I'm changing all my tires. The chrome wheels have a coating of road grime covering them on the inside side (no doubt, I guess, because of leaked oil). And, I can't see through the sight glasses anymore ... they're just sort of an opaque bronze color.

Evidently, after you change the oil, you re-seal the bath by covering the thread of the Allen screw with (eg.) Permatex hi-temp gasket forming RTV and then torquing it to 7 ft-lbs. (?!?!) (Is finger tight like 20-25 fit-inches or 20-25 ft-lbs?)

Which is my best option?

1 - just change the oil,
2 - change the seals and bearings too,
3 - replace whole hub, or
4 - replace the hub with Bearing Buddy (ie., grease not oil).

If you google oil bath hubs and boat trailers you will find an article somewhere detailing why you should change these out to greased hubs. I can't seem to find the article and don't have time to look,

But from what I remember:
1. The big rigs all use these oil bath hubs, however the big rigs don't generally tow some distance and the dunk their axles in the water. Our trailer brakes generate a lot of heat and heats up the oil. When the oil gets hot and the quickly cools it generally takes out either the clear plastic center cap or the rear seal over time.

2. The big rigs are generally trailering in ideal conditions (i.e. the highway), while we take our boat trailers in places where the little plastic center cap can easily get banged up. Once you take out the little plastic cap and the oil begins to leak it only takes about 5-10 miles for your bearings to run dry, get hot, and burn up! You will not make it far without the oil. Conversely with a grease hub system you can bash the heck out of the hub, the bearing buddy, whatever and you still have grease in the system. You can run for hundreds of miles without even the rear seal or the bearing buddy on a grease system.

3. The big rig trailers generally have a good maintenance schedule and have trained mechanics working on them, while most boat trailers have back-yard shade-tree mechanics working on them, usually only when they fail! Parts are cheaper and more plentiful for the grease systems. Bubba's Auto Parts in Page, AZ will have all the parts you need, will Bubba's have the stinking plastic cover for the oil bath system that you need on a Sunday afternoon to get home??

Also, be cautious of China bearings... you get what you pay for! You can't go wrong with a Timken, KYK, F A G, RHP, or Kaydan, but if you see a set of bearings that aren't labeled or have different colored races, bearings, and cages all in the same bearing be advised not to use them. They have different kinds of metal in them and will expand at different temperatures and will end up locking up and failing. I just did my buddy's trailer and he had Chinese cheapos that locked up!

Get your stuff from Kodiak or from Bearing Buddy!

Thank you Sam (or Ryan, I'm not sure).

I messaged Sam specifically for his response.