Oil Filled Trailer Hubs

[Daryl Ganske]

Anyone running oil filled trailer hubs with no problems? I bought a 2006 Nitro Z9 trailer that has super lube oil filled hubs and I am trying to decide if I will stay with oil or fill them with grease. I have read a lot of negative comments about oil filled. What do you think? Thanks!

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Keep your eye on them and change out if thy fail. For every failure story, there are 500 that work fine.

 

[Greg Gutierrez]

I have towed 2 Z-9 boat/trailers across the USA a couple of times and have had only one problem that was caused when one of my disc brakes hung up and over heated the bearing and cap and caused it to fall off on the highway. So as far as I'm concerned oil bath is a simple and dependable system.

I sold my 2007 Z-9 to a good friend back in 2008, and we just changed his bearings and seals this last weekend. (I have the NAPA numbers if you want them).

One of the most common complaints about the oil bath bearings is they get water in them and get milky. (First of all one drop of water in the bearing will turn the oil milky so they are still lubricating just fine). Tritan and Ranger both had so many complaints about bad seals they chainged from a clear cap to a black cap to stop the service complaints.

You know the old saying "an ounce of prevention, is better than a pound of cure" is true in the case of these hubs. Here is what I do, keep an eye on the inside of your wheels (if there is oil on them then there's a seal leak),on a regular basis "check your fluid level", once a year "check your bearings for adjustment as well as drain and change your fluid".

That will keep you rolling just fine!

Simple preventitive maintances

 

[Daryl Ganske]

Thanks TOXIC! I figure there some out there still runnIng ok. You only hear about the bad ones.

 

[Daryl Ganske]

Thanks For the info Greg! I would like the part numbers if you have them. What gear oil did you use?

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Well, well, welcome back Greg. How about an update, how are you doing?

 

[Ralph Hayden]

Years ago when I took the Coast Guard Auxiliary course on Boating Safety, the instructor taught that we should never put the trailer in the water with hot bearings. He said that when the bearings are submerged in water hot, a vacuum is created that sucks water into them. I don't know if this is true but I always took his advice and while I'd let the bearings cool down I'd repack them with my grease gun figuring that if they were full of grease, water couldn't get in.



Of course the main reason for waiting a while to put in was to open all the hatches, windows, doors and whatnot to let the fuel fumes dissipate before starting the engine. Since fuel fumes are heavier than air they settle in the lowest part of the boat. I had an I/O at the time, I've never had an outboard so I don't know if that's necessary with one.

He also recommended unplugging the trailer lights before putting in.

 

[Gene B]

I was thinking about you Greg this past week and wondering how things were going.



Gene

 

[Mini]

 

[Carlos Hathcock III]

PM and being mindful of leaks is the key.

 

[Daryl Ganske]

Thanks guys for all your thoughts! I am going to give the oil a try first and just watch out for leaks.