Time to make a choice. Boat trailer, 98% saltwater, over 125 average dunkings each season. Always used grease hubs and have no complaints. Packing twice a year and normal maintenance. Oil bath hubs are and have been gaining popularity quickly. Are there advantages and disadvantages to either? Seems like oil would be a little less maintenance and you could see through the site window quicker if water has penetrated possibly avoiding problems. My biggest question, right now. If the trailer sits for say 2-3 months in the winter, will the top half of the bearings out of the oil start to corrode? I can see this as a potential serious issue. Or does the oil coat and stick without worry? Any other things to think about or look into about these? Your thoughts and opinions? Owl
Is less maintenance the only draw for the oil bathed (they're new to me)? If so, I'd stick with what you know and has been working for you.
I have no experience with oil bathed hub but if it ain't broke don't fix it. The way of the world lately; they don't care if it doesn't last as long, as long as it's easier. On a more real thought; what weight oil is used? I assume its comparable to a differential in a vehicle? If a vehicle sits for a prolonged period of time its not like the pinion bearings go bad. They only get lube when the ring gear throws it up that way.
Big trucks ( semis ) and such run oil bath front hubs and have forever. Not sure about the salt water dunking…. But if everything is sealed like it should be, I can’t see any reason for concern. Sounds like you tend to pay attention to maintenance so you should be fine either way
Was thinking about this a little today. I can't imagine one style vs the other having better water penatrability. Probably the same style seal on both. So if water were to get inside, which lube (grease or oil) would protect the bearings better? I'd put my money on a good synthetic grease. Here's a somewhat quick video showing grease and water mixing. Not the one i wanted. I remember going to a car show and a vendor there had a demonstration of waterproof grease vs conventional grease. He had quart jars of water with globs of grease in the bottom. He would shake them like crazy and the only grease that stayed together in a glob was the waterproof stuff.
That’s a good video clip. Now a few things over the years make sense. Thanks. I have zero experience with oil bath. Just looking into and reading about a new option maybe. Nothing against standard grease hubs. Some bigger name trailers are coming standard with oil bath hubs now so I thought it might be time to get educated. Owl
This was my first thought , it works for semi trucks at 80K gross weight , why not on a boat trailer. Easy to service , just pop the cover off and drain fluid ( some even have a drain plug) and refill , no need to take wheels off and bearings out to service. A big problem with boat trailers and water in bearings is from heat. Bearings get warm when towing , as soon as you back into cool water it cools the hub assembly and actually sucks water past the inner seal. Not really any way to avoid this. Personally I would probably go oil bath if I had the choice to make.
Oil bath is great for a quick visual inspection when new. After a few years when the plastic caps cloud up... not so great. I wouldn't convert either way. Both do the job.
Exactly!! Gotta love the "if the big trucks use it" mentality. Each has its own purpose once you understand the bigger picture. How many miles does a boat trailer getting pulled recreationally in a year vs an 18 wheeler that's doing it for a living? Not to mention how many times does a semi hub/axle get submerged in water in said year?
My 17 ft. boat trailer came with oil bath hubs. The trailer is a 2005 and I have had it for 11 years. I don't know when or if the previous owner serviced them. I have never serviced the hubs in 11 years and I am a maintenance freak. An Easy Loader dealer that I trust says never service the bearings, hubs or seals unless there is play or rumble or gear oil is low or milky. I jack each tire about mid layup season and give them a spin to check bearing play and drench the bearings. I have had Zero problems and the boat/trailer is used 90% in salt water and a couple dozen times a year. Trailer mileage per year is admittedly fairly low as most of my fishing is close by. The hubs have remained clear. I will never go back to greased hubs!
2 things to consider with the Big Truck comparison…. #1…The oil bath hubs they use, have a tiny vent hole in the rubber plug… so they don’t build pressure. #2…. Meritor axles, and some others have been switching to a sealed greased bearing assembly now… ps… I have no experience with oil bath hubs on a boat trailer.
The oil bath are better, but it's not worth converting. In salt water use is the only thing I don't have experience with, but I doubt there's any real difference except the possibility of the sight glass clouding up and the regular grease bearings needing regular greasing.
It’s time to upgrade axles is why I’m asking. I’ve been giving the “new” oil hubs the stink eye for several years now as they gained popularity. I don’t expect saltwater makes much difference but I added in that just in case it might. I don’t back into the water with even warm hubs, specially to avoid the vacuum effect. No brakes to heat things up either. I’ve seen and handled the conversion kits and would absolutely not recommend them to anyone for any reason. Starting with a hub designed for oil bath is the only way to go. I’ll keep reading until the last minute so if anyone has anything I’m interested to hear it, either direction. Owl
I have been running grease hubs for years. Minimal maintenance. I fish a lot and have to drive 15-45 minutes to get there. I spin check the hubs once in a while and keep them full of grease. You can't pull a vacuum if there is no air, lol.
I have no experience with oil bath hubs, only grease. My first boat trailer had bearing caps that had to be removed so you could remove old grease and inject new. the came Bearing Buddies which did more harm than good. People were blowing out the inner bearing seals like crazy. And then came EZ Lube Hubs which are bleeping awesome.
Bearing buddies are fine as long as you don't overfill them. Ez lube is amazing. I hate tearing hubs apart just to grease them.
I don't know but this is what I figure. Long story short, I prefer grease. Oil bath is great for big trucks running lots of miles for several reasons. The oil creates less friction in the bearings and hubs, i.e. better milage and less heat to wear out seals.. They are easy to visually inspect and top off as needed. Maintenance does not require the bearing and hubs to be removed to repack bearings, oil just drains out and flows in. It's easier to spot a seal leak with oil vs grease. Oil will run and spray the whole wheel area while grease may just ooze out and make big balls of greasy dirt that hid behind dust shields. All very important for trailers covering 500+ miles a day, every day, all year. Lighter duty vehicles and trailers don't have the weight and milage on their bearings. When a seal fails on a light duty vehicle more grease will stay in vs oil. Almost no one does a pre trip inspection of their vehicle and trailer. It's required for commercial. Many states don't even require annual vehicle inspections, commercial does and is subject to spot inspection at any scale house or DOT stop. A failing bearing with grease, even if seals have failed will usually last a long time before catastrophic terminal failure. Even with a bad seal or water intrusion one can typically push new clean grease in and some will remain inside the bearing for some time. Oil just pours out. I grew up on a farm and around logging and excavation equipment. Grease was king for wheel bearings and hubs. Now, track drives with planetary gears inside where oil bath, but extremely overbuilt. I've seen maybe 100+ hubs/ bearing fail my first 25 years of life. A vast majority failed because of lack of maintenance and inspections. It was my job when I was young to grease equipment in the morning and after lunch. It was the bearings/ bushings without grease zerks that usually failed. Grandpa and Dad never took time to repack wheel bearing until the bearing failed. I need to inspect, repack, or replace all the bearing in my trailers this spring. Right now I'm only at 8 trailer hubs. And one trailer has a wet kit for tandem spring equalizer...that needs rebuilt because it won't take grease anymore. Tractor gets all grease zerks greased every tank of fuel that goes through it. Lawnmower probably every month. Dump trailer gets all lift pivots greased at least twice a year per manufacturing recommendation. I have to figure out how to grease the rear hinge pins. I don't believe they have been greased in 11 years. They have grease zerks but no way to get a grease fitting to them. I'm either need to drill an access hole in line with the pin from the outside or add another zerk fitting in an accessable spot. I also add grease with a needle to all my vehicles ball joints if zerks aren't present. OEM ball joints will last 250,000 miles if one just adds a bit of grease now and then. Only had 4 fail before 200,000 and I believe it was due to an impact with road debris at high speed both times. Upper and lower simultaneously, 2 different times over 30 years of driving. I lube trailer hitch mechanisms with dry garage door spray lube now. I had a hitch stop closing a while back. I pulled about a half cup of small gravel and rock dust out of it before it worked again. Took a can of carb cleaner too. Then I started the dry lube routine. On a side note. I disassemble all new ratchet wrenches and and a bit of grease in them. They turn so much smoother. The sound of a dry ratchet wrench is like nails on a chalkboard now.
As someone who operates and works on and does maintenance on every kind of vehicle, coveyor and material handling plant in the sand and gravel mineing industry I would stick with the grease hubs for something as simple as a boat trailor. Buy a good quality grease too. Not the cheapest on the shelf at TSC. Just my 2 cents worth.
