What kind of hubs are on my trailer?

[MikeDobbs]

Hey everyone,

I purchased the boat with this trailer, and I'm just trying to get a hold on properly maintaining the bearings. I've spun the wheels with the trailer jacked up and they sound good- nice and smooth. I also check the temp on the hubs after trailering and they're not at all hot, just slightly warm to the touch.

I'm not sure if I have bearing buddies on the hubs, or something else. When I remove the dustcover I see a zurt fitting just as with a bearing buddy- but when I add grease the center plate (with the zurt fitting) doesn't seem to move, instead the grease eventually pushes past the outside edge of where the zurt fitting is.

I've heard that there are hubs designed the have the grease go into the center of the hub, and then push to the outsides, so I'm not sure if I have those kind on the trailer. It all seems to be one piece, so I can't tell if it's a bearing buddy or not.

I just want to make sure I'm maintaining them properly so I don't run into an issue.

Here's a pic with the dust cover on- if you need one without I can take it tomorrow.

Thanks!

 

[MTboatguy]

That is not a bearing buddy, those look like a Super Lube cap

http://www.championtrailers.com/2-4...-plug/?page_context=category&faceted_search=0

 

[southkogs]

I think you're looking at an older one of THESE. Super lube or something like that is what they're called ... I've got 'em, but forget what the marketing "cool" name was on 'em. The grommet and cap hold a reservoir of grease that (in theory) gets fed into the bearing. Mine have been working well so far.

 

[MikeDobbs]

OK thanks- can you give me a quick rundown on proper maintenance with these? There's don't seem to be any moving parts (like a bearing buddy), so how much grease should I add and how do I know when to add?

Thanks!

 

[MikeDobbs]

I found this by googling "Super Lube" http://www.tiedown.com/pdf/c718.pdf

So that answers the HOW to do maintenance part- but I'd still like to know how often you would pump grease into these things.

I trailer my boat about 20 miles each way (40 round trip) each time I use it.

 

[JoshOnt]

I would say you should do it every 300-400 miles ( I do every 500 km on mine)

 

[MTboatguy]

I normally pull my hubs apart about once a year to check things out and make sure everything is okay unless I am seeing indications of problems, if I did it every 3-400 miles, I would be doing it every couple of weeks.

 

[Bonus Check]

Hey Mike,
Check out this recent thread on the Super Lube Hubs. I posted a couple of pictures are cleaning and installing new grease caps and rubber grommets.

http://forums.iboats.com/forum/gene...be-axle-grease-caps-2-33-rubber-grommet/page2

 

[bruceb58]

Even though you can pump grease into them, you still want to pull the hub occasionally to see if there is water intrusion at the rear seal. I have a trailer with this type of axle that I recently purchased and every bearing was shot because of water intrusion.

 

[MikeDobbs]

Thanks again everyone! I will look to get a new set of the dust covers, and maybe get a set of bearing buddy bras to go over those...

 

[Vegas Naturist]

Okay, I'm old school. IMHO bearing buddies and the like are okay to give a shot of grease occasionally, but there is no substitute for pulling the hub apart and cleaning and inspecting the bearings. I understand the theory behind bearing buddies, keep grease in the hub under pressure keeps water out. Theoretically.

If this trailer is fairly new to you, I would recommend pulling the hubs apart to inspect the bearings, and replace the seals. At least at this point you would know your starting point.

 

[Tony T.]

Best I can tell from your pic is the grease zerk is mounted into the end of the spindle in which the spindle has holes through out to accept the grease into the hub/bearings. I do agree with other post for piece of mind pulling the hub off and inspecting the bearings. I just in the last couple days done this and found one of my bearings was bad I decided to replace all with new bearings and the races, I have the bearing buddies on my trailer so I took them apart and cleaned all old grease from them,hopefully I'm good to go for awhile.

Tony