Explain to me what the advantage of oil bath hubs are on a small car trailer.

Additionally would the washer in oil bath hubs dry up and then cause the oil to leek out.

THanks ROb

 

i personally think it is a better system i have less problems with them under heavy loads the oil seal is no likely to fail than the grease have some going on 40 years old the only problem i ever had is our idiot employees will crack the plastic see through housing or pull the filler plug off and lose it

 

The biggest advantage that you can check the condition of the lubricant at a glance. If its low you can add fluid. If its milky you know water got into it.

With grease you really don't know what going on in the hub unless you pull it and inspect.

I've had them on my boat trailer for over two years. As far as I'm concerned its got grease beat hands down.

I've heard that its not the best way to go for trailers that sit for long lengths of time. Supposedly the bearings and spindle can rust if the oil isn't flowing over them frequently. My boat sits for a month or more at a time in the Winter and when I pulled the hubs last week to add disc brakes the bearings and spindle were absolutely rust/corosion free.

Like I said,I'm sold.

 

I have the EZ Lube axles on my rafting trailer (31' GN That gets backed into the river a lot)..I prefer it over the Oil Bath as there is no voids that can get filled with water, Whenever you put grease into the EZ Lubes it pushes the old grease out the front.. I tried to get my 12K disc brake axles with the EZ lube option but it was not available, My concern with the Oil Baths if you develop a leak you could loose lubrication faster than with the grease filled axles.. just my point of view for my particular applications

 

And out the back past the grease seal, which then gets all over the brake shoes and drums. Yes, your bearings get lubricated, but there are a lot of negative aspects of the EZ Lube's; you can never tell where ALL the grease is going, can't tell if the bearings actually NEED grease, and if they DO, how much is enough? Dexter says one pump from a grease gun is adequate, but how often? They're a good idea but they need to refine the concept a bit before I'M sold on 'em!

chaikwa.

 

My boat trailer pushes the excess threw a hole in the axle inboard of the brakes and drops the excess on the garage floor! As to oil bath changing oil sounds alot easier than packing bearings.

 

Changing the oil is really easy. Unscrew the cap and let the old drain out. Put the cap back on and re-fill with oil. It might take 15 minutes to do all 4 wheels on my boat trailer.

 

With he axle elevated simply spin the wheel while pumping in the new grease, it will be evenly distributed and the old will come out through the front hole. The EZ lubes have a HD Seal as they now what it will have against it.. And like I've never changed out a seal on oil baths that has leaked out on the brakes

 

THanks guys very informative

 

Although you are correct that some oil seals do leak, it is usually caused by a previous repair done incorrectly or the brakes overheated, as far as longevity goes, an oil bath bearing is far superior.

As far as EZ lubes go the idea is great but I agree with Chaikwa 100%. Dexter uses a single lip seal for you to force the grease against, failing almost all the time.

Tim

 

You got that right! They claim to have a 'heavy-duty' seal for the E-Z Lube application, but in all their literature they give us, it states to 'warn your customer that one pump from a grease gun is sufficient to re-lubricate the bearings. More than this amount may cause damage to the seal and decrease brake lining life.' One of Dexter's engineer's that I deal with a few times a year doesn't have much faith in them either, so that kinda reinforces my own opinion.

chaikwa.

 

What of continual water submersion? I found that the hub full of grease is less apt to allow water in...The Rafting GN Trailer(pics in profile) I built is going on its 3rd season with no problems on the EZ lubes or its associated seals,bearings and brakes...If in fact they only install a single lip seal it could be upgraded.

 

i have dexter 5200 lb axles on my 5er, can i change to disc brakes and oil bath hubs?

 

I agree with you completely on a submersible trailer, grease is the only way to go. I do believe the original question was in reference to a car trailer.


Tim

 

I don't believe oil bath hubs are available for your 5,200# axle, however disc brakes and never lube hubs are available, never lube hubs are a sealed bearing hub assembly not requiring any service for 100k miles.


Tim