Cool hubs paranoid

[H2O_Fowl]

So I bought this 1999 ranger fisherman just about a year ago. I serviced the cool hubs on it with new seals etc. one of them was no problem. Looks good. The other one I had apart 3 times couldn’t get it to stop leaking water in. 4th time I took apart and checked the wear sleeve. It had a groove so I replaced it yesterday along with a new seal. Put cap on with some loctite and RvT around the outside.

went to lake today and oil looks tan but looks the same tan as the new Lucas hub oil does. The other hub in the sun looks black but when I shine a flash light on it, it still looks tan but not as tan as the oil did going in originally.

so after that long explanation my question is - how long does it take for the oil to turn black? And will the oil expand some?

these cool hubs are getting frustrating!

[r83srock]

Convert to grease. It will do better against incidental water intrusion. Service them one a year.

[joefish]

I have redone the cool oil hub on one side of my new to me Ranger twice and it blew the bearing again last week. i now have a set of Vortex grease hubs ordered, i'm done with the oil bath hubs.

[BassinR83]

I have a 2001 trailer that I converted to grease. After experiencing a cool hub failure with my buddy's trailer I decided to switch. Much better piece of mind afterward.

[Jeff Hahn]

Per Sam Wilson in the old Ranger Trailer Department: It only takes one drop of oil to turn the COOL Hubs milky and you can get condensation inside the hub by backing warm hubs into cold lake water. So, if the oil looks a little milky, no problem, unless it starts to get chunky. But, if you live in the north, you might want to change out milky oil in the fall when you winterize to keep the water from freezing and pitting the bearings.

That being said, the COOL Hubs on my 2001 R91 left me along the side of the road twice...once when the rig was only a few months old. If it were mine, I'd switch to grease and never look back.

[Bassmaster2003]

My Z20 hubs used to be milky on one hub...no issues with blowouts or failure in the 5 years I owned it. I serviced them once a year.

[Ranger482V]

Put on the bearing buddy and be done with it. Put some on our 93 482v when we bought it in 2001 and have done anything except add grease when they get low since then.

[bloodman]

So I bought this 1999 ranger fisherman just about a year ago. I serviced the cool hubs on it with new seals etc. one of them was no problem. Looks good. The other one I had apart 3 times couldn’t get it to stop leaking water in. 4th time I took apart and checked the wear sleeve. It had a groove so I replaced it yesterday along with a new seal. Put cap on with some loctite and RvT around the outside.

went to lake today and oil looks tan but looks the same tan as the new Lucas hub oil does. The other hub in the sun looks black but when I shine a flash light on it, it still looks tan but not as tan as the oil did going in originally.

so after that long explanation my question is - how long does it take for the oil to turn black? And will the oil expand some?

these cool hubs are getting frustrating!

Did you replace the O rings in the cap and hub barrel and use red RTV sealant

[H2O_Fowl]

Did you replace the O rings in the cap and hub barrel and use red RTV sealant

yep

[electritek]

When you replaced the wear sleeve did it have an O ring under it?? If not did you apply red RTV to seal the sleeve to the fit area?

[H2O_Fowl]

When you replaced the wear sleeve did it have an O ring under it?? If not did you apply red RTV to seal the sleeve to the fit area?

replaced O ring. But I don’t think that would have any influence on water getting into the hub. It’s just something the grease seal runs on.