My trailer is 8 years old. It has vault grease now. I have not done a thing other than check for leaks and for end play. All is good, but after 8 years should I teardown and relube? Thinking about just changing to regular grease. Vault grease seems to be hard to find right now. I make a living replacing and telling companies when to replace bearings. I hate for my own bearings to be murdered.lol I always say bearings never commit suicide they are always murdered. Any advice appreciated.
Last edited by Welaka; 01-16-2022 at 10:08 PM.
2022 Caymas cx20pro 250 Pro XS s/n 3B099812
I'd like to hear what the experts say on this too.
I have a 2015 trailer and am wondering the same thing. No issues but at what point should you be proactive and disassemble for inspection and repack? I would rather do this in the garage at the time of my choice rather than forced to on the side of the road some morning.
Phillip "Wade" Norris
2015 Ranger Z520C
250 Merc Optimax Pro XS (S# 2B113454)
25P Fury - 4 blade all holes open
yes and use a good marine grease......I like Lucas.Originally Posted by Welaka
That’s my thoughts exactly. I think I will clean, inspect and lubricate with some good grease. Probably change the vault caps to bearing buddies.
2022 Caymas cx20pro 250 Pro XS s/n 3B099812
I do mine every 2 seasons. It might be overkill but like stated above, Id rather deal with it in comfort of my home than on the road. I also live in a cold climate and have friends who repack at the end of the season in case there is water inside that will freeze and "murder" the bearings once spring comes.
Vault recommends maintenance free for 10 yrs other than checking for leaks and bearing play
After 8 years I haven’t touched my Vault hubs and I don’t plan to unless I see leakage or feel the hubs getting warm. I don’t tow often (boat is usually on a lift) but I usually make two 1300 mile round trips to Ontario each summer. I probably will buy a spare hub and all the Vault parts this spring, just in case.
2018 Ranger RT188 SC Black/115 hp Yamaha SHO 4-stroke; Garmin LVS34 - north
2018 Ranger RT188 DC Black/115 hp Merc Pro XS 4-stroke; Garmin LVS34 - south
14' Mirrorcraft tin boat (ancient) with a 9.9 Mercury 4-stroke, no electronics; catches fish anyway
I like the vault system.Easy to rebuild .Mines 14 years old and just did mine last spring.Suggest new spindle sleeves also.
I make a habit of visually checking the hubs EVERYTIME I park the trailer after unloading the boat. Never seen or had a so-called seal "blowout". They always start with a leak. Around here a small leak will show up big time if you keep the wheels clean.
Next time you're in a parking lot full of empty boat trailers- make a point to look at the inside of everyone's wheels. Not hard to tell who's going to have a seal "blowout"
For my rig-- I'll wait 10 years or until I see a leak or other issue then do a full maintenance on all of them.
I look at my seals every time I launch the boat also. Definitely better to catch a leak as soon as it starts.
2022 Caymas cx20pro 250 Pro XS s/n 3B099812
If your Vault caps are still extended, indicating good seal and full of grease, I would just give them a quick check before the season and then monitor temps. Jack them up and check for up/down or lateral play and any noise or grinding when turning the tire. If all good, no reason to service, imo.
I switched the vault caps to traditional bearing buddies after a seal went out. Vault hubs are great until you have a failer. Much more peace of mind knowing I can add grease when needed, check them once a month, been great since the swap over.
I check hub temp on all four axles when I get to the ramp. And check to see if seals are slinging grease. If hubs aren’t hot, and wheels aren’t showing signs of grease I carry on. Never put a grease gun on a Bearing Buddy. If the seal is leaking, replace it and repack. Otherwise, don’t blow it out trying to add grease to a spindle that doesn’t need it. I replace seals, clean, and repack every 5-6 years unless otherwise required.
BassCat Sabre FTD
Mercury 150 Optimax
"It's just fishing"
Normally on a rear diff I see bearing failure above 100k miles and the carrier bearings ride around in lube all the time! So I guess if your trailer has been maintained you should be good to go until 100k!! As you say bearings normally don't fail they are ruined. I have seen Fruehauf semi trailers with literally Millions of miles on the original SKF bearings. Now some of the new Chinese crap, well just had a hydraulic pump input bearing fail in less than 40 hours. So I do as Razor is saying, every 5-7 years. BUT I also repack bearings if I have the hub off for any reason unless I have just been in there. CJ
2002 X19 200HP OX66 HO Vmax,HPDI lower, it lives, thanks Hydro Tec.
Biggest failure is caused by calipers sticking and heating hub up .
My 2015 has the vault hubs and after my sons 2018 vault hub passed him up going down the interstate I thought I would rebuild my "maintenance free" Vault Hubs, the indicators were still out but when I pushed it in it stayed in, three out of four Vault hubs had a lot of water in the hub, nothing had yet failed but wasn't far replaced it all with new stainless wear sleeves, bearings and Bearing Buddies. Just a FYI the new bearing buddies have a fail safe where excess grease escapes from the exterior when overfilled, the o-ring passes by a groove that allows the excess to weep out instead of blowing out the rear seal. Both good products but maintenance required
Minor off topic but I thought better than cluttering up the place with a new thread. I am assessing the condition of my trailer bearings . .. . . I can move the wheel a tiny bit click click with the wheels on the ground. Grasping the top and bottom of the wheel. This seems like play in the hub or bearings. On a modern auto vehicle with sealed bearings, any place or noise like this with the wheel off the ground is cause for concern. On a old used trailer is this a sure sign of ruined bearings etc or is it normal ? Old original bearings behind Bearing Buddies and lots of black grease evident under the cap/cover thing. - thanks
It is time for disassembly, replace everything or only that you think is bad your choice, and reassemble with your preferred marine grease!
Jack up the wheel so its off the ground. Pull bearing buddies then cotter pin and adjust castle nut torque. It should be about finger tight or about 25 INCH pounds. Replace cotter pin and while still up off the ground check for bearing play. You should have no more then a 1/8" of play.
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