Is it better to have oil bath hub or grease on boat trailer?

[kercha83]

I have oil bath hub right now on my trailer, tomorrow I'm taking the trailer to the shop to get it serviced, I told him that I wanted to convert it over to grease instead of oil bath hub. Do you guys think its better to convert over to grease?

[1ranger487vs]

I did on my ranger trail. Added buddy bearing caps. Couple shots of grease once a year. I only use Lucas red and tacky

[1ranger487vs]

I don’t have to worry about a seal blowing out.

[Lightning 6]

Personal preference.

I ran grease hubs from 1986 to 2011 and have been running ufp gold series oil bath hubs since 2011. I tow to Florida & back twice annually & tow locally 40-50 days a year. Knock on wood-I have not had a problem with grease hubs & the only problem with oil bath was caused by a local shop improperly installing a new set of hubs (I was recovering from a hip replacement and could not do it myself at that time).

[mactlman]

grease 100% better-- ok 95%

[fly by night]

Either as long as they are well maintained.

[WVBullet]

Me personally, I’ll stay with oil bath. I ran grease for 20 years and had my share of issues even with regular maintenance. Went to oil bath and love them. I do like my UFP Gold series. I do all my maintenances.

[JJohnSind]

I was all excited when oil first came out, but didn’t realize that the reason I’ve heard/seen all kinds of issues with grease was because they were ALL grease back then. The ones failing were simply the ones not being maintained. I had no issues with my oil bath and liked that any potential issues showed itself through the window, but when a later trailer I got didn’t have them, and I inquired with my mechanic about converting them, he pointed out that if oil failed (as in broke and leaked out), it will fail almost right away. Grease, on the other hand, has a little leeway as grease doesn’t simply “leak” out. There is always some left over to take care of lubrication. Either way, I haven’t had an issue with those, and now, the Vault hubs. I stay on top of maintenance though.

[cwilt]

I also went to greased hubs after my oil bath left me stranded miles away from civilization...Twice! Grease has been used since trailers were being pulled from the beginning. I am a mechanic and always kept up on my hubs. When I bought the trailer/boat they said no maintenance for 5 years. I laughed. I always changed the oil out every year. And they still shelled out. I never had a problem after changing to grease. I went to the vortex hubs. This is just my experience and take it for what it's worth.

[Jeff Hahn]

I had oil bath COOL Hubs (Gen 1) on my 2001 Ranger R91. They left me stranded on the road twice, the first time was when my rig was only months old. Back then, every one thought that oil bath hubs were the best thing since sliced bread. So, few if any were converting themto grease. Since then, many folks have gotten fed up with the hassle of oil bath and have gone back to greased hubs. I would never go back to oil bath hubs. Generally, if people have had problems with greased hubs it's either from no maintenance or too frequent maintenance...like givng the hubs a few squirts of grease before every trip or even a few times a year. The key with greased hubs is not to over or under maintain them. Keep an eye ont hem. If they're throwing grease, then you need to find out what the problem is. Otherwise, let them alone and only check the grease at the end of the year to see if it got milky from some water intrusion. If so, replace the grease. Otherwise, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

[Highcentered]

Grease will get you home or at least to a better place to deal with the problem if poop hits the fan. I shoot some fresh grease into my hubs once a year and wipe away the old stuff that gets pushed out.

[VH5150]

I had oil bath COOL Hubs (Gen 1) on my 2001 Ranger R91. They left me stranded on the road twice, the first time was when my rig was only months old. Back then, every one thought that oil bath hubs were the best thing since sliced bread. So, few if any were converting themto grease. Since then, many folks have gotten fed up with the hassle of oil bath and have gone back to greased hubs. I would never go back to oil bath hubs. Generally, if people have had problems with greased hubs it's either from no maintenance or too frequent maintenance...like givng the hubs a few squirts of grease before every trip or even a few times a year. The key with greased hubs is not to over or under maintain them. Keep an eye ont hem. If they're throwing grease, then you need to find out what the problem is. Otherwise, let them alone and only check the grease at the end of the year to see if it got milky from some water intrusion. If so, replace the grease. Otherwise, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

Agree !!!! Went from oil to grease.

[Javelin389]

I've never had any issues with my oil bath except for one seal slightly leaking. But after 16 trouble-free years, who can argue that. Oddly enough, had issues with almost every single grease axle

On my old Javelin, checked the hubs at a rest area on the way back from Fork and they were perfectly fine. Within 50 miles later one had flames coming out of it. Bearing failure and 70mph is not good on metal.

[Wormdunker]

I bought my boat new, 2002 ranger trailer Cool Hub oil bath hubs. I went 18 years without touching my oil baths. had someone bump into one of my hubs and knock it loose, at that time I pulled because they had been a bit milky for a few years. Followed process to a T. I have not bene able to get them sealed well since. A couple weeks back took it to a trailer shop to have them take a crack at it. They pumped Hybrid oil into my hubs instead of Hub Oil. To say i am nervous is an understatement but he said that is all they use and have had great success. So i am monitoring. I take temps of each wheel after locker trips, all goo thus far, no leaking either. Hoping this is the solution to my hub oil issues but will likely go to grease if this doesnt work.

[Rangerdeepv]

grease all day for me.

[PatriotAW4]

Grease hubs will last forever if maintained correctly, oil bath hubs work great right up to the point that they fail all of a sudden. If you decide to keep the oil bath hubs I would replace both of them due to the age.

[leo13]

My last trailer had the Vault system which is a hybrid of oil and grease (grease when cold, oil when warm). It worked well but was difficult to service. My preference is grease.

[jjue1979]

The good thing about hubs with a greased fitting is that you can always pump more grease in to get going to a safe spot, even if the seals are leaking.

[geodebasser]

I have oil bath on my Stratos trailer. Would be better if I had grease.

[1ranger487vs]

I jack up my trailer 2 times a year and spin them checking play. If I have more play in one i make an adjustment