I. Have Ufp. Hubs on a. Marine master trailer. I. Thought I was seeing clean oil. Through the sight glass. But. Apparently not. Today. I. Opened them up and each one on rear axle was nearly dry. Might have been ounce of fluid. In. Each Bearings. Still seem smooth. With no. Play. Should I panic. Or refill. And go
If you don't see any oil on the back of the rim or tire, then fill them up and keep a closer eye on them.
Is it normal for them to lose a little oil over time?
<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by leethefishking »</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">Is it normal for them to lose a little oil over time?</td></tr></table>
NO it is not. But you should see oil on the back of the rim and tire if the rear seal is leaking. That is the usual place for the oil to get out of the hubs.
After checking your seals, refill with 50w motor oil as per UFP. When I changed the oil in my hubs I refilled with Royal Purple 50 w motor oil. The hubs run a lot cooler now.
I never drink water because of the disgusting things that fish do in it.
I refilled and can not see any leakage around the seals. I am going to run them for a month or so then check and drain them again to insure they are staying full. Im guessing that even though they were very low there was still enough lubricant to keep the bearings cool as I checked them by touch frequently and they were never hot.
According to UFP the oil bath hubs will run with as little as 1/4 the full amount of oil in the hub.
Would you happen to know how many ounces of oil they should hold?
Took a 500 mile trip this weekend and sure enough one of the rear hubs with brake is leaking. looks like rear seal but hard to tell. I dont know much about oil bath hubs and really dont want to tackle job myself. How would I go about finding a place that works on them and what would be a fair price. Dont want to get taken to the cleaners.
For follow up called only trailer repair place within a hundred miles of me and they quoted $175.00 if only seals were bad and at least a one to two week wait.
These are just seals. They are exactly the same as any grease seal. Any local mechanic can change this seal. To change to grease, simply fill the hub with grease and pound on a grease protector instead of the oil protector. On most all 5 lugs this will be a 1.980 size protector.
<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by leethefishking »</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">For follow up called only trailer repair place within a hundred miles of me and they quoted $175.00 if only seals were bad and at least a one to two week wait. </td></tr></table>
Man they are trying to rip you off. It would't take 1 hour to do the job and a $5.00 seal.
<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by rangerguy »</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">
Man they are trying to rip you off. It would't take 1 hour to do the job and a $5.00 seal.</td></tr></table>
Yep. The seal is only about $5 and the labor on a "normal" job should only be about 1/2hr. I think anything over about $60 to pay someone to do it is questionable.
You can do it yourself with a few tools and a little know how. It's not rocket science at all. Might as well convert the hubs to grease hubs while you're at it by adding Bearing buddy hub caps. I hear too many folks compain about the oil bath hubs for me to go with them. Just my opinion... and you know what they will say about opinions here.
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those are NOT regular seals. the oil bath hubs take a special seal with a coating that must be applied prior to installing inorder to fully waterproof the hub. even if you are running bearing buddies with grease, you still NEED a double lipped seal. this seal has the normal lip on the back as most all seals do, BUT deeper in there is another lip , it is held on the spindle tight by means of a seperate spring built into the rubber lip. i have always had to get them at a marine dealer , or on line from one of our sponsors. in a pinch you can temporarily use a single lipped seal from an auto part store, but i would replace it asap.... axles and spindles are expensive.
This is precisely why I didn't want to tackle this myself. I have changed regular greaseble hubs myself but never a hub with brake assembly. What extra steps would I be dealing with in changing these.
Not really any extra steps. The double lipped seals are the best insurance you can buy and will likely give you many more years of trouble free use. I have to get mine from a boat trailer manufacturer in Houston. (McClain trailers).
Might as well replace your bearings & races while your at it. Chunk the oil bath hubs and replace them with Bearing Buddy's and you should be good for a loooong time as long as you make sure they stay full of grease & it's not seing any saltwater. (Saltwater kills everything eventually.)
Disclaimer... I'm not totally saying oil bath hubs are bad. I've never had them. I've always had grease hubs & bearing buddy's. Never ever had an issue even on my saltwater rigs. So, for me, I stick with what has been proven to work for ME.
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Houston's Original Bass Club for Married Couples
Founded 1972
facebook.com/2ofUsBassClubHouston
__________________________________________________
1996 CHAMPION 202 Elite DCX - 1996 Merc 225 EFI
I ordered everything I need to change out bearings and seals in both rear axles. And changing over to bearing buddies. I was making this harder than it had to be. I had no idea oil bath hubs were the same as greasable. I had some idea that it was great new technology that I knew nothing about. Thanks for all the help and quick replies.
I changed out bearings on both rear wheels today. I ended up pulling the brake calipers im sure there was an easier way but if there was I couldnt see it. Anyway im asssuming I now need to bleed the brake system since I lost some fluid. Is there an easy way to do this with out one of the bleeding systems.
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