2006 Triton Tr186 trailer bearing replacement

[RattleHeadBaits]

I have a 2006 triton boat on a single axle trailer with trailer Buddy Products by UFP gold series oil bath bearings. They were replaced in 2017, new seals, bearing and race way. I just check both sides, and they both have some water in them. I had been using Lucas Hub Oil instead of recommended 50 weight oil, per old instructions. These 2017 bearing and seals only have 5000 miles on them, why did they get water in them. I am sure water had come from rear seal on both wheels. Rims had always had oil on inside of Crome msg wheels after 2017 install. The Set screw was coated with red RTV before install and O-rings on front oil sight window is good. Seals and bearing came from Waymire Distribution in 2017 and reorder them again today in 2022. .
How can I get more life out of seals and bearing ?
Which is best Lucas Hub oil or 50 weight racing oil?
Are they a better rear seal I can use?

Thanks in advance. RHB

[Bob G.]

I had a hard time keeping water out of my UFP oil bath hubs. I took the hubs off and converted to grease. I replaced the oil bath bearing protectors with UFP Trailer Buddy bearing protectors. I inspect the inner seal before loading the boat while the trailer is dry. Can also use the plain grease caps.

Also need to replace the SS wear rings on the spindles if they show the double lip seal grooves in them. Easier to keep in grease than oil.

A BBC member on here has UFP oil bath hubs and never had a problem with them. So he claims!

[RattleHeadBaits]

That’s a option. That’s one of the reason I started using Lucas Hub oil, it seemed to still work with a little water for short trips, less than one hour. The outer view windows on the Bearing have always been difficult to see oil color. This time when I drained the old Lucas hub oil, one side was dark brown, but had water drop on cup after draining. The other side was cream color and showed water drops after sitting for a couple of hours. I will rebuild per instructions on top this page and fill with Lucas hub oil unless someone can explain why I should not use.
The 2017 Rebuild old bearing approx 15,000 miles and after 2 fluid change in one year with cream color 50 weight oil coming out. I was only going on short trips. I could feel a temp difference in hubs on short trips with hand. One side you could hold hand on and other side hurt after few seconds. Decided to rebuild in 2017 before a 1,000 mile trip. I am glad I did, the hot side race way had a spot size of a BB discolored. So it was going to fail soon. I alway check temps with hand now.

[Lightning 6]

Valvoline 50w racing oil…..low viscosity oil lets them run cooler. If you always had oil on the rims after your 2017 install then you still had an issue. Worn wear rings, damaged wear ring o-rings, damaged seals, damaged hub cavity o-rings, damaged piston o-rings, or cracked piston are all possible sources of leak.

I have run gold series hubs for 20K and never had a leak.

All types of hubs suck water in if they are warm when submerged. Said water intrusion will discolor the oil but I drain & refill my hubs annually and rebuild or replace the bearing caps every couple years. I also use 1.98” bearing cap covers to keep sand out of the pistons (it will damage the o-rings as the pistons move). I use an IR thermometer to check temps at each stop…..as temperature is the best indicator of a problem starting.

[RattleHeadBaits]

After the 2017 rebuild, the rims were clean the first 6 months. I started seeing oil on inside of Right and some time later, I noticed it on left. I might be the cause of it, when I get to lake ramp, I put the boat in water within a few minutes. I am sure bearing are hot.

[Lightning 6]

Gotta amend my previous post. I had leaks after I had a shop replace my hubs/ brakes. They improperly installed the trailer axle hardware cotter pins on all 4 hubs. Unless each side is completely folded back the cotter pin can rub on the inside if the plastic piston. When that happens the cotter pin slices off slivers of plastic….which can damage seals. If it continues….the cotter pin will cut a hole through the piston & cause a catastrophic oil leak.

I trailed to Jacksonville FL the next week & found leaks while at a rest stop. I carry spare parts & tools so I was able to replace 4 cotter pins, 2 oil bath bearing caps, clean & re-install the other 2 oil bath bearing caps, and refill the hubs. That got me to Jacksonville & Skip at Waymires fedexed me 4 new bearing caps, hub o-rings, and rear seals …… then I tore everything apart, cleaned bearings & hubs of plastic shards & re-did the work myself.

Other than the shop’s screw-ups…..have never had a leak. Also re-did the travel math…..actually closer to 32K.

[RattleHeadBaits]

I have both hubs soaking in cleaner over night. I did not order the outer part with view window, going call tomorrow and get new O rings or complete replacements. It was stuck and would not return when I pressed on it. Think it had road grim and Gritty stuff in it. Question the thin stainless steel sleeve that back seal runs on, should I add RTV under sleeve even though it has a O ring?

[Lightning 6]

If you are referring to the wear ring that the inner seal runs on, it does not require any rtv. I use rtv when installing inner seals, when installing the oil fill plug, and when installing the oil bath bearing protectors.

[RattleHeadBaits]

I ended up changing both oil hubs back to grease hubs. The only thing that was different was outer cap part.