How Often Should I Greasing My Hubs?

[cobiacatcher2]

How often should I grease the hubs on my wesco trailer?

[packfan919]

I'd like to know the same thing. My trailer is only a few months old, but when I was changing a tire recently (flat on hwy 24 in Jacksonville on Memorial Day weekend*004*), I noticed that if I pull the rubber plug to examine the grease fitting, there is a decent amount of salt water hanging around in there.

Can't be good right? I greased it when I got home until I saw the grease start coming out.

would bearing buddies fix this?

[Shakespeare]

The Manufacturer doesn't state any lubrication intervals. I grease after each trip. It's probably overkill but it makes me sleep better at night and my round trips are 500 miles.


Your hub/spindle is equipped with TDE’s SuperLube Lubrication System. The bearings can be periodically lubricated without removing the hubs from the axle.

Pack... I had the same issue with water puddling up in the outer assembly. I use to clean out the assembly after each greasing. What I do now is pump up the bearings with new grease and let the old remain in the cavity. I haven't had water pooling in there anymore.

[Gunnar]

I do mine 3 times a year and put 3000 miles + on my trailer each year.

Gregg

[DIVERHERB]

I generally trailer about 6 times a month and grease my hubs every other trip. It forces out any water that might get in and keeps voids to a minimum. It also helps me not worry while out on the road about the bearings. I also pull them down completly every couple of years to clean and inspect.

[RobertKuntz]

Yet another in my endless series of dumb questions:

The trailer under my 16-ft skiff is the first trailer I've ever, er, trailered. Single axle, looks like it was built in someone's backyard. Seems to work swell.

The axle ends are covered with simple black plastic caps. Pull off the cap, there's the grease, in the "cup-like" portion of the axle, under which I presume is the bearing.

So, dumb question: If the grease is looking milky or the amount is down -- i.e., if there's a reason to add/change the grease -- I don't see any kind of fitting -- unless it's under all the grease. Is the idea just to re-fill the cup part of the axle? Or is there supposed to be some fitting somewhere under there onto which I should attach the nipple of the grease gun? Or do I just "fill 'er up"?

Yes -- I know -- dumb question. but there it is.

[redfish74]

As long as you dont push grease out the axle seal go for it . When I check mine even if I dont add grease I put grease on my finger and make like a seal out of it so there is no space for water to get in.

[Shakespeare]

The axle ends are covered with simple black plastic caps. Pull off the cap, there's the grease, in the "cup-like" portion of the axle, under which I presume is the bearing.

So, dumb question: If the grease is looking milky or the amount is down -- i.e., if there's a reason to add/change the grease -- I don't see any kind of fitting -- unless it's under all the grease. Is the idea just to re-fill the cup part of the axle? Or is there supposed to be some fitting somewhere under there onto which I should attach the nipple of the grease gun? Or do I just "fill 'er up"?

Yes -- I know -- dumb question. but there it is.

Robert, First you need to determine the style of hub that you have. The Super Lube style will have a grease fitting dead center of the bearings. The excess grease will push out along the perimeter of the bearings as you pump it up and the old grease will fill the cup. You should do a little exploration to see if there is a grease fitting in there.

Here's what a Super Lube hub looks like;

http://images.shipstore.com/ss/images/tie/tiesuperlube1.jpg

If the grease is milky then that means there's water in it. I would clean that out ASAP.

To answer your question, no you don't just pack grease in the cup to lubricate the bearings. You either have to manually repack them if you have a conventional hub or pump them up via the zerk fitting on the Super Lube style. In either case, the excess grease in the cup is probably there to keep water from collecting.

Here's a good how to on manually repacking bearings;
http://www.rd.com/advice-and-know-how/stepbystep-pictures-and-instructions-to-repack-trailer-wheel-bearings/article111213.html

And here's a good thread on the topic of wheel bearing maintenance; http://www.carolinaskiffowner.com/showthread.php?t=5493&highlight=repack+bearings

[workinprogress]

Yet another in my endless series of dumb questions:

The trailer under my 16-ft skiff is the first trailer I've ever, er, trailered. Single axle, looks like it was built in someone's backyard. Seems to work swell.

The axle ends are covered with simple black plastic caps. Pull off the cap, there's the grease, in the "cup-like" portion of the axle, under which I presume is the bearing.

So, dumb question: If the grease is looking milky or the amount is down -- i.e., if there's a reason to add/change the grease -- I don't see any kind of fitting -- unless it's under all the grease. Is the idea just to re-fill the cup part of the axle? Or is there supposed to be some fitting somewhere under there onto which I should attach the nipple of the grease gun? Or do I just "fill 'er up"?

Yes -- I know -- dumb question. but there it is.

Snap a pic for us. There are plenty of guys on here who can walk you through the steps to service the type of hub setup you have.

[RobertKuntz]

As usual, lots of good advice.

I'll get in there this weekend and see what's what. The illustration was very helpful.

(Planning a longish trip at the end of the month -- 2.5 hours north to the Loxahatchee River/Jupiter area, so want to make sure all is as it should be.)

[DIVERHERB]

If you are planning a long trip I and you do not know the condition or the maintenance that has been performed I would definitly recommend pulling the bearings apart and cleaning them and repacking them and replacing the seals. After that you are starting fresh and can lube them at set intervals with a grease gun. I would also recommend using a good marine grade grease in them.

[OBX Hokie]

Herb is right! *018*

I did not do what he suggested last year, and my son and daughter wound up on the side of the road with my previous trailer. :eek: Don't short cut the bearings! *thumbsup*

[fishin jones]

We made it a grand 55 miles from the beach before the bearing went out. We had the boat for 4 days. Fortunately it did not lock up, but started vibrating real bad so I pulled over. Situation could have been much worse.

The intention was to take our new to us boat home to perform bearing maintenance.

LESSON LEARNED: DO YOUR BEARING MAINTENANCE WHERE YOU ARE.

[RobertKuntz]

OK. Mission accomplished.

There was, of course, a zerk fitting right where it should have been. And the grease was not "milky" as I thought. There was a thin layer of sort of milky scum on the top of the excess grease, but as I cleaned all of that out, I saw that the grease underneath all looked right. I did not pull and re-build the bearings -- that's for a weekend when I DON'T have a trail starting Monday.

Guy I bought the boat from was good about maintenance, said he'd redone the bearing recently and he -- unlike me -- used the trailer in fresh water. So we'll monitor the temp on this trip and see how we do.

[wjsmith82]

I grease mine once a month. That is roughly 1000 miles for me. I break down, clean and inspect twice a year (every 6000 miles).

I just greased mine on Sunday and the little rubber dust cover ripped. Does anybody know what these are called?

Thanks

Bill

[silverbk]

If you have the super lube or ez lube bearings than you cannot over grease them. I do mine before every trip. Just add grease until you see clean grease coming out. I also pull over and feel them for heat periodically on the trip. If you feel one getting hotter than the others you should add grease.

If you have bearing buddies or a similar product than you can in fact overgrease them and cause the seals to leak. They usually have a spring on them and you want to fill them with just enough grease to compress the spring. The idea is that the spring is constantly forcing grease into the outer race so water cannot ingress. This style also needs to be repacked by hand periodically as the design does not allow grease to be forced into the inner race.

If you have really old school trailer hubs than there will not be any zerk, you will have to disassemble them and pack them by hand. There a ton of you tube videos showing how to do this. Do this at least once a season. If you don't it could ruin your day. Especially if you trailer 100 miles, then launch the boat with hot bearings. You might not make it back.

It might be dirty and inconvenient, but getting stuck on the side of the road, will be much more so.

[boogieblues50]

Hey Guys
everyone spends a ton of cash for all sorts of stuff for your boat and fishing stuff...for about $35 you can get a whole new hub...bearings...lugs ...everything....get one....grease up the bearings good wrap the whole thing up in saran wrap...stick it in one of them cheap $5 wally world fleaxable coolers stick in trunk or bed of towing vehical...It can save a good day from turning into a miserable day....cheap insurance....also put some emory cloth in the cooler with it in case it messes up your axel....smooth it out enough to get you home...this is even more important if you own a single axel trailer...at least with a tandem you can take a wheel off and limp to saftey off the interstate...its no fun leaving your boat and all your stuff on the side of the interstate at 3am in the morning....I know this for a fact...since than I grease before i leave and when I get home takes less than 5 mins...no problems since that one time...make sure you also have a jack or some way to lift trailer...iam a big fan of 4ft high lift jacks...I carry one and a floor jack too...BoogieBlues

[skiff61]

Where would be the best place to buy whole new hub...bearings...lugs.I have a 218 DLV with the wesco singe axle.

[boogieblues50]

Hey Skiff
I found Mine on Ebay...$30 complete....if your not sure which one to get do like I did I called Wesco told them what trailer I had they told me the size bearings and what type....there are two types straight and tapered....mine were tapered...because of my CRS I cant remember the diameter...but once you know the size you can find what you need online pretty easy....BoogieBlues

[megsar]

If you have Super Lube Hubs remember to jack the trailer and spin the wheel as you pump the grease.