Converting to Oil Fill Bearings????

[colbysmith]

Sunbeam, yes it goes on pretty much like the bearing buddy. Very tight fit if it's done right and it takes some prying to get it back off. My problem with grease has always been getting too much in there, and then it squeezing out behind the seal and getting on to the brake shoes. (Electric brakes.) Also, no way of knowing the grease condition without pulling the grease cap. The Oil bath is always viewable with the clear plastic caps. I've only had oil leak out once behind the inner seal, and that was my own fault for bending it a bit when installing it. As long as the seal is set and all else installed correctly, you should never have to add oil. I do pull the hubs and change the oil every few years, mostly so I can check on the brake shoes. As I mentioned earlier, the only concern I have is if one of the caps or cylinders got knocked off. IN that situation, if you didn't catch it right away, you're probably going to fry a bearing and that could create some problems with the spindle too. However, I've also seen smoking grease hubs that were not maintained... For now I'm very happy with the oil bath, and will continue to run them. Colby

[Sunbeam]

Thanks for the info, Colby. Until this thread I didn't realize that one could "convert" regular grease-type hubs to oil bath. Given that I just re-did them all with new parts and grease, I wouldn't do it right away, but maybe next time.

[colbysmith]

None of the bearings or races had to be changed out. Just clean the old grease out, install new double lipped seals (which you may already have with grease hubs) and install the conversion caps. I also keep a spare cap in my emergency kit, along with an extra set of bearings. (That's two caps for me. One for the Reliable hubs and another for the Kodiak Conversion...)

[Sunbeam]

[colbysmith]

If you are happy with the greased hubs, no reason to change. Even when it's time to repack.

[drbridge]

Here is my take on the subject. I have a trailer with the oil hubs and one with the bearing buddy grease hubs. With the grease hubs I take them apart once a year to know that every thing inside is in good condition and that there has been no salt water intrusion that would cause rapid decay of the bearings. This is a PIA of a job to do.
With the oil bath bearings, that incidentally are the same system that are used on front axles of most big rig Semi's on the road today. I can see the oil through the hub. If there is water intrusion it is easy to see. Mine have had some water intrusion a couple of times and in that case I have drained them , flushed them, and refilled them with out removing the hub. I have taken the bearings apart a couple of times in the ten years I have owned the trailer just to check. They were in pristine condition both times and I am still using the original bearings on that trailer. After the last time I pulled all four hubs off the c-dory trailer and cleaned and regreased them, I am convinced that the next time it will be to convert them to the oil bath bearings. I have also had the bearing buddy's on other trailers in the past and I have found evidence of water intrusion enough times that I feel I must take them apart for inspection annually. Sometimes when I do this inspection I find that there is no water intrusion and I have gone to the trouble to take them apart for no reason other than the fact that I can not tell with out taking them apart.
Bottom line for me is that the Bearing buddy's will work , but require a lot more maintenance for me to feel confident that I am running on good bearings. The oil bath always allow me to see what is going on and give me a lot more confidence with less maintenance/labor.

[Sunbeam]

Thanks for that contribution. Since I just did mine (with grease and all new components), I'll probably take them apart sometime next year just to see how things sit. At that point I may very well change over to oil, now that I know more about the options. I like the sound of being able to see more about the condition without opening everything up and taking it apart.

Possibly losing a cap is the only slightly scary part I can think of with the oil system we're talking about. I can see my trailer wheels from my tow rig; next time I'm hitched up I'll have to pay more attention to how much of the bearing buddy (or oil cap) I can see while driving.

[Tenacious C]

I recently purchased a new trailer with oil bath hubs. I'd like to know if any one has experienced water contamination and if so, how obvious was the change in appearance through the cap?

[colbysmith]

I did after an earlier seal change as I didn't get the seal in straight. Very easy to see if water is in the oil, as it will turn milky or a bit gray or a little more opaque in color. (The fresh oil will be somewhat clear, even when used black. lol) Colby

[hardee]

Resurrecting this one;

Interested in more recent info. Has anyone recently changed over? How is the satisfaction. Oil bath seems like a reasonable choice, but converting over may not make it worthwhile -($$$)- depending. Not being a mechanic, and doing primarily salt water launches, the Bearing Buddies have always made me nervous.

Harvey
SleepyC

[colbysmith]

Harvey converting over to oil bath should be easy and fairly inexpensive as boating costs go. Kodiak makes a nice kit for $60 on Amazon. The biggest problem is being sure the inner seal is the right size to do it’s job! The only disadvantage I see is if you lose a hub cap and oil the bearing will fry rather quick. However folks have fried bearings with grease hubs too. Now the advantages of oil bath. You can see the condition of the oil by looking thru the clear cap. Hubs run cooler. No need to repack the bearings annually. I have not switched my new trailer over yet but I will very likely do one axle when I get back home just for comparison on this trailer. Also if you don’t like the oil bath you can easily revert back to the grease.

[T.R. Bauer]

I have had more trouble with trailer bearings than I deserve. I heard you had to change out the hub to run oil bath because the outer cap is threaded. True?

[drbridge]

I have the oil filled hubs on a trailer for my Simmons Sea Skiff 18. They have worked flawlessly and are now about 12 years old. I took them apart once about three years after I bought the trailer just to inspect the bearings and they were pristine. As long as I can see clean oil in them I probably won't bother to take them apart. These hubs do have threads for the caps

Kodiak has recently come out with a conversion that allows you to use the press in style caps. Looks easy and affordable.

https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Bearings-Races-Seals-Caps/Kodiak/XLPROLUBE1980KIT.html

I really want to have these on our C-Dory trailer, and it looks easy. My biggest concern is weather the seals will fit well enough on the axles since the axles do have grooves worn in to them. You can put repair sleeves on them, but I have never done this and don't know how well it would turn out. another big concern is that with the press in caps, you are more likely to loose one and that would be a problem with the oil. I once lost a brand new bearing buddy only a few miles after installation. luckily I noticed it right away before any damage was done. I may just try it anyways, but may go the more expensive route and go with new threaded hubs. This would also make disassembly more feasible later on. My other trailer doesn't have brakes, so there is no need for disassembly as long as the bearings have oil. The C-Dory trailer will have to be disassembled for brake service at some point even if the bearings are OK.

[journey on]

When I changed the brakes on Journey On's trailer, I bought new hubs from Kodiak that were set up for grease bearings via press-in caps for hubs and a steel grease seal. To change them over to the oil filled bearings, I had to buy the kit mentioned above.

A few notes. The trailer had come with oil filled hubs and as they had worked very well I wanted to keep them. The inner seals wore on the spindle and I had to install spindle shims, a commercial product. ALWAYS install the outer bearing BEFORE you press in the cap, as it's too small for the bearing.

That said, I've had good performance with the new hubs and the oil filled kit. Just like new. BTW, I also installed new calipers and stainless brake lines. None of this was free, but it was good to have dependable brakes again.

Boris

[Salmon Fisher]

Duplicate post. Sorry