Posi-Lube vs Bearing Buddies

We have a 2005 EZ-Loader trailer, S/N 001 (for that series.) It came with the oil bath hubs.

I just got through looking at the hubs for the first time, and have a few comments.

First the lube looked good. Black with no signs of water intrusion. Not changed in 5 yrs. The factory had a recall and changed the bearings just after we got the trailer. They'd never tell me why, but I gathered the bearings failed. EZ Parts Dept never heard of it. I figure that there's about 20K miles on the trailer. The hub seal is a two lip affair and none have leaked, either in or out.

Second, the factory recommends a 2 7/8 hex socket to remove the plastic caps. That doesn't work for me. Any suggestions?

Third the two port bearings had some metal flakes, so I'm going to replace the bearings. The originals are from China (after factory recall,) and the local trailer guy says Timken are better.

Forth, the hubs are from Reliable, one piece and Reliable doesn't sell parts to the public nor do they have dealers. EZ Loader parts is a little hard to deal with, but after about 3 calls you can order the parts. They left out the seals on the last order and that took a another couple of calls. The good news is that the seals and bearings are standard items. Those allen screws used as an oil drain are a bear to get out, so be careful; I wasn't. I drilled a hole in the periphery of the plastic hub and used a bolt and nylon washer as a workaround. Works well so far.

Fourth, the brakes are Kodiak. I replaced the pads last year, and they're still working fine.

In general, I never check the hubs on the road. I know, good luck beats skill. But after I changed the oil we went to Lake Piru, north of LA, a decent trip.. When we got there I felt the hubs and they were just slightly warm. I do like the oil bath hubs.

Boris
 
We're off to Bellingham tomorrow morning so I checked the air pressure and did a general check of the trailer. I noticed the port front rim had grease splattered on the rim since the last trip to Everett. :?

I have the King "Super Lube" system. So, I pulled the rubber cap and the steel grease cover and noticed the grease appeared milky & "thin" from water intrusion. I got out the grease gun and pushed new grease through the zerk until clean grease came out the front; probably >~1/2 cup of milky grease in total. The other three hubs showed no sign of water intrusion; grease is still amber-brownish & somewhat translucent as it should be.

:?: So, why only one? Ideas?

Guess I need to dissasemble, clean/inspect, replace whatever is needed and re-pack ASAP. Season two and only local towing to date, but still...
 
When we bought the boat last year we trailered from Virginia to Michigan... We monitored bearing temperatures and one hub ran consistently 10 degrees above the other 3... Then we parked the trailer...
Getting ready to go to the UP of Michigan with the boat this Friday so I checked the hubs... The hub that ran warm was a hair too tight and would only spin about 3/4 of a turn where the others spun roughly 3 turns with a gentle push... I eased up the preload on the bearings pf the tight wheel to match the others... I have the superlube spindles with a zerk fitting... I used an entire tube of red grease (bearing grease) to pump out the old grease on the 4 hubs - nasty looking stuff, pale and stiff... Now all is well and we are ready to travel... The super lube system saved me a minimum of 3 hours of back breaking work to repack the 4 wheel bearing sets... This is the first time I have used a modern system like that and I am impressed...
 
We've had a couple of Kings that has a burr or rough spot on a spindle, which caused a seal leak. The good news is the King spindle is a replaceable part, so it's an easy fix if that's the problem. It should probably be a warranty issue for you as well.

Mark- I sent you a PM on this. Let me know if we can help.
 
The first owner of the CD 22 I bought never greased, inspected, or even gave a second thought to anything on the 1993 EZ Loader Trailer. He went nearly 10 years with the factory tires, the factory grease, factory seals, and so on. He towed it from Seward to Valdez, to Homer, to Haines, and other places. It was on the road a LOT. He did finally put new tires on it just before I bought it for sale purposes as they were shot. It isn't something I would recommend, but it is truly remarkable. Perhaps this worked for him because of a solid relationship with god? I have no idea.....

Yet after saying that, I am in Bob's camp on this one although I am not checking bearing temperature. Just after getting the boat I went through the brakes (they were shot and didn't work at all), replaced the seals, repacked the bearings (to my surprise they were in great condition), and replaced the coupler/master cylinder. Now, bi-annually, I repack the bearings, replace the seals, and check the brakes, just to make sure things are working the way they are supposed to. I do think I could go longer here in AK as the temperatures are almost always very cool, but I really don't want something as simple as greasing a bearing leaving me stranded on the side of the road and wrecking a perfectly good weekend of fishing and boating.

Like many of you, I have had several different set-ups of bearings on a number of trailers over the years, and no matter which one you have what it amounts to is peace of mind of knowing that everything is fine with the trailer and the chances of a breakdown are greatly diminished. I would much rather spend a couple hours in my garage in the winter packing bearings than I would doing on the side of the road on Turnagain Pass and running hours back to Anchorage on parts runs. For the camp that extra parts around, I have found that the vast majority of the time the part I have won't be the part I need thanks to good ole' Murphy...... I still carry them though. Damn him!!!
 
I was curious, although I've never done it before.

The trailer up to Bellingham showed some interesting numbers. I travel at ~60 mph max while towing. I measured each hub, right where the rim mounted to the hub with a Harbor Freight "lazer" thermometer which appears relatively calibrated/accurate:

Taking the highest numbers shown on the readout:

Left front (new grease) ~114F
Left rear ~125F
Right front ~134F
Right rear~143F

What that means I have no idea. :lol: But the newly greased hub was the coolest. :|
 
localboy":212xbm5z said:
What that means I have no idea. :lol: But the newly greased hub was the coolest. :|
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I just today towed the Honky Dory from the Sacramento area to San Diego with the same Harbor Freight temp gauge and three free Harbor Freight flashlights. (ain't they great?). The trailer I towed with was 17 years old and I worried that the bearings hadn't been packed this millenium! Hubs ran 85 degrees port side, 95 degrees, starboard side after the first 50 miles. Almost 500 miles later, they read 82 and 87 respectively. Of course there's no brakes to add to the temp.

I don't have a clue either, but I did carry two sets of seals and bearings "just in case".

Don
 
I normally check the bearing temps when I'm filling up the truck with gas (which is quite often with the boat behind). On our trip to the Erie Canal we towed the boat 17+ hrs one way. The bearings always have run around 95 degrees.
 
localboy – those numbers look high to me as compared to what I experience with my CD25 trailer, and the fact that the newly greased one is the lowest, I would re-grease the others to see if you can bring them down. The readings between the four hubs should not vary to that degree. I don’t know what the ideal temp is because there are so many variables that affect the readings. I have a laser meter but I like to put my hand on the hubs, too. It’s good to get a tactile sense for the heat and learn what’s normal by touch. I think in general that you should be able to really grab those puppies and wrap your hand around them without feeling heat discomfort. I wouldn’t necessarily expect the same readings as Sneaks gets with his 22 trailer, but in my experience it’s not unusual with a 25 to see readings in the 95 to 104 range. The 114 temp wouldn’t concern me per se, but on average in mild ambient conditions I’d be happier with lower than that. I do see 114 on hot days with air temp in the 90’s. Keep in mind that brake usage will skew the temps higher in short order. We have heard from personal accounts on this forum that trailer bearings can take a lot of abuse, but you don’t want to take undue risk either. It’s good to establish a reference point for your trailer temp readings by repacking and/or re-greasing the bearings to see how they perform during normal trailering.
 
I agree those numbers look high... With the R25 on a long tow my hubs are usually 8 or 10 degrees above ambient temperature and I can definitely hold the hub without burning my fingers... 130-140 is too hot to touch...
 
Keep in mind that disc brake trailers may run slightly hotter. In checking with our Service Manager John, he says that temps as high as 180 would be the upper limit of normal.
 
It’s good to establish a reference point for your trailer temp readings by repacking and/or re-greasing the bearings to see how they perform during normal trailering.
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OK Sneaks. Thanks. I have no base-line and wondered what others have seen. That's why I decided to take the thermometer w/ me this time. I do the same w/ my air-cooled VW. I use the gauges as a base-line; not god speaking. I like being prudent/logical but dislike being paranoid. :lol:

I'm gonna do a complete re-pack on all four, probably with a marine grade bearing grease. Right now they are packed with GL2 lithium grease (came from King that way) and I know you're not supposed to mix two different complexes in a bearing.

I've already been stuck on the side of I-5 w/ a flat and no spare (don't ask :roll: ) and I don't wanna experience that again due to a hub.
 
Matt Gurnsey":2ldkm7ez said:
Keep in mind that disc brake trailers may run slightly hotter. In checking with our Service Manager John, he says that temps as high as 180 would be the upper limit of normal.
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Wow. I would have said that was too hot, but he obviously has more experience/knowldege than me. Mahalo, Matt. I'm still following up w/ King per your recomendation and I'll do a yearly re-pack.
 
180 would probably be after lots of braking and on a hot day, not what I would shoot, for. :) Just didn't want you to panic :shock: with 125 ish temps. The vented rotors cool best when moving faster, too.
 
I have a Float-On trailer for my CD-25. After towing about 10 miles the starboard two hubs are slightly warm. The port forward hub is cold and the port rear hub is much warmer. I pulled the port rear hub today and checked for wear. Everything looks good. I believe my hubs are Posi Lube. I re-assembled and packed this hub. I inserted grease to fill the other three hubs. After a test run of several miles the temps are about the same as before (warm, warm, cold, much warmer).

What I think is that on the starboard hubs the castellated nuts are set right. I think that the port forward castelated nut needs to be tightened 1/6 turn to bring up the temperature. And I think that the port rear castelated nut needs to be loosened 1/6 turn to lower the temperature. I feel that after trailering a distance all hubs should be about the same temperature and about 100 to 110 degrees.

Does this make sense? Any advise or observations? :lol:
 
I have the posi-lube axles on my trailer. After 100+ miles (and all checks along the route) at 55-60 mi/hr, all 4 hubs run slightly warm to the touch, and no warmer than the tires themselves. Most all tows are 100+ miles with perhaps 5,000 miles on the trailer, and I re-grease the axles once or twice per season. I have never re-packed the bearings, although I do take the hubs apart to inspect the bearings every other year. I have disc brakes on all four wheels, and all launches have been in salt water.

All of my previous boat trailers have used Bearing Buddy with similar temps, but more work with re-packing and adding grease before each launch.

I have the same type axle on a travel trailer with drum brakes, and it performs similarly. I towed it 9,500 miles (Port Angeles WA to the East Coast and back, and I greased them with the zerk fittings once during the trip.

I like this type of lube system.
 
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