E-Z Lube Axles


B

BillWilliams

New member
[FONT=&quot]The trailer that came with the boat we purchased last July has the E-Z Lube (also called Posi-Lube) system. These have the rubber plugs in the dust caps that you remove to get to the zerk fitting that is pressed into the end of the spindle. The grease exits the spindle in the back by the seal and then pushes the grease towards the open dust cap. Of course the theory is it pushes out the bad grease.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Before the end of last year, I noticed every time we used the boat, water was getting into the grease.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Our previous boat of 20 years had old bearing buddies on it and I never had an issue with those so I decided to put them on this trailer since I was wondering if the rubber plug was allowing the water in. I did deal with the zerk fittings so they did not contact the bearing buddy.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I repacked the hubs with the bearing buddies right before a trip to Florida late in September and made it there and back with no issues. That was the last time the boat was used until yesterday.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I put some grease into the bearing buddies so there was pressure against the piston. Since I just repacked them last fall, I did not do that this spring.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]When we got home yesterday, the left rear wheel bearing was burned up, bearing buddy gone and lucky the wheel stayed on. This is the first wheel bearing hub I've ever burned up in over 20 years of owning trailered boats.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The spindle is pretty chewed up and the inner bearing race is stuck on the spindle. I'm probably just going to replace that axle because I don't want to worry about a buggered up spindle driving down the road.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The thing is all of the replacements I'm finding use the E-Z lube system as well.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Now after this long winded story, I was wondering if the other good folks around here have the water intrusion issues in their E-Z lube systems? Quite obviously the bearing buddies didn't help.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Thanks[/FONT]
 
i hate trailer bearings. A hub in my 1995 tahoe went 265,000 miles and they are like $100 new. Why can't a trailer just have car like bearings? I'd much rather pay $100/wheel for bearings that last 100,000 miles vs $25 for bearings and $100 in grease and $1000 in hassle.
 
E-Z lube or other names mean - Mass quantities of grease

Trailer comes out of the water, spindles get greased, every time

My 3 axle trailer uses a tube every time it comes out.

I've had sealed non-EZ types and some held the seal and others didn't. I'll take EZ any day over pull and repack
 
I had the trailer for my 260 made 12 years ago and went with ?sealed? hubs that are filled with a hybrid grease/oil. Changes to oil when the hub warms up and back to grease when it cools. There?s a slight positive pressure inside the hub maintained by a cap similar to the bearing buddy but no Zerk. Never needs greasing. I was very skeptical to say the least when the guys at Heritage talked me in to going with these hubs. Not sure who makes them but they are called Vault hubs. 12 years later there still good as new never been repacked and not one pump of grease added. I feel the hubs every time we stop for food or gas and they are never hot. One of the 4 is consistently warmer than the other 3 so I assume it will be the one to go first.


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PJ said:
I had the trailer for my 260 made 12 years ago and went with ?sealed? hubs that are filled with a hybrid grease/oil. Changes to oil when the hub warms up and back to grease when it cools. There?s a slight positive pressure inside the hub maintained by a cap similar to the bearing buddy but no Zerk. Never needs greasing. I was very skeptical to say the least when the guys at Heritage talked me in to going with these hubs. Not sure who makes them but they are called Vault hubs. 12 years later there still good as new never been repacked and not one pump of grease added. I feel the hubs every time we stop for food or gas and they are never hot. One of the 4 is consistently warmer than the other 3 so I assume it will be the one to go first.


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Click to expand...

That's interesting, have not heard of them for boat trailers. What manufacture?
 
Thanks guys for the input.

As far as pumping these ez-lube hubs with grease. It sounds like you just pump until the grease is coming out of the dust cap which means even the zerk is covered in grease, correct?
 
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the zerk, your hands, everything you touch, the back of the hub, the inside of the wheels, your dog. I hate trailer bearings.
 
BillWilliams said:
Thanks guys for the input.

As far as pumping these ez-lube hubs with grease. It sounds like you just pump until the grease is coming out of the dust cap which means even the zerk is covered in grease, correct?
Click to expand...

Yes, and a few more pumps to make sure no water is trapped inside
 
If you smear grease liberally on the rubber plug it will seal and prevent water entry. It's not pretty, but it works.
 
I have used a system called air tight. They are in Ft Lauderdale. They use a small amount of air pressure to seal and keep water out. I keep a sports ball pump in the truck. Prior to launch just make sure the rubber cap has just barely some air in it. I have towed cross country numerous times and never had a bearing failure. Ive been using this system on my last few trailers for 30 years.
https://www.airtighthubs.com/
 
The issue I have seen with vault hubs is there is no way to detect a failure until the wheel falls off. The air tights have a clear hub with a rubber dome plug. To have a look just pop off the rubber dome and you can see the condition of the grease as well as the clear hub. No Fuss no grease slinging around. When a HOT standard hub hits cold water on the ramp it creates a vacuum that sucks the water in. The air tights maintain air pressure that will compensate for that vacuum,,,
 
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