Oil Bath Boat Trailer Hubs


B

BeechBoy

New member
We purchased a new triple axle boat trailer this year, with disc brakes, and oil bath trailer bearing hubs.

We experienced a inside axle seal failure followed by a bearing failure.

It was a mess, and of course happened in a not so great location.

I appears we have another one that is leaking as well.

Unlike a greaseable hub, when the oil leaks out and runs dry it is only a matter of time before a failure.

Normally these are considered an upgrade to greaseable hubs.

Our last trailer had conventional grease type hubs. We ran it 10 years without any tire, wheel, bearing, or axle problems.

Thanks is advance for your help.
 
BEECHBOY,
I DISAGREE ABOUT THE UPGRADE. I HAVE NEVER SEEN AN OIL BATH AXLE DESIGNED TO DUNK IN THE WATER. YOU ARE RIGHT ABOUT THEM BEING BETTER THAN GREASE, BUT THAT IS FOR LONGEVITY GOING DOWN THE ROAD.
MOST BOAT TRANSPORTERS THAT HAVE OIL BATH BEARINGS, DO NOT PUT THEIR TRAILERS IN THE WATER.
GET THE BRAND AND MODEL NUMBER FROM THE AXLE TUBE, AND CALL MANUFACTURER. MAKE SURE THAT WHAT I'M THINKING IS TRUE.
KEEP US POSTED.
 
You are correct! The oil bath bearings last longer but they DO NOT LIKE WATER! This winter if it was mine would be changing them to grease bearing and eliminate the problem!............. 8)
 
Oil Bath are great on long distances over the road. if you are changing bearings I would suggest going to the new Vault Bearings. Its a hybrid grease bearing thats at 110 degrees becomes a oil bath but will re-solidify to a grease when cooled down to prolong the bearing! They have a 5 or 10 yr warranty on them!
 
Update on the Oil Bath Bearings.

The manufacture is switching the axles back to grease.

It was not fun with the axle bearing failure, but the trailer builder followed up and took care of everything.

Now all we have to do is get thru winter......
 
Also... If you have a torsion axle trailer (in lieu of leaf springs), it is very, very important that you tow the trailer as level as possible. I was towing mine too high in the front by 2 1/2 inches and had 2 bearings and axles fail (8k axle) in less than 2000 miles (11 months in time).

So, if you are not towing level, you could have an issue with weight distribution. Tow those trailers level. It would have saved me $5000 over the course of the past year in trailer repairs.
 
Anyone have any experience with the Vault Bearings?
They came on my new in '09 tandem Axel Phoenix trailer for our 260br.
They sound like a great idea and have worked fine so far.
We make a couple trips per year across the Mohave desert from the Los Angeles area to the Colorado River and I'm hoping these will hold up to the heat.
The "Bearing Buddy" grease type on my last trailer would spin right out of the hubs on a hot day.
 
FROM WHAT I'VE HEARD, THEY COME WITH A FIVE YEAR GUARANTEE, AND ARE VERY DEPENDABLE. NO PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, JUST WHAT I'VE READ.
YOU CAN KEEP US IN THE LOOP ON HOW THEY WORK FOR YOU.
 
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