General Disarray

I have been using Lucas marine grease in my bearings. Great stuff but does not show a milky-ness when it has water intrusion.

As I did my usual checks, I noticed it seems thin - same on all bearings. So I assuming that’s the sign of water intrusion.

so the question is, would you completely breakdown and relube or use the lube zirk and treat it like every other year? Down side is it will be really hard to tell when the new grease is packed

IMPORTANT NOTE: trailer is mostly highway time

slickster

If you get water in the hubs, regardless of which oil or grease you use, they will fail and roach themselves and or the axle....fix the leak, repack the bearings.....

D_Westie

and stop the water from getting in in the first place.

General Disarray

Thanks guys. I believe it’s coming in through the super lube caps. I did the buddy bearing cover and it seems to have stopped it for a year

any other suggestions?

General Disarray

the super lube axel allows you to replace the grease. I just don’t know how thorough. I assume with water you want it all out and to be safe repack

Rolandt03

how often are you greasing the bearings?

leonreno

Look into Air-Tight hub system if you want completely sealed hubs.

https://airtighthubs.com/products/index/9

I have tested it on one of my hubs and is still air tight after about 18 months. Will be doing the other three hubs when I have time.

General Disarray

1/year

General Disarray

thanks!

D_Westie

I've had them on my trailer for about 5 years now and have never got water in the hubs during that time.

Inlander

First I’ve seen the air tight hubs.

I use the Trailer Buddies by UFP (Dexter). 18 years and 80,000+ miles.

If you use grease use a pressurized hub system. Water won’t get in and very little maintenance is required. Avoid adding grease unless you know there is room for it.

General Disarray

I am more looking for did water get in and if so repack Vs super lube it out

lucas was up in the air - said it could be grease that’s 1.5 years old or maybe water. Downside is their marine grease doesn’t really have a visual indicator like red n tacky will get milky or white

ill go with the air tight hubs next year when I have time to really break down all 4 and spend the time

ozmako

or you could use a different coloured marine bearing grease then you could see when the new grease has displaced the old grease

HatchieLuvr

I'm a fan of Red&Tacky! I've used it for years on everything and just really like it's "easy price and easy to find". When I bought my bayboat in Jan/2017 I anticipated changing whatever grease out it had OEM, imagine my surprise when I found it came from the factory with R&T!

I REALLY like the SuperLube setup because it's so easy to change the grease, I usually do it 2-3x a year because of the simplicity and the annual distances I pull my trailer. I pull my boat to my place in FL 4-6 times a year (500m each way from my west TN home) plus 2-3 additional trips to the coast with annual trips to Delacroix, LA and a buds place in Gulf Shores, AL (headed there later this week). Plus my local bass fishing with my bayboat here in TN is usually 150-180 miles per trip so that adds up to about another 1k+ per year. So I literally put several thousand miles per year on my trailer. I keep the tires properly inflated (it's a Continental with torsions and discs) and switch the grease out 2-3x a year, really nothing else has needed any maintenace. I swapped the grease out again today as a matter of fact. (For the first time I used a Dewalt 20V grease gun, WOW I'll never use a manual gun again! ) Most of the time the grease will be dark purple to nearly black. However today the left front hub grease was bright, bubblegum pink! So I might have to investigate that hub further here shortly, obviously getting some water in that hub. I've never had "pink grease" in any of the other hubs before.

Inlander

Why do you change the grease? I don’t get. Instead get a good hub system and forget about it.

Bamaskeetshooter

I change the grease 3-4 times a year to confirm that no water has entered my hubs.

Rolandt03

how often are you launching and loading? you need to pump a couple of squirts in the bearings after every couple of trips. i also recommend this grease, try and wash it off your hands, soap and water wont cut it. you have to use some type of solvent.

https://www.amazon.com/Green-Grease-...4086460&sr=8-2

HatchieLuvr

Because it's "quick & easy" with the Super Lube system. If I towed local and only 1k miles a year then I wouldn't worry about it. (Tho I NEVER like to let saltwater sit in the hubs, regardless of whether it's actually in there or not, I have a hangup/mental block about that. Frequent grease replacement eases those fears. ) I tow some years over 7500 miles so combined with easy and frequent changes, I just feel better about it and have had no problems. Problems from old/broke down grease aren't possible with grease that's weeks/months old vs years.

General Disarray

guess that’s probably part of the problem. I need to be more diligent.

sounds like I should break them down and start over with a new process yeah?

Rolandt03

bearings are cheap enough so if im breaking them down to inspect, im just going to replace with new instead of repacking. in your case that is probably what i would do since you do not know the current condition of the bearings.

also highly recommend the grease i posted! extremely water resistant