Converting to Oil Fill Bearings????

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.
 
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.
 
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?
 
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
 
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:moon

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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.
 
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?
 
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-Bearin ... 80KIT.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.
 
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
 
I've thought about converting over to oil bath on my C-Dory trailer. I just read several reviews on the amazon kodiak oil bath conversion and the same kit on etrailer and people are complaining about oil leaking from the inner seal.

I think the oil bath EZ loader kit is better. I ordered replacement seals for my Ranger Tug trailer and talked to a tech in the parts department. He talked me through the process.

The important thing to make sure no leaks, he said, was to use some red RTV sealant on the surface where the seal goes into the hub, on the threads of screw on cap and on threaded filler plug that screws into outer part of hub.

So far, so good on that trailer and a whole lot easier and cleaner to do periodic maintenance. I also really like the ability to see the oil. On one of the hubs, I noticed milky looking oil and that caused me to change it out.
 
The pressed in hubs are a tight fit. I’ve never had one come off. And to remove it to remove a wheel or bearing you have to gently knock around it with a hammer while also prying on it. The only time I lost oil was in the parking lot at Bullfrog on Lake Powell when someone must have gotten their trailer to close to mine and broke the plastic cap off. I carried spares! Colby
 
colbysmith":11fjz5ww said:
The pressed in hubs are a tight fit. I’ve never had one come off. And to remove it to remove a wheel or bearing you have to gently knock around it with a hammer while also prying on it. The only time I lost oil was in the parking lot at Bullfrog on Lake Powell when someone must have gotten their trailer to close to mine and broke the plastic cap off. I carried spares! Colby
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Colby
Have you removed the press in caps for maintenance since you installed them? I am just wondering how hard or easy they are to get off without damage. The bearing buddys work the same as far as installation and removal. I have found that sometimes I have really had to get brutal with them to get them off. this can cause some dings to the stainless steel bearing buddy and if it looks bad I will usually replace it.
With the softer Aluminum Billet Kodiak oil bath cap I would be concerned that it might get dinged during removal causing the threads for the plastic cap to be untrue.
The one time I lost a brand new bearing buddy, I was in shock. I had to beat that thing on so hard I figured I would destroy it if I had to remove it. Then it fell off 20 miles later. I put on another one and it has been fine ever since. The other three I had no problem with. I have also done this many times before with no problem. I still haven't figured that one out.
 
I’ve dinged a few, but just cosmetic. Using a rubber or wood mallet works better than a metal hammer. And being gentle with the screwdriver used for prying. I’ve also used a larger pliers with rag wrapped around the oil hub body. Colby
 
I have never had a trailer with oil bath hubs, until now, but have known about them for years.

We have been satisfied in using a previous boat trailer that had bearing buddies installed. The only problem in using bearing buddies is the constant grease splatter that builds up over time on the outside and inside of the trailer wheel.

Our two current boat trailers have oil bath hubs and we are very satisfied with the use of them. If you put a lot of miles on your trailer, consider going with oil bath hubs. The condition of and the level of the oil in the unit is easy to observe because of the sight glass window on the outside of the hub.
 
If you want to remove the pressed in oil bearing adapters, take the hub to a auto machine shop. They have (or should have) an expanding tool that will fit inside the pressed in adapter and will yank that sucker right out.

If one beats it off with a hammer, there's risk of damaging the aluminum: dings, gouges, flat spots, etc.

Boris
 
T.R. Bauer":34b3lii4 said:
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?
Click to expand...


False.
The Kodiak kit that I installed 10 years ago has worked perfect. The kit comes with an alu. press fit hub cap with a threaded outer end that a semi clear cap (with "o" ring) screws on to. I went from having to pack bearings every year to checking out of guilt every 2 yrs. Oil bath hubs have been in use in the trucking/equipment industry for 100 yrs. or so.
:thup :thup :thup
 
journey on":26zskq64 said:
If you want to remove the pressed in oil bearing adapters, take the hub to a auto machine shop. They have (or should have) an expanding tool that will fit inside the pressed in adapter and will yank that sucker right out.

If one beats it off with a hammer, there's risk of damaging the aluminum: dings, gouges, flat spots, etc.

Boris
Click to expand...

Use smaller monkey & smaller hammer. :wink: :thup
 
tsturm":2pscwn4f said:
T.R. Bauer":2pscwn4f said:
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?
Click to expand...


False.
The Kodiak kit that I installed 10 years ago has worked perfect. The kit comes with an alu. press fit hub cap with a threaded outer end that a semi clear cap (with "o" ring) screws on to. I went from having to pack bearings every year to checking out of guilt every 2 yrs. Oil bath hubs have been in use in the trucking/equipment industry for 100 yrs. or so.
:thup :thup :thup
Click to expand...

I'm interested and sold! The only that has stopped me is changing out hubs. So, Amazon? 6 Robbers? Trailercraft? White Spruce?
 
Amazon. Two sizes. The smaller one fits 5 lug and the larger fits 6 lug. Generally. The included seal may or may not fit and that’s the most important part. I can look later at what size fit my Ez Loader under Midnight Flyer. But it’s the original rubber coated seal that came on the trailer. The kit seal is too big and that’s why some of the negative reviews. Colby
 
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