Greased bearings??
 

I'm curious who greases the chit out of their bearings or does the minimal. Meaning, do you fill the whole hub up with grease or just grease bearings.

I have my hubs off servicing the brakes and when I put everything back together am I good with just packing the bearings and placing some grease on the spindle, or should I pack the bearings then fill the whole hub up with grease with the grease fitting on the end of the spindle?

Thoughts?

Try to be right at just enough. Too much, grease will come out the rear seal… what a mess!

That’s what I’ve heard. Something tells me the whole hub should be full to keep water out. The front hub cab and rear seal needs air pressure to keep a foot of water out.

Many years ago, I was overkill on maintenance items like that. I would repack every season, new seals, and silicone the cap. No matter how careful I was, I could still tell some water got in.
Now i am at every 2-3 years. Still see some water getting in but no issues. Pack the bearings, Stuff some grease in the hub, few pumps in the grease fittings every now and then, you will be fine. Same results, less work.

Ive learned not to overthink things. Just be prepared. I carry a drum with packed bearings, ready to throw on. Also have additional bearings and seals.

IMHO, the hub should be completely full of grease. The theory being that if there's air in hub heated from the drive, when it gets submerged in relatively cold water, the air will shrink dropping pressure and encouraging water to enter hub.

The prev owner said he would buy a different color grease each season and pump it in till the grease coming out changed color. This means roughly a whole tube for each wheel. I use the same color grease and pump until the grease coming out looks new, still takes abt 1 tube per wheel.

A few seasons back, I got a pneumatic grease gun to speed up this process. It's definitely a lot easier but you can't just lay down on the trigger, it will push out the inner grease seal. I'll hit it for a couple of seconds, then let it rest a couple of seconds, then repeat. So far, so good.

As far as it leaking out, one of the 4 wheels does spit up some grease (on outboard side) and does make a mess. Suspect there's still some air trapped in the hub that expands and pushes some grease out while towing. As I write this, I wonder if maybe jacking up the axle and slowly rotating the wheel while pumping grease might help purge out any trapped air??

I live less than 5 miles from the water, so I only replace bearings/seals every 5 years or so. I'll do the above mentioned grease purge once a season and give them a quick shot of grease every other outing just to make me feel better.

I've always had some sort of 'Bearing Buddies'; so my trailer bearing maintenance was about every two years I'd take the hubs off, inspect the bearings and races, replace as needed (rarely), then I'd hand-pack the bearings good, reinstall everything, then grease up per the instructions on the Buddies.

You never said if you have EZlube spindles with the grease fittings and rubber plug on the dust cap. Pretty much what Z28 was alluding to.
My point is, if so they pretty much do just that as in fill the whole hub cavity.

On farm implements you’ll blow the seal if you go crazy with the grease.
I’ve done 3 boat pulls from Fl to Idaho in the last 5 years on the same bearings.
5 shots every morning before leaving the hotel. Never had an issue.

Anyone have any experience with these hubs? Been thinking of ordering one for a spare but they look good. I wonder about switching all 4 of my hubs to these.


Padraig

Or how about the NON-greased, oil-filled versions?
Anyone?

I do have the EZlube spindles, and for now I have the bearings packed and the spindle loaded with grease, not sure that matters. I've packed them like this before, but after one or two trips I can't add more grease without filling up the hub if I leave the tire on. So I guess I answered my own question, knowing that it is impossible to keep all water out the hub will have to be full to push old grease out. I do like the idea of the pneumatic grease gun although not sure how it would work on road trips, wonder if there is a dewalt version.

There is a member on here RT930... he was the oil bath with air pressure, loves them and next to nothing maintenance from what I've heard.

I believe all the name brands have battery grease guns now.

I just pulled all my hubs and did the full maintenance on them. I made sure to polish the spindle where the seal rides so I wouldn't get any leaks. I cleaned the bearings in mineral spirits and blew them dry then I used a bearing packer that does a good job quickly. I only use Amsoil marine grease as it can handle up to 10% of water dilution. I have the EZLube spindles and with a pneumatic grease gun I filled the hubs. I'm in and out a lot and didn't want too much air in the hub to suck water in when I dunk the trailer in cold Lake Huron. Most of my trips are less than 50 miles round trip so I don't do them unless I notice a seal starting to leak or moisture in the grease. It's been almost 10 years since they were done last and they were still in good shape.

Air tight
 

Best hub system. no fuss no mess. I trailer cross country with our 400SS...heavy. Never had a bearing failure or water in a hub. Pre launch just make sure the front boot is pooched out a bit.
https://www.airtighthubs.com/