What maint. is required on ranger liquid filled hubs? The berings never even get hot at all! Always cool to the touch!

I think I read when I got mine that oil supposed to be changed once a year. For sure if they get a milky color to them.

If you have grease seeping out the back of your hub the rear seal has been compromised and will / can now allow water to intrude into your hub, long-term, NOT GOOD!

One of the biggest reasons for trailer bearing failure is from folks repeatedly pumping too much grease into their trailer bearing buddies, MORE is not BETTER!

After you have the seals replaced, bearings / races inspected and repacked, give the attached bearing buddies a couple of squirts of grease till the plastic blue/red collar wiggles, and then LEAVE 'EM ALONE.

I have a Ranger Trail and the previous owner took the "Cool Hubs" off and replaced them with bearing buddies. I was thinking of maybe changing it back to the cool hubs. I have one seal leaking right now on the bearing buddies as well. What are yalls opinions on this? Should I change them back or leave the buddies on there?

Trailer hubs have only one seal, and it is located on the back side of each hub.

If you're experiencing grease leakage from the front side of your wheel/hub, you may simply have a bad Bearing Buddy.

Bearing Buddys can only be removed / re-installed onto the trailer hub so many times before they lose their grease sealing integrity.

Replacing a set (2) of Bearing Buddys will only run you about $35 (stainless variety)

When Ranger first introduced Cool Hubs, they had many leakage issues, though I believe they've improved their design over the years.

Good luck!

I should clarify. It is the rear seal that is leaking on one hub. Does anyone have any idea what the cost of the cool hubs are?

I just got off the phone with Chris at Ranger. He said there is a good chance the previous owner didn't change the entire hubs on my trailer, but probably just took out the cool hub components and installed bearing buddies. He also said he doesn't like bearing buddies because they don't allow you to push out the old grease when you grease them. He said Ranger put zerk fittings on the spindle so that when you greased them the grease went through the middle of the spindle out the back, through the rear bearing and back out through the front bearing. This would push out old grease and water that may be in there. Bearing buddies do not allow you to push out old grease and water, they simply put new grease on top of old. Makes sense to me. I think at some point I will be going back to the cool hubs.

The only challenge / consideration that should be given to Cool Hubs is 'IF' you should ever develop a leak, once that oil is gone, your bearings will toast quick!

Traditional grease-packed trailer bearings are much more forgiving should they be neglected over time.

One could make an argument for either application.

Good luck whatever you decide!

Good point.

The biggest problem with bearing buddies is operator error. They are spring loaded to keep a positive pressure in the hub which keeps the seals seated and the water out. If you just keep pumping grease in, eventually its not going to have any place to go but out and thats when you start having problems because if the grease can get out, the water can get in. You should only grease them enough until the spring starts compressing and you can see the cap, which is what the zerk screws into,moving out. When grease starts coming out of the seals, its time to repack your bearings. Going down the road, water in your hub wont cause a problem, but when your trailer sits for a while, the moisture will cause the bearings to rust. And thats when we see you on the side of the road! But seriously, just pulling your boat down the road for any distance will cause a small amount of heat, not much but a little which will cause a small amount of pressure within the hub which will help keep water out. The most important thing is just making sure the seals are in good condition, dont overgrease, and you wont have a problem.

Another note on bearing buddies. They never allow to replacement of grease. That is to say that when you do add grease, you are only putting new grease on top of old grease. It is still good to pull the hub and clean all the old grease out and inspect the bearings every year or couple of years.

Does anyone know a shop in the Mansfield-Midlothian-Waxahachie
area that will check/pack/replace trailer wheel bearings??
Most of the the tire shops don't want to fool with it.

I don't know that area but any marine dealer will do it. Other than that, a trailer shop.

I can look at the bearings for you, a lot cheaper than a shop..
Do you have a single or tandem axle trailer?
I am on the noth side of Waxahachie, let me know if your interested.

FYI, I am a field service tech. for heavy trucks if that makes you feel any better.....

Your hubs should never get too hot to touch. In fact, they should be air temp only after towing. If your trailer does some hard corning a lot, like when you back it up into the garage or what ever, then the wheels bend inward and outward ever so slightly. This will allow some grease to escape. I add grease to my bearings every 100 miles or so, until the extra grease comes out the front hole. So far so good.

I decided to replace my bearings on my 1990 trailer this month. I tore everything down, got my bearing sizes and headed off to Academy. I bought two kits that included the bearings, races and seal. I've done this before but since it was years ago I used the following site as my guide.

http://users.westco.net/~tandjlm/berring.htm

Everything went well and the first run was a 45 mile trip each way. Hubs ran cool but I noticed that I had a little grease leaking out the back of one of the seals. I had cleaned up the back of my rims so I can spot any leaks on the back side. Tore it back down and a small section of the rubber part of the seal looked like it had been bent and flatten right where it is attached to the metal. Stopped by the auto parts store and bought a new one and replaced it. Next trip was 60 miles each way and I had no leaks. I have buddy bearing but I do not plan to use them unless I see grease coming out on a long trip.

I plan to inspect and repack them once a year replacing the back seal each time ($3-$6/wheel). Other than that I’m not touching them.

Cheap fix that probably didn't run more than $15/wheel (bearing where on clearance at Academy). You can hardly go wrong with the step-by-step in the link above.

Great post cowtown.

My thoughts on trailer bearings are, keep a greased set of spares ready including races, seal, washer, nut, cotter pin, and hub cap. I've had them burn up after 6 months before. Annual cleaning/repacking does not guarantee them to last. My new boat trailer came with the spare tire mounted to a spare hub on a spindle, an excellent idea.

I had a Mark IV trailer once and it had the spare mounted on a spindle and complete hub assembly. Great idea on a crummy trailer.

what do you guys think i should do? i asked my dad he said some water had got in there this and that, but in this thread i read you don't want water in there...I just got this boat, and this is what the wheel looks like...ANY suggestions welcome..thanks guys...it's my first boat...

You need to replace the rusty wheels Pronto!... and change/repack the bearings while you've got it apart.

Bazz

I agree with the above about addressing the rust first. From your picture, you cannot really tell what the whole story is. The bearings could be fine (Even though I would change them to start on a fresh slate). Can't judge a book by its cover.

I am a Certified Lubrication Specialist and a member of the Society of Troboligist and Lubrication Engineers. I love reading this post for many reasons. Mostly because I do this for a living in the industrial world and love to fish. Bearing buddies are great for those who want to do it the easy way but have to agree with the old timers that hand packing is the best way to do it. Grease is made up of about 85% oil and then blended with a thickner, usually a soap. The lubrication from grease comes from the oil "shedding the oil" and then reabsorbing it. Grease has to "channel" in order for this to take place. If the bearing is packed with to much grease it does two things: First it creates heat from the extra friction (running in sand) and secondly it foams thus not properly lubricating. Bearing should be packed about 75% for the full benifits of the grease to do its job. The back seal is suffcient to keep the water out and if any water does get in it is normally not at pressure and the grease will not allow it to penitrate to the bearing. Over greasing not only will blow out the lip seal but it will also over pack the bearing not allowing the grease from doing what it is supposed to do: lubricate, remove heat, and clean the surface. Just my 2 cents worth.. I will hang up and listen.

the whole trailer has rust on it? am i screwed?

JSB...you are not screwed. You now own a boat like the rest of us that needs a lot of work. As long as the tongue will stay on your hitch. and the wheels keep spinning you are gold. Go fishing and have fun. check your bearings, use your safty chains, try and keep lights that work and have fun.