Sealed Bearing Hubs

I recently purchased a 2004 Triton and the trailer has the sealed bearings. One of them is leaking a little oil and I am not sure the bearings have ever been replaced. Can this be done with the sealed hubs and is there anyone in the Dallas area that works on them?

Thanks,
Ken

What you mean "sealed" bearings?

We talking dust covers? Bearing buddies? Oil bath hubs? Or some kind of sealed assembly like you would find on the front of late model vehicles?

Pics would help. The newer Vortex hubs are not supposed to be 6 year or 100,000 miles till you need to service them.

I think Tritons used them but I don't know if they were out in 2004.



If its this one here are some instructions about filling it and grease seals to replace if they are worn. I would imagine any marine dealer and probably most trailer dealers would be able to do the service.
http://www.tiedown.com/pdf/c1157.pdf

I think these would be the oil bath hubs, they are clear and you can see the oil. Boat is in storage so I don't have any pics at the moment. How often should the bearings and seals be changed?

I don't mind helping you. I live in Nevada. I will send you a message.

Every several years at the most or whenever the color of the oil turns muddy looking. Thats when you know it has water in it.

UFP is one of the major builders when it comes to bass boats. Changing is pretty straight forward. Take the tire off. On the side of the hub should be an allen screw. Turn the hub up, take the screw out and then turn it down again to drain it. Once drained you can turn it back up and fill it up with 50 weight non detergent oil. All the way up.
http://www.ufpnet.com/Portals/0/trailerbuddygoldmaint.pdf

Here is the UFP hub. You can find seals here.

Changing the seals can be difficult if you don't know how to get them apart. You use a rubber mallet to bang on them from side to get them out. I bang on it a bit, spin the hub, bang, spin hub a little, bang again. Eventually it will pop out and you can get to the innards.

Thanks all for the information.

What are your thoughts on the oil baths verses greased hubs and buddy bearings?

Ken, I have a 2005 Triton that had the same oil bath hubs. Seemed like everytime I looked, I had a seal leaking. Took the hubs off, clean all bearings and insides. Repacked the bearings with a good quality grease and replaced with new seals and buddy bearings!

My 2006 Triton had the oil hubs. Take the wheel off and look at the hub. There is a set screw where you can add oil to the hub. The set screw would back off just enough to let some oil seep out. Bet thats were its coming from.

Our new boat has "Vault" hubs on it. They are oil bath hubs. Paperwork that came with them said 10 year unlimited mile warranty no service required... we will see how that works out.

As previously discussed remove the set screw drain and refill. In the short run just re tighten and see if that stops the leak. I use a syringe and big needle to replace oil. If you have any play you may have a bearing problem. I use McGill in Lewisville for repairs. I had the bearings replaced this past spring on a 2006 Triton trailer.