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.