Which Wheel Bearing Grease?

[Full_Monte]

I've been using Sta-Lube blue boat and trailer grease for a number of years. So far, I have no major complaints about it. One thing I have noticed is separation of the grease into a grease and an oily substance. This happens in the grease gun especially on hot days. Recently, I've noticed a couple other brands that could be used. What are you using and why? Thanks!

 

[Bduck]

Monte, this is a good question. It is like a tub of lard when heat is applied that liquifies. I, too, have been using the same grease for a number of years. I know of a few that have gotten away from grease altogether with a complete inclosed axel using oil where its monitored with a site glass. The existing axel/s on your trailer can be converted with a oil bath kit for about $50ea axel. I have to replace my axel since I have thrown a bearing on each side. The axel with new bearings & hubs will cost me $215 plus oil bath kit. For me this is not a bad price. I'm not sure if the price will vary if your running trailer breaks but if you are using existing hubs, adding the oil bath kit is a sure way to go and cheaper.

 

[Bullitt]

I use Chevron Delo EP NLGL2. Seems to be good stuff. I do a re-pack and new seals every 18-24mo.

Oil bath is good too. I've done a couple conversions using the liqua-lube product and had good results. I'd have them now but they don't make a kit big enough for my trailer.

 

[Full_Monte]

Monte, this is a good question. It is like a tub of lard when heat is applied that liquifies. I, too, have been using the same grease for a number of years. I know of a few that have gotten away from grease altogether with a complete inclosed axel using oil where its monitored with a site glass. The existing axel/s on your trailer can be converted with a oil bath kit for about $50ea axel. I have to replace my axel since I have thrown a bearing on each side. The axel with new bearings & hubs will cost me $215 plus oil bath kit. For me this is not a bad price. I'm not sure if the price will vary if your running trailer breaks but if you are using existing hubs, adding the oil bath kit is a sure way to go and cheaper.

I don't think I can convert my grease system to oil bath unless I change axles. The reason is that it uses the Sure-lube system that has a grease zirc on the end of the axle. The grease is sent to the inside wheel bearing through a passage in the axle. I think the Sure-Lube system is not compatible with oil. Am I all wet on this, or has anybody made this conversion successfully?

 

[Mav186]

Monte,
You bring up a very important question, because we have ALOT riding on those trailers! When I had a greased system, I used a marine wheel bearing grease by Mercury. I now have the oil bath system but it came with my new boat package. I doubt the grease is actually 'seperating' in your gun, but rather partial liquifying while the majority is staying solid. The oil bath system basically works on the same principle...when grease gets warm, it changes to a more liquid state. The oil bath just stays in that liquid state without any heat applied. There are arguements of pro and con about either system. The bottom line is that either system, if properly maintained, will last years without issue.101eatdrink101

 

[Old School]

I've been using the Plews LubriMatic Marine Trailer Bearing Grease for about five years now on my bearings. I use the peanut cans when I check/repack the bearings and the gun to top off my bearing buddys. Pulled the bearings after two years in Feb and the grease still looked very good. I have not noticed any liquid leakage from the gun and the gun sits on the window sill of my garage wrapped in a t shirt. I also have another smaller gun to grease my outboard and it has a different brand of lithium marine grease in it. I have noticed this one does leak some juice and have to have it within a pan to catch the drips.

Old School

 

[fishbiker]

Coming from the salt in san diego i have always used maxima grease in all my jetski and boay trailers, never have had a problem like with the cheapo auto zone stuff. you can buy it at most all motorcycle shops or online.

A smooth, dark blue, E.P. Lithium complex multi-purpose grease manufactured in a NLGI #2 consistency- with the added benefits of a high density polymer to provide optimum service under most ambient temperature conditions. For use from -29°C (-20°F) to 293°C (560°F). This distinctive multi-functional lubricating grease has very good mechanical stability (won’t thin out under normal usage), has excellent resistance to water wash out, clings to metal surfaces under severe conditions as it effectively reduces the coefficient of friction. Maxima Waterproof Grease is fortified with non leaded extreme pressure additives for high load carrying ability and extra protection under shock loading conditions. Rust & corrosion inhibitors provide a further margin of superior performance and protection under a wide variety of adverse operating conditions. This high temperature lithium complex grease will work on bearings next to disc brakes as well as boat trailer axles & hubs used in salt water environments

 

[skookum9]

I was never really very fussy before, just made sure that it said marine grade on it and it was good enough for me. Now that I've begun switching all of my oils and fluids over to Amsoil products, that's the next step for me is to apply it to my bearings. If their grease is as good as their oil, then I'm in for a real nice treat. Not long after changing out the motor oil in an older rig I had, an oil line blew and ran my engine dry of oil, but that Amsoil just kept that thing running fine until I could get it off the road. Actually got me all the way back to my driveway where I shut it off until I could fix it.

Those oil bath units look very impressive and sound really great but they worry me if things went wrong. I can just see where if that plastic cap gets broken, I'll be stuck there waiting on the side of the road until I can replace it, unable to even limp down the road to get to somewhere more appropriate to do repairs. Or, if I don't notice that it got broke and I'll just end up driving until I seize up my hubs. They look like they'll work great as long as nothing goes wrong, but if something goes wrong they look like they will get very expensive in a quick hurry. Does anyone know if this is the case or if I'm missing something?

 

[SuperD]

skookum9, the oil bath hubs can also come with a metal cap and a small view window like a big rig. They are threaded and just screw into the hub. Not really any different than a bearing biddy that is hammered into the end of a hub. And I have heard many a stories that said the bearing buddy had fallen off the end of the axle. Having a replacement seems like it is the smart way to go in either case.

 

[fishbiker]

Amsoil is a very good oil, i,m sure there grease is also good

 

[skookum9]

SuperD,
You're right about a bearing buddy coming off, that's happened to me on two different occasions. I had a hub that was damaged and didn't realize it until I had lost the second one to that hub. The difference is that with the bearing buddy I was still able to drive down the road, I just couldn't back into the water, which in my case wasn't a problem. With the oil bath, it looks like it would be a complete disaster. I like the idea though of a metal hub with a small viewing window, that sounds a lot better than the plastic ones that I have seen. Good info, thanks for posting.

 

[Full_Monte]

Good discussion! One interesting point about the sure-lube grease system I have on my trailer is that in order to "repack" your bearings (using the zirc fitting on the end of the axle), is that you have to jack the wheel up off the ground and rotate the wheel while pumping the grease in. This insures that the inner bearing is getting grease all around the circumference. When all cavities are filled with grease, it squeezes out of the front bearing. A Bearing Buddy system works just the opposite, with grease being forced into the outer bearing. This puts pressure on the rear grease seal, which doesn't seem to be an issue with the sure-lube system. I don't have an opinion about which system is best yet as I've only used two of the three systems.

 

[SuperD]

Monte, with a standard system, repacking is usually done by hand, not the zirc fitting. With the sure lube system, can you still pack all the grease in by hand before assembly?

 

[SilverBullets]

Monte, with a standard system, repacking is usually done by hand, not the zirc fitting. With the sure lube system, can you still pack all the grease in by hand before assembly?

I've got the EZ Lube hubs...if the Sure Lub system is the same they can be packed by hand also.
http://dexteraxle.com/i/u/1080235/f/product_flyers/E-Z_Lube_3-09.pdf

http://www.cerka.ca/catalog/EZLUBE.asp

 

[Full_Monte]

Monte, with a standard system, repacking is usually done by hand, not the zirc fitting. With the sure lube system, can you still pack all the grease in by hand before assembly?

Yes, you of course start with hand-packing the bearings. The sure-lube system recognizes that the failure mode of most trailer bearings is that the inside bearing fails before the outside bearing. Therefore, the grease goes to the inside bearing and then pushes out to the outside bearing. Having thought about this, I think it's a better system than the bearing buddy system because the bearing buddy system can put a lot of pressure on the grease seal. This doesn't seem as much of a problem on the sure-lube system.

 

[Full_Monte]

I've got the EZ Lube hubs...if the Sure Lub system is the same they can be packed by hand also.
http://dexteraxle.com/i/u/1080235/f/product_flyers/E-Z_Lube_3-09.pdf

http://www.cerka.ca/catalog/EZLUBE.asp

Based on what I see in the drawings, we are talking about the same system with different names. Maybe all the axles are made in one place and then the trailer mfgrs. put their own name on the lube system. Bullets, how often do you zirc your fittings? Do you turn the wheel while doing so to spread the grease evenly in the rear bearing?

 

[Old School]

"Bullets, how often do you zirc your fittings? Do you turn the wheel while doing so to spread the grease evenly in the rear bearing? "

Good question. Is there any devise like the floating front cover of the bearing buddy to tell you if you need grease? or is it just impossible to over grease?

Old School

 

[SilverBullets]

Based on what I see in the drawings, we are talking about the same system with different names. Maybe all the axles are made in one place and then the trailer mfgrs. put their own name on the lube system. Bullets, how often do you zirc your fittings? Do you turn the wheel while doing so to spread the grease evenly in the rear bearing?

The place that installed the new axle and ez lube hubs said it wasn't nessesary to turn the wheels since the grease gets spread out the minute you start driving, but after your post and looking into it more I'm going to start turning the wheels. I give the zerks a couple shots of grease every few trips (lake is 45 minutes from the house.)

OUOTE= Old School
Is there any devise like the floating front cover of the bearing buddy to tell you if you need grease? or is it just impossible to over grease?

It's pretty much impossible to over grease as long as you use a hand operated grease gun and go slow. Usually a pump or two is all it takes to see the old grease starting to come out the grease cap hole.

 

[Fishslammer]

I have a 05 northriver seahawk 21' on an ez loader trailer. I bought it about 3 years ago and both axels were oil bath. The front axel is the brake axel and it has disc brakes on it. I notices that the rotors and pads were wasted. The oil seal had leaked out the oil on the rotors and wasted everything. I replaced the seals and new outer caps and the same problem. This time the outer caps broke off as well. I have just replaced the front hubs with greased hubs as well as the rotors and calipers. Hope this works out better than what was on there.