Dura hubs

[The-easyrider]

Hi Guys the time has come to put new hubs/rotors on the trailer so i dont end up one of those poor bastards you see on the side of the road with a wheel of the boat and a cranky Mrs sitting beside i over xmas. So i was wondering if it was worth while going to dura hubs or stick with the grease as it will be all new running hear except the axles.
Thanks for any input
AB

[PB]

Go the Dura Hub, Most of the big trailer manufactures are going this way now days.

[Noelm]

from experience the dura hubs are fabulous, that is, untill things start to get a tiny bit rusty and they no longer seal 100% I think I prefer the "old fashioned" grease and bearing buddies, make sure they are re-packed before your trip, and if you have the facilties, do them again before the trip home if you are travelling really long distances that is, just keep a grease gun at home with quality bearing grease in it, and give the buddies a bit of a pump now and then and they should last for a very long time (in my opinion)

[Roughasguts]

I"m with Noelm on this one. The slightest nick! then followed by an oil leak! will render the wheel bearing useless in a few K's.
Sure there used on truck trailers and the like but they don't sit in salt water and then dry off all day in the sun.

Cheers.

[terryc]

my son recently purchased a second hand bow rider and the trailer had oil filled hubs fitted all looked good however he got stranded as one let go and he was stranded as you fear, had to get tilt tray, has gone back to grease, less risk of sudden loss.

[Noelm]

to be fair, I know some people who have had a pretty good run from them, but most have had little use, and I guess, the chance of failure "unexpectedly" is greater with them (kind of) but there is no reason to not have some spares and stuff if doing a long trip/holidays, if you are stuck on the side of the road, the bearing can be changed and used without seals or a cap/bearing buddy of any sort, which is a far better option that being stuck with a luggage packed car and a couple of screaming kids, and a wife giving you "the look" and the silent treatment, because it is all your fault.

[finga]

The oil filled hubs are brilliant.
The trick with the dura type hubs (ie oil filled....and there's lots of them on the market like Dura and Bear) is to have a good surface for the seal to sit against.
The machined surface of most axles is below par to install the seals to hold oil.
Most machined seal surfaces on axles are not good enough to run a seal for even grease.
But if you put a speedyi sleeve (or similar) on the axle before fitting the oil filled hubs then jobs done and dusted. And well and truly dusted...
http://www.vsm.skf.com/en-US/HeavyDuty/KitsAndTools/SpeediSleeve.aspx

But as with all hubs getting dunked....let the buggers cool down a bit before launching. Buy an ice-cream along the way near the ramp and enjoy the day

[cormorant]

Beware of "new hubs" with bearings already in them. They seem to be cheap crap and have a high failure rate. Unless your existing hubs have a major issue I would stick with them and replace complete bearing if required and check the wear point on the axle.

Not sure if you run so called marine seals or just normal double lip seals?

I run double lip seals and have very few issues over a very long time and a lot of KM.

If the sealing surface on your axel is not perfect fix it with a stainless speedy

How can I say this. Over mates and family over combined mass of KM just about every failure I have ever seen come down to how it was installed maintained and subsequent simple visual checks or hand temp probe not being done. OK I'll add in there extremely overloaded as another real cause. We have run heavy boats, to the limits at just above the speed limit long distances and rarely had issues. I check my trailers consistantly - takes 30 seconds at home , ramp and carpark. I normally use double lip seals , grease and adjust annually if required or at the first sign of heat or wear. Unbalanced trailer wheels, warped rims, bent axels , axel flex, worn towballs, stuffed springs axels not alighned all add up to increased trailer sway etc and risk of bearing failures.

Guess what I am saying is that it is rarely quality bearings , quality hubs that let go but the user or installer who makes them fail

A fair few mechanics who do trailer bearings need a good slap about the head.

Yep I use proper quality bearing buddies, fitted tightly , don't 100% believe the claims by them about pressurising hubs etc as I have seen to many hubs apart and honestly grease doesn't really move much .

I like the idea of the USA axel that is drilled and allows greasing of the inner bearing directly so you at least know it has fresh grease.

Durahubs - yep they should work if installed correctly and I would be running teh half grease half oil.

Water is the killer witth boat trailers, don't pressure wash the inner seals , outer bearing buddy to hard, install the bearing buddy with sealant into a tight hub and make sure the inner seal is quality running on a good surface and you will have few if any failures.

Carrying a spare hub ready to go is cheap insurance and a spare set of bearings , few studs and wheel nuts, tools for long trips ensures it will be a quick solution if teh worst happens.

[gofishin]

...I like the idea of the USA axel that is drilled and allows greasing of the inner bearing directly so you at least know it has fresh grease...
I have these, which are great, but you can’t use traditional bearing buddies as the grease nipple is tapped into the stub axle. I use the Durahub caps as the clear/acrylic plate makes for a very easy visual inspection of what’s going on inside the hub - but I don’t oil fill them.

I would use them on an aussie hub system, but would use grease + oil, however as others have suggested, replace the inner seals with something decent. The inner seals on the US hubs/stubs are far superior to a lot of the rubbish we get here, and once you have them you can’t go back!
cheers
Brendon

[Dan5]

My new custom trailer has durahubs as standard,,,,,,,,,i am considering going back to gease aswell.........i don't know how much care was taken cleang/preparing of the axl seal was done first........my guess is not enough or properly.

I have a fear of losing all the oil in a matter of kilometers and seizing a bearing.

And to me that could mean hundreds of k's from help.........i just don't want to risk it........BB's and regular greasing will make me less nervous.

Dan

[rayken1938]

Been running dura hubs for 5 years now and immerse hubs at least 3 times a week and do not wait for a cool down period. The beauty of them is that if a seal does start to go you get the tell tail oil on the inside of the wheel which is fairly obvious.I have ojly adjusted the wheel bearings once just after installation in this period.
In my opinion most of the breakdowns that you see on the side of the road are due to lack of checking the bearings and seals not due to a sudden failure.
I just have to watch the wheel nuts as they rust up unless cracked and inoxed every 6 months.
Cheers
Ray

[cormorant]

My new custom trailer has durahubs as standard,,,,,,,,,i am considering going back to gease aswell.........i don't know how much care was taken cleang/preparing of the axl seal was done first........my guess is not enough or properly.

I have a fear of losing all the oil in a matter of kilometers and seizing a bearing.

And to me that could mean hundreds of k's from help.........i just don't want to risk it........BB's and regular greasing will make me less nervous.

Dan


Hi Dan5

Unless the actual durahub splits or the inner axel seal tears out completely on the inside there should be enough oil in there even when some leaks out. When spinning centrifugal force holds it out. The issue is of course if that seal is gone then the dust and water gets access in and then a bearing fails mid trip if you were on a very long dusty road. same would happen to grease if it got hot enough eventually. The grease and oil mix in em would be my choice if I was running them and they do run cooler than grease and bearing buddy.

If teh trailer manufacturer used the speedy on teh axel you will be able to see it on the shaft at the inner seal . as long as teh speedy was installed with a sealant under it and the seals are not leaking , cracking at a visual inspection it should run for years

[Tracker]

I have used oil hubs on last 3 trailers and caravans.
If fitted correctly they will last for years.
The main thing do not over fill and use Lucas hub oil.(pressure build up and leaks past seal)
Rear seals need to be good quality'
Bearing run much cooler.
Ours are stripped each year and checked.

New van will be done when I get off my FA .
.

[The-easyrider]

Thanks for all the feed back guys, I have not had a bearing failure in over twenty years having to change a bearing on the builders trailer on the side of the road on a stinking hot feb day cured me of the she'll be right attude to bearing maintenance. I do have a spare hub ready to go fitted to the trailer was just tossing around the idear of oiled hubs. But the maintenance practice of the last twenty years has worked so might keep useing it.
Once again thanks for the input
Cheers
AB

[Dicko]

I had dura hubs on my last trailer for about 5 years with the same set of bearings & the current trailer for 2 so far. Both used heaps & fully dunked at the ramp for drive on/off.
Wouldn't go back to regular hubs anymore as time wasted changing bearings every year now means more fishing time. :)

[TREVELLY]

I have the dura hubs and happy with them.

I travel a bit on freeway and do check the hubs for any milky after each trip and do check the tyre and hub temps by hand at the ramp each trip.

Any heat in hub or tyre is a good indicator for attention.

[johncar]

Either system should be good but there is no set and forget, all require good installation, regular observation and servicing. I am happy with the old fashioned grease'm up jobs, 40 years of boating and no bearing problems ever. (touch wood!)

[Smithy]

I am pro Durahub. Durahub Extremes you can grease the bearing like normal anyway so if there is a problem you will still have grease around the bearing and the clear end gives you a visual inspection to see when it goes milky. Bearing buddies are all over the shop for quality.

[Mike Delisser]

I've used oil filled Durra Hubs for 4 years now without a prob. Lapped the axle myself, easy as. Boat gets towed from Brizzy to Boondooma, Borumba, Mondy or Awoonga a couple of times a month and down to Hunter Valley a couple of time a year, all sweet. Best system I've used, I won't be going back.

[finga]

I've used oil filled Durra Hubs for 4 years now without a prob. Lapped the axle myself, easy as. Boat gets towed from Brizzy to Boondooma, Borumba, Mondy or Awoonga a couple of times a month and down to Hunter Valley a couple of time a year, all sweet. Best system I've used, I won't be going back.
And there is the important bit to a successful installation job.
Preparation before installation.

And I can bet that if Mike has gone to the trouble of lapping the axle he's gone to the trouble of installing the bearings correctly.

Gary (Spaniard King) did a thread a few years ago on how to install trailer bearings properly.
Well worth finding and reading.

[tunaticer]

I just do not get this whole cool down period for hubs before dunking the trailer.
If you have been on a run and the hubs are that warm they will suck in water as soon as they are dunked, then you most definitely have bearings that are on their way out or you have an overloaded axle. Normal running temps are not sufficient to cause a vaccuum effect of the capacity to suck water past decent seals. Marine axle seals have two directional sealing lips to seal water out and grease inwards if water gets past those you have a damaged seal or a shaft that is not suitable for decent sealing.
If you are running bearing buddies this should never occur anyway due to the spring loading controlling the hub pressures.
I also think there is a possibility that quite a lot of braked hubs are imparting heat into the hubs via shoes/pads that do not fully release, but that is another issue.
Dura-Hubs are a good bit of kit and are a well proven design.

[Mike Delisser]

There's a rounded rubber dimple or plug on the end of the Dura Hub that is suppose to move in and out to absorb pressure and vacuum from heating or cooling, though I never had mine hot enough for them to move.