Difficulty of Converting Oil Bath Hubs to Grease

Published 03/11/2020

Products Featured in This Question

Trailer Hub and Drum Assembly - 5,200-lb and 6,000-lb Axles - 12" - 6 on 5-1/2 - Pre-Greased

(1373)

$149.58

Bearing Buddy Bearing Protectors - Model 1980A-SS w/ Auto Check - Stainless Steel - Qty 2

(1714)

$38.45

Bearing Buddy Bearing Protectors - Model 1980T-SS - Threaded - Stainless Steel - Qty 2

(1714)

$57.83

Question:

Hello, I have a 2007 Stratos 486SF boat trailer. It has a 3250 capacity, 5 on 4 1/2 bolt patter, UCF hubs with oil baths. One hub is starting to leak oil and making a little noise. I would like to convert to bearing buddys if possible. Is this difficult? Thanks

asked by: Brian C

Expert Reply:

What you're wanting to do is a pretty simple proposition, simply remove the bearings and and clean and inspect them. Repack or replace if necessary. You can use a bearing packer like # PTW1218 and # L11390 grease to repack the bearings. The Bearing Buddy you need will need will depend on the outer bearing used and whether or not the hub bore is threaded. The outer bearing typically found on a 3500 axle (which is extremely likely given your trailer capacity and wheel bolt pattern) is typically a L44649. If they're NOT threaded, you'll likely use # BB1980A-SS and if they ARE threaded, you'd use # BB1980T-SS.

This assumes that the inside diameter of your hub bore is 1.98 inches, so please confirm that. I've linked you to a product installation video that will walk you through how to disassemble, grease and reassemble a typical trailer hub.

expert reply by: Mike L