www.iFourWinns.com

Ok so I was out boating and someone decided they wanted the cap for my bearing buddy. It isn't the little rubber plug that is gone too but the cap over that. I have a 180 with trailer brakes I think it looks like this :

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Four winns 180 horizon

You mean the whole metal cap is gone?

First, if those are similar to your caps you don't have Bearing Buddies. You have Spindle Lube spindles with plain hubs. Those caps can be bought at any decent trailer shop.

I don't get why anyone would steal something like that .

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

OK so how do spindle lube spindles work? same as bearing buddy or better? Yea I dont understand why anyone would steal it either but i'm pretty sure it didnt just fly off since I have never had a problem and check them all the time.

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Four winns 180 horizon

Worse, Accu-Lube has a small hole in the center of the spindle that 90's to let grease into the center between the bearings. It looks good on paper. The hole gets gummed by old grease and you think you are greasing when your not. Best fix is to take the cheap metal hub cover off and put a set of buddies or red eyes on.

I haven't had that problem. The problem I *do* have with Spindle Lube (AccuLube is just another trade name for the same product) is that in order to use it the way it's designed, you pretty much have to overfill the hub.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

I prefer the accu-lube or sure lube over bearing buddies any day of the week. They are designed to push out the old grease making repacking a piece of cake (not having to remove the hub). We dunk the trailer in saltwater all the time and have no water entering the bearings because they are filled with grease, The bearing buddies push it in from the front and can give you a false sense of security that the hubs are "under pressure". I have also seen bearing buddies suck water in the hubs when the hubs are warm and doused into cool water.

Just my experience with both.

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Jvalich
http://www.badcock.com

'04 FW 288 Vista "Mental Floss"

John, you haven't had your hubs throwing grease out the back because of overfilled hubs? I'm not talking about blown seals - just the normal slow release of grease when there's too much in there? I love the spindle lube idea, but IMO it results in the hub being completely full of grease, leaving no room for expansion. I agree they're STILL a better design than bearing buddies. Bottom line, I think spindle lube's are an improvement but the holy grail of boat trailer hubs still hasn't been invented.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

anyone seen the super lube synthetic oil hubs? Anyone had any experience with this. We used it on big rigs all the time and it works great and if you think about it the bearings in your transmission are lubricated the same way and they last a hell of a long time.

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Four winns 180 horizon

this is the link to the bearingbuddy web site and what they say about the oil bath system.
http://www.bearingbuddy.com/best.html

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Troy
2008 Centurion Avalanche
1994 Four Winns Horizon 180 SE 5.0L OMC Cobra (Sold)
2002 Ford F150 Harley Davidson Edition (http://www.nhtoc.com) 378 hp & 465 tq at rear wheels
2008 Honda Accord EX-L w/Nav

Mike, yep some does come out at times. Usually during the summer when temps here in Florida are extreme. I also scoop a bit out of the front before replacing the rubber cap to help with the expansion.

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Jvalich
http://www.badcock.com

'04 FW 288 Vista "Mental Floss"

Champion Trailer.com has about everything you need for a trailer.

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Inboard, outboard, onboard never bored
KUT 'N LOOSE
'99 258 VISTA

ok so i got the new dust cap and pumped in some grease and it took a whole small tube of grease. About a teaspoon of water came out. It that normal? Also then I checked the other side and pumped it full of grease and again half a teaspoon to a teaspoon of water came out. It this normal. I think it is that the hubs were never full. should I just pump in more grease the next few times?

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Four winns 180 horizon

Theoretically you should never have any water in your hubs, but in reality it's not uncommon to have a small amount. You want to make sure those little rubber caps are tight to help keep water out.

When you say 'small tube' of grease, how small? They make those little "mini tubes" that are only a few ounces, that isn't much grease. With the standard tubes (what are they - 12 or 16 ounces?), I think it took nearly a full tube to fill one of my hubs from empty. Note, however, that you don't want them completely full. When things heat up on the road, they expand, and if you don't allow a little room in there the seals on the back sides of the hubs can release small amounts of grease or even blow the seal out and lose most of your grease.

Likewise, you can blow the seal out directly just by continuing to pump in grease after the hub is full, or even by pumping it in too fast (this is why they tell you not to use a pneumatic grease gun, although I do anyway). As long as you start with hubs that have the right amount of grease in them, and you keep an eye on them to make sure your seals aren't leaking, you shouldn't have to give it hardly any more between bearing repacks (or "flushes" with the Spindle Lube/AccuLube spindles).

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

As to oil bath - There are some big differences between trucks hauling many tons 200K miles per year, but never getting wet, and a boat trailer that might go 1-2K miles per year and be completely submerged every time its used. Having said that, I think oil bath hubs would make more inroads into the marine world if someone would come out with a system that's truly heavy duty and built for the task. So far, the ones (at least that I've seen) are so rinky-dink I wouldn't trust them on a wheelbarrow.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

mike, yea the amount of water was small but I used the flush to make sure I got any water out and I do leave a little room in there but not a ton. I am sure I am ok I trailer about 1000-2000 miles total a year so not a lot but I will be removing and repacking the bearing just to be on the safe side when I put the boat away for the winter and of course doing the spin and listen for noise this month as part of my semi-annual check. The bearing buddy's seem cool but I see how they can fail. If i did use the red eyes I would still put the grease fitting back in periodically to do the flush.

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Four winns 180 horizon