Dexter and Axis Safe-T-Lube Hubs

[MH Hawker]

Just wondering how many people have them, I do and think thier one of the best improvments in trailer axles in many years.
thinking on it a moment that may be a good subject for a poll. How about it.

standard hubs
standard hubs with bearing buddys
Dexter and Axis Safe-T-Lube Hubs
oil lub hubs

 

[Texasmark]

Re: Dexter and Axis Safe-T-Lube Hubs

Mine are something I have never seen before and seem to grease like the RangerTrail Custom trailer hubs from the inside. They have a rubber dust cap on the outside and are about as close to maintenance free as I guess you can get. They may be one of the brands you mention. I had oil hubs on my 18 wheeler and they are a great idea.

Mark

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: Dexter and Axis Safe-T-Lube Hubs

Yes those are the Safe-T-Lube Hub types their may be several brands of that type I only know of those two. I find 5 minutes and a grease gun and 1/2 a tube of grease per hub and the hub is flushed and repacked. I can hear the eyes rolling. I don't think it is necessary to pull hubs ever year if their is no signs problems. But with standard hubs you just cant see if their is a problem. If the seals aren't leaking and the grease isn't water contaminated its good. with standard hubs it is hard to tell that unless its real bad and water runs out when you pull the caps so with standard hubs you should pull them. With bearing buddy's its the same thing you cant see what's going on inside of the hub unless its real bad. I think I first saw them in use on a ranger trailer and I started looking a bit closer at hubs and didn't see a lot of them in use. When I switched to a pontoon boat I wanted them on my next trailer. I had the standard hub types for many years and the bearing buddy's do work very well with no problems, other that once a year I had to spend 4 hours pulling the hub apart to clean and repack just to make sure its good. As I have gotten older its gotten harder to do that sort of thing. Over this last summer I have flushed the hubs 3 times mostly to see what sort of shape the seals are in and their fine new to me trailer its a old 1988 and I would guess it is the original bearing. I was just wondering how many people had these. I would think the oil type would be very good to a few seconds on a per trip inspection and you can see if their is any hub issues. It is a plain fact boating is expensive. things can and do wear out and maintenance is what keeps ever thing going but any thing that and any thing that cuts maintenance time and costs means more time on the lake.

 

[Thalasso]

Re: Dexter and Axis Safe-T-Lube Hubs

Mine are something I have never seen before and seem to grease like the RangerTrail Custom trailer hubs from the inside. They have a rubber dust cap on the outside and are about as close to maintenance free as I guess you can get. They may be one of the brands you mention. I had oil hubs on my 18 wheeler and they are a great idea.

Mark

Had the oil lube system on one of my trailers(boat) and it was always leaking oil.Manufacture sent me a whole new assembly. N/C Good system 90 weight oil and your good to go.

 

[Fishing Dude too]

Re: Dexter and Axis Safe-T-Lube Hubs

Oil is the BEST lube for bearings. As for the oil HP oil is needed for bearings Anything as light as 10w on up.

 

[robert graham]

Re: Dexter and Axis Safe-T-Lube Hubs

My 1999 trailer hubs are the Saf-T-Lube with the zerk in the end of the spindle behind small black rubber cap. Every time I launch the boat, especially in saltwater, I take about 1 or 2 pumps of the grease gun in that zerk just to force out any water that could have leaked in. Never any problems with wheels or bearings, and never had them off the trailer. Grease is always fresh and clean(Walmart Green Marine Grease)....just one less thing to worry about!

 

[dingbat]

Re: Dexter and Axis Safe-T-Lube Hubs

I have Saf-T-Lube on a tandem axle. Grease up in the Fall and pull the caps once or twice a season to inspect. One of the idlers on the rear axle has not been off in 4 years.

The hubs on the brake axle (disc) end up getting pulled and inspected each Spring. Always seem to have a bit of moisture in them by the end of the season.

 

[BillP]

Re: Dexter and Axis Safe-T-Lube Hubs

I can only speak about bearing buddies because that's all I've used. I have 4 trailer and 3 for between 7 and 25 yrs. Before that I had others since the mid 1960s. They all get dunked in salt water. At first I checked the hubs every year like "they" say to do. After a couple decades I'm comfortable pulling every 5 yrs...and even then the bearings are still road worthy. What I learned along the way is people who installed bearing buddies did NOT pack the hub before installing the buddies. They (me too) had bearing go bad. Just installing and pumping grease in doesn't immediately fill the hub and the rear bearing gets wet before the grease gets to it. Filling the hub with grease before installing the bbs leaves no space and the bearing stay dry. If you have to pump grease every time the trailer is used the hub has air and the bearing are going to get wet. Its a matter of installing bbs per the instructions and the bearing will not get wet even after yrs and yrs of dunking. I found the rear seals get worn before the bearing went bad. The fix for that was spindo seals. Now the seals last longer than the bearings and any spindle pitting at the seal edge is eliminated.

Yup, yup, yup.

bp

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: Dexter and Axis Safe-T-Lube Hubs

I had the BB on my first boat and use them for may years with out any problems. but I would pump them all most full befor I put them on to fill the void spaces. And when I put them on it would squeze out grease and leave the hub full.