Conversion from grease hubs to oil bath

[crich]

Having been an over the road trucker years ago and just recently purchased a new Jayco Northpoint, I am wondering if anyone has converted their grease axels to oil bath? I seem to remember seeing a kit to do this but I can't seem to find it and I would like to hear from anyone who has made the switch. It would be so much easier to run with oil bath bearings than to have to repack bearings every 2 years or so.

Thanks in advance

[Palmeris]

No expieiernce but etrailer seems to have oil bath kits

[bookemdanno]

I have no experience with them either, but you might check over on the jaycoowners forum…might get more of a response with your specific model.

[Unplanned Tourist]

I would stick with the grease. Much more forgiving as far as seals leaking and bearing adjustment. Most likely that's why the trailer manufacturers are still using it.

Just use top quality grease when you repack them and carry on camping.

[Mile Marker 42]

Converted from grease to oil bath. Would do it again too.

[travelorer99]

Check to see if there is a grease urk under the cap or a rubber cover.
On my TT, i can lift the wheel off the ground, and turn and grease, it puts grease to the back and forces grease out the front, so in general one is mostly replacing the grease.
Kinda like greasable U joints, just adding new grease and pushing out old.

[Rhagfo]

Originally Posted by travelorer99

Check to see if there is a grease urk under the cap or a rubber cover.
On my TT, i can lift the wheel off the ground, and turn and grease, it puts grease to the back and forces grease out the front, so in general one is mostly replacing the grease.
Kinda like greasable U joints, just adding new grease and pushing out old.

Great way to grease the brake linings!

[travelorer99]

Originally Posted by Rhagfo

Great way to grease the brake linings!

Please explain how grease gets into the linings?

I have seen what happens when the break away switch gets unplugged.

By the time its noticed, the rear seal is burnt out, the front removable cover on 2 hubs was gone, and grease is comming out the front and back of the barring hubs. To get it home, grease was pumped in at every fuel stop and pumping so that it was comming out front and back, for many miles.

AND, not one sign of grease was in the linings, when taken apart to cleaned up and rebuild all of them.

[traveldawg]

I happened to be talking with the Dexter axle folks this week while at the Tampa RV show. We talked a bit about the option of oil bath but they didn't seem to think it was worth it.

Their thoughts were they are great for wheels that are almost constantly rolling. But for trailers that might sit for weeks or months at a time it means all the bearing surfaces will not be in the oil for too long a time. And besides, grease works just fine.

[xc-mark]

I know every truck class 6 and larger for the most part has front wheel bearing that use gear oil ,They do it for fuel economy and they run slightly cooler. The issue I see is if you don't move the trailer much there is no benifit but if you do pull the trailer every month of the year you will need hub covers that you can see the oil level and add a few oz if needed. Most Trailer have covers over the hubs, you would have to leave them off. The seals are different and most likely going to have a hard time finding oil seals at your local parts store without ordering them. Or keep a few on hand for that roadside headache.

[Tdave]

Factory drum brakes on Jaycos (Dexter) don’t have threaded snouts to accommodate the clear plastic axle caps used in typical oil bath set ups. You’d need to swap to an 8k disc setup, like from Kodiak. The 7k lbs Kodiak disc setup doesn’t accommodate oil bath, either.

However, if you convert to disc, there is less need to convert to oil bath, as you can now see the rear grease seal and can safely use the ez lube grease zerk setup without unintentionally filling up your drums with grease.

The clear threaded caps for the oil bath setups have been known to crack over time, so carrying a backup is recommended. But if they crack, you’ll drain all your lube, unlike a grease setup.

Also, you’ll need to pop the caps off your wheel centers to visually check oil levels.

In the end, it wasn’t worth the downsides on the oil bath setup, since I was eliminating the downsides of a grease setup with a disc conversion, so I just stuck with grease.

[Tdave]

Originally Posted by travelorer99

Please explain how grease gets into the linings?

I have seen what happens when the break away switch gets unplugged.

By the time its noticed, the rear seal is burnt out, the front removable cover on 2 hubs was gone, and grease is comming out the front and back of the barring hubs. To get it home, grease was pumped in at every fuel stop and pumping so that it was comming out front and back, for many miles.

AND, not one sign of grease was in the linings, when taken apart to cleaned up and rebuild all of them.

If the pressure to allow the grease to come out the end of the spindle is higher than what the rear grease seal can hold, the grease starts coming out the back, and you won’t know it with a drum set up, because you can’t see the rear seal (covered by backing plate). Happens a lot.

[MtCamper]

I'm going to catch hell for this. I monitor my hubs, I don't routinely repack the bearings. We tow less than 5000 miles a year. Back in the day we packed wheel bearing son our cars every 30-45,000 miles. I figure trailers should do the same. I carry grease and bearings for my trailer but have never had to use them mid trip. I use a IR temp sensor when we rest stop to check all my hubs looking for one that is significantly hotter than the others. My towed milage is at about 20,000 so I plan to repack in another couple of years. Save your money on the oil bath conversion and spend it on other options. Use premium grease and bearings when you do the install and enjoy your travels. BTW those are big 5ers, good on you for going for disc brakes. They all have a couple of thousand pound CCC but come with a plethora of mandatory options (?). Does their published dry weight include the options? Could you check the weight sticker for us? Just curious. Thanks

[crich]

According to the sticker on the door, the GVRW is 15,000lbs