10-18-2023, 04:31 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-18-2023, 04:53 PM by FishfulThinkin.)
There is no such thing as a maintenance free boat trailer hub. Not EZ Lube, not oil bath, not conventional. If you put a warm hub in cold water repeatedly, it will eventually get water in it. My friend has a brand new boat with the oil bath hubs and was told by the salesman that they were maintenance free. He burned up a bearing within 18 months on a brand new factory trailer with oil hubs. You may be able to lengthen your interval on repacking if you cool the hubs before launching but I am too antsy to get fishing to wait on the ramp for the hubs to cool or spray them with a spray bottle of water for a while to cool them. If you want to have a visible option without pulling the hub, then oil bath might be an option. If you only launch a few times a year, then you might make it years without a problem. However I launch basically weekly so 40-50 times a year requires pretty frequent repack - at least annually.