Question

Boat Trailering Guys,

It's time to service my bearings, etc. and am seriously considering replacing them with those from Turbo Lube. Would love to know your thoughts on them. I mostly sail in freash water and my boat does a lot more sitting than traveling. I probably average 3 or 4 100-200 mile trips each season. Thanks............RGS

Richard

Answered on: 5/2009

We get this question a lot...the short answer is that we like them. See our answers below. GEORGE: "Cool hubs" are also called "oil bath hubs" and the name is appropriate because they run at cooler temperatures than grease and that means you will extend bearing life. I like them because the poly dust cap is clear and you can see the oil level. I'm a big fan of cool hubs and I believe they will be part of every new boat trailer in the coming years. MIKE: I am familiar with the "Turbo Lube" hubs from Tie Down Manufacturing. They use a 75-90 weight gear oil in place of traditional bearing grease. The advantages to this system are: Both front and rear bearings are equally and completely lubricated. The oil bath approach keeps your hub and bearings cooler. See-through oil cap gives you the ability to see that you have an adequate amount of lubrication as well as the ability to detect water intrusion. (there is a drain plug that would enable you to drain off water if it did make its way into the reservoir). With all of these factors considered, you will not only improve tow vehicle mileage you will also increase service intervals on your hubs/bearings. As you can see from our previous answers on this system, we haven't come up with any disadvantages.

Boat Trailering Guys: Mike