Some info on Warm trailer hubs, and worn out brakes that may help some of the new guys.

With the types of hubs we run on our Hotshot lowboy trailers you want to regularly check hub temperature. When I stop for a safety check I walk around my trailer and reach down and feel to see if any of my hubs are running warmer than the rest. When one is running warmer that tells me i need to ad some grease to it. With a hand squeeze grease gun I’ll give it one, two, possibly even three trigger pulls of grease (no more than that) and then I’ll check it again another twenty or so miles down the road to see if it’s running cooler. if it’s still not running cool enough I’ll give it another click or two and then check it again to see if that cooled it down. If it’s not cooling down, it may need to be taken apart and inspected. A warm hub can quickly turn into a expensive repair if ignored.

With these style hubs, you don’t want to ad to much grease at one time because it can bypass the inner seal and then you end up with grease getting inside the brake drum. Grease on your brake pads is not a good scenario. If that happens it’ll need to be taken apart, thoroughly cleaned, the seal replaced, and new pads installed. Never use a truck stop service bays air grease gun on these style trailer hubs because the air pressure is set way to high and it will blow the inner seal out. Carry your own hand pump grease gun in your tool box on the truck.

To ad grease, you’ll need to pull the rubber cap on the axle hub cover. There’s a zerk fitting in the end of the axle right behind the rubber cap.

With routinely checking hub temp the way I do, I rarely have any problems. The fact is I’ve gone 100,000 miles on these types of axles without having to pull a drum off.

At 100,000 miles though, I do a complete tear down to inspect, do a complete brake job, and replace any suspension parts that are showing wear.

All it takes is a few out of adjustment brakes to eat up the trucks brakes. These trailer brake parts are not very expensive. You can buy a complete backing plate kit for in the $50.00 range. A backing plate kit consists of the backing plate itself with all new brake parts attached to it. Replacing one is a very simple process. Remove the tire, remove the drum/hub. Then you have 5 bolts to remove, and two wires to disconnect. Then just reassemble. There’s videos to walk you through changing them on YouTube.

The other day I seen a truck and trailer with all the brakes shot, including the rotors on the truck,,and drums on the trailer. That same morning, and every morning before that, the driver showed that he did a pre trip inspection on his log book. If you’re to lazy to thoroughly inspect the truck and trailer you’re operating everyday, you don’t belong behind the wheel. You’re a danger to the motoring public. If I would’ve been a DOT inspector and caught this truck, I’d of thrown the book at the Driver. I would’ve buried him in equipment violations, and falsifying his log book saying he did a pre trip inspection.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a Independent Owner Operator, or a company driver. You’re the last line of protection when it comes to operating equipment that isn’t safe to be on the road. Your income, or paycheck, regardless of what you think, it isn’t as important as somebody’s life.

 

Had them on other trailers, leaking seals with oil bath axles gave us far more trouble. Besides, to get the lower deck height that our customers like, these axles work better for us.

I just put this post out there to help the new guys who are running these style axles. Personally I don’t think taking them apart to inspect them every 100,000 miles is a big deal.

 

To each their own as far as what they prefer when it comes to grease or oil bath axles.

The way I see it, with running oil the bearing goes dry and seizes up a lot quicker than it will when running grease when a seal starts leaking. When a grease seal starts leaking it’s not all running out instantly like oil will. In the event I have a seal go out in the middle of nowhere I can just squirt some more grease in the hub and continue to my destination or the nearest shop. With oil bath axles you’re pretty much stuck on the side of the road until a Mobil mechanic can get to you. It can be a long wait when you’re out in the sticks.

We had a guy here running oil bath axles. He constantly had seals leaking. One day he calls me from somewhere east of Van Horn, TX saying he lost another seal and he couldn’t find anyone to come out to fix it. I asked him if he had any grease and he said yes. I told him to pull the hub and pack the bearing with grease and put it back together. Doing that got him to the delivery point, and back to the house, and when he got there, he converted them all over to grease. That was the last of his seal troubles.

 

What I said isn't incorrect information. I've been changing seals, doing brake jobs on semi truck/trailers, and hotshots now for over 40 years. Not just my own equipment, I've owned, and operated a few truck and trailer repair business over the years.

I've seen seals go out all at once and I've seen seals start to leak slowly just creating a damp spot at first. When a oil seal goes completely out, the oil runs out quickly. Let's face it, even though they're suppose to, very few drivers today crawl under they truck every morning to do a thurough inspection. They never notice the start of the leak when it's just a damp spot. They only notice when oil is all over, or when the hub flies off and the spindle is shot. Or when the DOT points it out to them during a inspection.

These guys can buy whatever type of axles they want to. I'm not pushing one type, or another here. I hope they never have any problems with either type.