How Warm Should Trailer axle hubs feel?

Just worry about the one that is different normally. They should not bother your hand unless you have been really hard on the brakes. If there is a burnt tire or brake smell start with finger taps as you can get burned. Should not be a great temp difference between grease and oil. You are probably talking about that synthetic slurry grease stuff. It is a good product but I was told it was a life time never needs service item when it came out. When you are on the side of the road and your spindle is burned up its life is over.
The only time I like grease is when the unit maybe parked for long periods of time. Oil can drain off the bearings above oil level and rust due to condensation.
Depending on the application I have done them two ways on older trailers.
A: Put a regular old hub cap on it and shoot some synthetic gear oil in there to the bottom of the plug hole. Do that every time you service the trailer until it stays at the full mark or the seal leaks.
B: Just pull it down and check it all out.
How good are your S cam bushings. If the brakes are backed off some you can put a pry bar between the lower shoe and the drum to check them. The hubs have to come off to replace the S cam bushings.
It is best to do them all together but one axle usually wears faster than the other. If it needs cam bushings pull the duel wheel and hub assemblies together. Do the cam bushings, replace the seal and check the bearings all at the same time. If you are squeezing nickles do the other axle next month. Hopefully your drums will run another set of shoes spreading out your expenses. If it needs drums try to do the cam bushings on the next brake job. That is just trying to do planned maintenance and spreading out your expenses
Do not left it go to a problem like this. Company takes a contract and sends in equipment for us to do the job with. The other branches dump their junk and we have to work. What do you do. Yes I know but we had to run.

 

Mine have grease .seems better as no longer have leaking Seals. Trailer is 10 yrs old with just over 500k . I check them for heat occasionally. Would like to at least pull hub caps and pack some new grease into them with a needle grease attachment and add a little . Instructions I’ve found on packing bearings seem iffy at best. Include partial 1/3 filling of hub cap with extra grease. Old Freightliner had on front for almost 900 k no problems. Seems to be better than oil for maintenance reasons mainly. I’m sure oil does better job against overall wear. Should I tear it down and re pack or maybe wait a couple yrs and 250 k miles ( total 750 k) ? Thanks

 

I was wondering about the same. I think, maybe I should change the grease in the hubs. I don't see any abnormal temperature on any of the axles and the bearings are tight. At what point does that grease deteriorate, if ever, would be my question. I think, I'll change it for the peace of mind.

 

I had a seal

seeping. Replaced it and filled with oil. It was fine. Had plenty of grease. Should have added some and left it alone. Just today, I asked the Trailer Shop what grease they use. They point out regular grease, or synthetic. My research shows a special Chevron synthetic 00 weight grease. She’ll has a comparable product. I’m Leary of using anything else. I’ve found it on eBay. Expensive stuff. But worth it. It was still good, and coating both bearings. They basically suggest repacking bearings, filling all the voids, then adding/filling about 1/3 of the hub cap. I think on my next brake job, I’ll replace all seals and grease.

 

Checked my notes. It’s Chevron Delo synthetic grease sf. Product code 235253. It’s some type of different grease. Sold in a big pail. Got the info from Penske Maintenance. My Trailer came from them. Said they put it in all their new Trailers, to avoid leaking seals. Saw some quart bottles, but very expensive. I’d like to do my steers with it, since it was still clinging to the bearings on my Trailer, after all those years and miles.

 

Mine are the grease type also. I would say every few years you probably should service that, no more than five for sure.

You should do the whole job meaning remove the Hub, clean all of the grease out of it, clean all of the grease out of the bearings, inspect them, put a new seal in, repack the bearings, the hub, and hub cap with new Grease, and set your bearing play with a dial indicator.

That gives you peace of mind you know your bearings are good, you know your play is correct, and you are ready for the next several years of trouble free rolling.

Any nlgi 2 grease with a high heat rating is okay to use. The synthetic grease may increase your interval between Servicing, but bear in mind it takes quite a bit of Grease by the time you pack the bearings and you fill the Hub halfway and you pack the hubcap halfway.

 

That's beside the point but I also noticed that reefer trailers have oil hubs while vans have grease. I am not too sure why that is. Maybe because reefers carry more weight during their life span. With oil hubs, like on my steers, I would put my finger in there and feel the oil for any metal shavings and particles. Also every few years, I would pump it out with that little manual sirinage like pump and fill it out with a new hub oil.
For now, I just do a walk around and touch the hubs. I assume that as long as they feel at about the same temperature, which is not too hot to the point of me not being able to hold it for a few seconds, then they are ok. That's a rather superficial check though.I also agree that periodic disassembly on the the grease hubs to replace the grease and checking the elements needs to be done.

 

They will be warm to the touch. I keep an infrared thermometer in my truck, and check steers, drives, and trailer hubs at every stop. Mine usually measure 125-150.

I griped about greased hubs with no way to check other than pulling the cap when they first came out, but they actually turned out very good.

I'd recommend jacking up each axle every 3 months and checking bearing play, and not worry about it if it's good.

We used a semi liquid synthetic grease for them. Never any issues.

 

Grease hubs in very cold weather tend to drag a tire easy when cold. You really have to do the mirror check wiggle every time your stopped for a period of time. Once you’ve driven 10 miles or so they roll easier ..