How to Check Your Oil Hubs

If you have oil hubs on your trailer or front steering axle, it’s a good idea to walk around and check them before you head out on your trip and again when you get back. If any of them are low or the inside of the tire is wet, get it fixed right away.

If you decide to top-off the oil and head out, you have no idea of the wheel bearing condition, or why the hub was low in the first place. Is it just a worn seal or is it early bearing failure? Sometimes you can also have a cracked hub that would cause oil loss.

It’s a good idea to take it apart and see what’s going on, because if it gets too low on oil while driving or a bearing is failing, most likely your wheel will come off resulting in the axle and hub damage. And it is possible for that wheel to spin into oncoming traffic.

It is common to find bearings with contamination marks from dirty oil, if you have the slightest doubt in your bearing, replace it. Bearings are cheap versus axle repair, hub replacement, traffic liability. Also when checking your bearings lift the roller cage, if the cage lifts even with the roller or beyond, replace the bearing.

When it comes time to set your new bearings find a manual for your axle because torque settings can vary depending on axle rating, bearing spacer, single nut, double nut and so on. A most common way is 200 ft lbs back off full turn, 50 ft lbs rotating, back off one hex. But if you have a little 3,000 lb trailer axle you don’t wanna try 200 ft lbs, so find axle specs for what you are working on.

Checking and changing your gear oil goes a long way if your checking a drive axle make sure the oil is running out of the check plug if you have to stick your finger in to feel the oil, the axle is low – do the same with transmissions. Most repair manuals will give an off-road and highway oil change interval chart in hours or miles.