Ranger cool hubs

I just bought a 2014 ranger reata . Boat has sat on a lift its whole life so trailer has seen very little use . Has the stock ranger cool oil bath hubs . 5 year warranty on them . Obviously we are past that .

I really liked my old grease hubs cause I knew how to handle them and and rebuild them and most important of all had a spare hub with bearings under the back seat . What’s the consensus on these on an older trailer with oil baths ? I can’t imagine they run forever with just oil changes but maybe I’m wrong ? Not any YouTube videos I can find rebuilding them for a ranger ?

Anyone switch to grease hubs ? Single axle trailer . New to this glitter boat world, life seemed easier with a beater . Thanks .

I would kill to have oil bath hubs on my boat trailer. My last boat had the EZ lube spindles and those were easy to deal with. Current boat has bearing buddies and I absolutely hate them! Messy pointless pieces of crap. I have heard though the enemy of oil bath hubs is sitting for long periods of time because it leaves part of the bearing exposed to air. I’ve heard of guys leaving their trailer jacked up over the winter and periodically giving the tires a spin.

My biggest fear with oil bath is that rear seal blowing and all your oils gone and your burnt up quick . Grease will hold for a while with a bad seal .

I’m not sure how they are designed but if a situation like that came about is there a way you could just pack it with grease to get home? I guess I don’t really see a reason a seal would blow out on an oil bath bearing. That’s a grease/bearing buddy issue. I work in a very dirty hot nasty industrial setting and any type of bearing that is in a high speed application has oil for lubricant. Another advantage is oils won’t hold heat like grease will.

My 2006 trailer has had the oil changed twice but still the original bearings and races. There was a leak after about 7 years and I had the oil and seals replaced. Last year I just thought it was time and had the oil and seals replaced again. The tech said the bearings still looked fine. Both techs that worked on it said the bearings will run quite a while if the lube leaks out because of the synthetic lube that’s used.

Pat K wrote:

My 2006 trailer has had the oil changed twice but still the original bearings and races. There was a leak after about 7 years and I had the oil and seals replaced. Last year I just thought it was time and had the oil and seals replaced again. The tech said the bearings still looked fine. Both techs that worked on it said the bearings will run quite a while if the lube leaks out because of the synthetic lube that’s used.

Nice good info to know . Do you use it alot ? I put probably 7-10,000 miles on it a year . I fish 2-3 times a week at times . .

There is a reason semi trucks use oil bath hubs. You will notice a bad seal and leak. Only have had one minor leak in last 12 years with two different rangers. Knock on wood. Otherwise I have not touched them.
I carry a spare hub. Have never had to use it.

Pat k. Did u take your boat to specialty shop to have seals and oil changed?

isu22andy wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Pat K wrote:</div>
My 2006 trailer has had the oil changed twice but still the original bearings and races. There was a leak after about 7 years and I had the oil and seals replaced. Last year I just thought it was time and had the oil and seals replaced again. The tech said the bearings still looked fine. Both techs that worked on it said the bearings will run quite a while if the lube leaks out because of the synthetic lube that’s used.

Nice good info to know . Do you use it alot ? I put probably 7-10,000 miles on it a year . I fish 2-3 times a week at times . .

Dang! That’s crazy! Might be worth it to store your boat somewhere in the middle of where your going to save on wear and tear on the truck/boat plus save big time on gas. Where are you fishing to put on that kind of miles?

My Ranger 617 is a 2002, so different trailer and bearing set up for my old girl… that said, after some “fun” over the last few years with my old ranger cool hubs allowing water in and the hubs being cloudy constantly, I made the move to grease hubs this spring.

I refused to pay what pretty much only Ranger had to replace what I had. So far so good. Check the hubs every time I head out, and add grease as needed.

Paulski

pass0047 wrote:

Pat k. Did u take your boat to specialty shop to have seals and oil changed?

The 1st time it was an auto repair shop in Alexandria because I was there fishing when I noticed the leak. The 2nd time was at Dakota Marine in Farmington where I usually have my boat serviced.

Nice good info to know . Do you use it alot ? I put probably 7-10,000 miles on it a year . I fish 2-3 times a week at times . .

I put 1500 to 2000 miles a year on it.

My 2014 Reata came with Vault hubs, not oil bath. Yours likely are as well.

Vault hubs are similar to oil bath but they use a hybrid grease that liquefies when they warm up so acts like oil when towing. Unlike oil bath hubs there is no way to change the oil/grease without taking them apart.

Mine are still all original and have not had any issues. But I’ll probably redo them next spring because it seems like it’s time.

https://pacifictrailers.com/blogs/boat-trailer-tips-advice/the-vault-hybrid-lubrication-system

I have vault hubs, and they were good for 8 years then the seals started to leak one by one. I have since replaced the seals and they have been fine for 2 years since they were changed. I just look at the back each trip.

Not sure if they are vaults or cools I guess . No markings on them other than a plain black cap in the center. I assumed vaults had vault markings on them .

isu22andy wrote:

Not sure if they are vaults or cools I guess . No markings on them other than a plain black cap in the center. I assumed vaults had vault markings on them .

Check your manual if you have one.

You will find every bit of information you need on cool hubs on Bassboatcentral.com. They are not complicated. My original cool hub oil lasted 18 years. someone backed into one of them and I changed them all out. Easy process. You have to first determine exactly what version you have then start researching. My most important advise is to replace the spindle sleeve when/if you need to change out race. seal and bearings. The spindle sleeve is seldom changed b many. it can groove and be the primary source of infiltration/leak. f you dont know the sleeve prevents the spindle from wear. It is a great design but has to be changed out in order to maintain oil bath hub effectiveness when you overhaul.

Cloudiness on oil bath hubs on the older Rangers is actually normal. It only takes a bit of condensation from the heat and cool cycle of unloading at the lake to create enough condensation for the oil to turn cloudy. That’s why they went to black hubs so you couldn’t see that in later years.

As far as whether to disregard oil or not, it’s an ongoing debate by many. Mine is a 2002, and have never had an issue and I put a fair bit of miles on.

That said, I also had to have an axle straightened at Bee Line Sports near St. Cloud and they do a TON of boat trailers. They highly encouraged me to switch mine to grease since they have seen a fair number of failures. The seals apparently aren’t always perfect and can let the oil out at some point. They also said nothing special to do to switch. Take it apart, get all the oil out with carb cleaner or whatever, then just repack with grease. Do this every one or two years depending on miles driven.

I’m still rolling with my oil bath for now, if I start to see issues I’ll switch.

Best thing I ever did was switch my Shorlander trailer over to liqui-lube system. I’ve changed my bearings a couple times in the last 15 years but only for my own peace of mind and not that they were shot. They look like brand new. they have clear hub covers on them so they can see if the oil is low, never been low at all

I would guess they are vault hubs. The hubs from ranger didn’t say vault on the cap just a plain black cap. The oil bath haven’t been used in a long time as far as I know. Those caps you can see through to see the oil level.

isu22andy wrote:

Not sure if they are vaults or cools I guess . No markings on them other than a plain black cap in the center. I assumed vaults had vault markings on them .

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This is what’s on the trailer . Didn’t see any Allen keys to drain em and refill em although I didn’t take off the tire either.

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That is a vault hub

mojogunter wrote:

That is a vault hub

Interesting – it doesn’t have the piston that comes out on the videos I’ve watched to keep the pressure in . Seems like an over complicated grease style hub! Might still tear them down this winter . I don’t like taking chances to ruin my trips !

mojogunter wrote:

That is a vault hub

X2 Really like this set up. Plenty of videos on the net and more than just ranger use them.

For those with Vault Hubs, if you ever develop a bad seal on a road trip, you can pump Red and Tacky into it to get you by until new parts get to you.

(This advice came directly from Vault when I had an inner seal start leaking)

The spindles are “bullet drilled”, so the new grease gets pumped directly to the back and works it’s way out through the bearings.

How are they any better than greased hubs? I really don’t understand the allure. Anyone want care to explain before I pound on a bearing buddy and Lucas red and tacky ?

isu22andy wrote:

How are they any better than greased hubs? I really don’t understand the allure. Anyone want care to explain before I pound on a bearing buddy and Lucas red and tacky ?

I wouldn’t touch them if they have as little use as you described. They could last another decade or more depending on your use.

Just keep a grease gun ready if a seal ever starts dripping.

You could also look up your closest authorized Vault service center and have the lube and bearings professionally checked/changed for piece of mind.

Last longer, better at heat and expansion…YouTube has some good non vault owner videos of pros and cons.

Going back to bearing buddies would be like pulling the EFI off your truck and throwing a carburetor on it.

Not arguing I just don’t understand I guess other than having RTV silicone on the seals and some special grease how they are any different . To be fair I’ve only watched one video on them and they looked like they loaded the hub with pressure just like a bearing buddy .

It seems you don’t have any confidence in them, so switch them out if you will feel better about it. I have been very happy with my vault hubs, and it sounds like others have said the same thing. I don’t think anyone is going to change your mind.