Casey Balvert

Switching my hubs over to oil. Does anyone know how much oil each hub takes on the 9,000 pound Dexter axle? I picked up two quarts for all four hubs but not sure if it is enough.

Casey

BearKiller

Two quarts should be plenty.

An old trick we learned years ago is to fill the hubs with straight STP.

It will stay in better if a seal starts leaking.

That is my only issue with oil-bath hubs that don't oil all the way across; they hold so little oil that, if they start leaking, they will soon run dry.

A minor leak can run one dry between fuel stops.

I build my own oil-bath axles from truck rear-ends; they have reservoirs and oil all the way across.

It takes a couple gallons to fill one of my axles.

Casey Balvert

Are oil leaks a common problem on the Dexter axles? This one is designed for oil but they install grease at the factory for RV applications due to long storage times that might occur. The oil runs off the bearings over time allowing corrosion to occur.

RAMRODD

Oil leakes are more likley to occure after long periods of non use, I will never use oil bath system on a trailor again I had a new flatbed and after about 1 month of use It caught on fire, If I didn't have a fire extinguisher I could have lost the whole rig. They replaced the entire axle. I drove home and the oil cap fell off the new axle on one side luckely it must have happened a mile or 2 from home and it was empty. That is what caused the fire the first time the oil cap fell off with 25000 on the trailor. They are now greased packed (all of my trailors)!! I went back to the dealer and told him what happened, he said didn't believe we went out to the lot and I found another trailor with a loose oil cap hand tight(that was my new cap). The only way I would consider oil again is if the caps are bolted on. Get what you like I know people that have no trouble with oil bath. But I thought I would pass along what can happed if you get a sudden oil loss! The trailor I told you about has tandem 12,000 axles, not sure what brand

Casey Balvert

Thanks for the reply. Guess I will stick with grease after all. I sure don't want to risk losing my rig.

Interesting that the caps fell off. I was more concerned about the seal leaking.

BearKiller

The caps on my home-built axles are steel and held on by eight bolts.

Another common problem with factory-built oil-bath axles is the caps are plastic, even on big trucks.

Many times, they will get cracked or busted when trying to remove or install a tire/wheel assembly, especially on a big truck.

Tires/wheels are heavy and near impossible to remove with the delicacy necessary to keep from contacting the brittle plastic cap.

I will say this though, even considering all the negatives, I have oil-bath on all my trailers and any more I might purchase.

Bearings last so much better and require so much less attention that oil-bath are well worth the trouble, if you know to keep an eye on their condition; this means glancing at the inside and outside of every wheel at every fuel stop for the tell-tale oil all over a tire.

Also, if the caps are plastic, carry a couple spares; or, make some replacements out of steel or aluminum.