Ultralube Hub Leak

slaytop

Well-known member
I added grease to the Ultralube hubs last year (2006) before the rally to make sure they were ready for a long trip. Since I had only pulled the trailer 500 miles or so, I didn't think it was necessary to do a complete inspection. We traveled about 6,000 miles since then.

Last week I removed the wheels to repack the bearings and inspect the brakes. One of the four wheels had grease in the drum and on the brake linings. It is obvious that the grease seal failed. It was a double lip seal as were on the other wheels. Also, there wasn't any dust in the wheel from the brake linings.

I think that the seal failed when I pumped in the new grease and it caused excessive grease to get into the drum, otherwise, it may have leaked out of the full hub while traveling. Regardless of the reason, there is the possibility of a grease seal leaking when grease is pumped into one of these hubs. The Ultrulube hub is a great idea but it is not entirely trouble free.

Attached are photos of the drum and brake linings.
 

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