New truck or keep the existing - Looking for comments

[JHornsby3]

All of the oil bath hubs I have ever worked on had a rubber cap on the see through plastic face plate. And the place I always got the face plates and seals was at the Caldwell Kenworth dealer. They had every cover for every hub ever made. Oil bath that is. I would suggest getting at least two spares and always have them with you. There is a pin hole in them in the center. If that pin hole gets plugged up, the oil will heat up and expand. I have seen them blow out pretty good. If you can see the pin hole, make sure you keep that cleaned out before every trip. Do you have the name or model number? Might be a NAPA part.

 

[JHornsby3]

Ok, so after looking at the ez loader hubs, there is a fill screw in the hub. Looks like they used to be made by Reliable Axle. You can get the hub glass and seal for under $30 from ez loader. And they are a sealed unit. Looks like you need to remove the wheel to get to the fill. So it looks like those are not a quick fix on the road if one gets broken. But can be done. And yes they take gear lube. Those squeeze bottles should work great to fill one.

 

[89P270]

s a fill screw in the hub.

Correct. There is a grub screw on the hub itself. Other caps I have seen looking on Youtube have that rubber cover to fill from. In fact one guy noted he miss screwed the grub in ruining it. I'll just make sure to have spare caps, o-rings, real seals, and Synthetic oil on hand. I just bought $200 worth from Ez Loader website. I continue to learn.....More after I troubleshoot the Takonsha P3 tomorrow with the Tech who did the original install for me. Not sure why the 12V pin isnt working. He thought it was a 40 Amp mega fuse. We'll see.

 

[Sundancer]

Put a note in your phone to start looking at tires at the 5 year mark or slightly sooner if it's the start of a season!!

 

[89P270]

Y'all are going to laugh and cry about this. So, when I had the Pachanga (1997 to 2018) I towed with an old surge trailer with an old 1990 F350 for years. I repowered the Pachanga in 2012 (go to classified and search 1989/2012 Pachanga - That was mine) and got a new triple axle with electric over hydraulics. That F350 towed it OK but in 2017 when I moved to a house on BIG HILL, I got the F250 you see above. 82K miles then. 92K now. I had Mann's trailers in shoreline install a trailer braking system (2017) and the last day of my move to the new house I pulled the trailer home, only to realize the controller wasn't functioning the brakes. I even went back to mann's explained the issue and they put on a new Tekonsha P3 (that I actually never needed until.......) No worries because I sold the pachanga in early 2018 before season and bought the Rinker 342 always moored. Moorage took its toll and sold the Rinker in 2020 and bought the Dancer SE on the trailer. Always thought it was the activator on the triple trailer that didnt work. When I picked up the Dancer trailer last week with the new added electric over hydraulic (see photos above), the controller still wasnt working. They told me the 12V wasnt through putting. Hmmm. Went to Mann's today to finally resolve once and for all. The Tech, as part of the trouble shooting (same guy who worked on it 2017) finally noted "hey, there are no relays. You need to go to Ford dealer to get relays". You got to be kidding me. 2 times to Mann's for same issue and two different controllers and you never checked the 12V throughput??? Stopped at Ford dealer on way home they gave me two of the same relay. Want advice before I put them in to make sure they are the same and that I can't mess up by plugging them in. I dont think this truck every had relays in there as the dealer told me they were extra and that box looks untouched since new. Really?? Ford couldnt put $14 worth of relays in stock? Regardless, I have them and the pin configurations are same both sides so not sure I can install improperly. Mann's tech said one is for backup control. I assume the other is for forward brake control? And finally, the other SANFU from 3 Rivers. They installed the brake controller on the Ez loader trailer. When I went out Saturday to connect up and tow to the Schwab for new tires, I maybe leaned on the controller with less than 20 lbs force. Guess what, this snapped 3 of the 4 bolts connecting it to the trailer. The tech who installed likely didnt do a complete drill through and also likely way over torqued them. I have added an isolator rubber pad under the control unit and attached with stainless hose clamps myself. Better cause the rubber isolates from vibration and the hose clamps wont rust. Talk about a mess. Cant wait for tomorrow to see how U-haul does on the install of the class IV. Ill be watching them like a hawk.
Here is the relay box underhood

Heres same with Cover off

Here are the relays (samex2)


Here are the snapped fasteners from 3 rivers.

 

[JHornsby3]

Thats bad when the guy that installed the break didn't test it before signing off it was working and done. I hope they didn't charge you after looking at it again.

I would take that trailer back and have them fix what they messed up on. Those screws were most likely over torqued. I would love to get that electric over hydro. But unless I could get them to send me the complete unit in a Bath and Body Works box, I'd get shot. I am already getting the "You spend too much on boat and airplane parts" looks. Maybe if I could sell this 1/4 prop I've had in the garage for the current price, she would be more forgiving.

 

[89P270]

I hear ya. I sent a message to the service manager telling him he owes me the next I come in and spend $2,800, want at least a 20% discount. Id rather not have any more cheap zinc screws put in and that S.S Hose clamp is pretty slick with the rubber isolator I added. The only reason I got away with spending now with the admiral is I got rid of the money pit Rinker for the trailerable 270SE. Then again, I am stripping the bottom paint and repairing some hatch rot myself. Thanks too for the feedback, I appreciate it JH.

 

[JHornsby3]

The PO of ours had started stripping the bottom paint. Luckily I used to work for a fiberglassing shop making kit plane parts. I can get my gel coat and all forms of glassing stuff for free. I only pay for mixed colors. So this artic white I can get by the gallon along with the cabosil and MEKP. I plan on filling some scratches and doing bottom paint this spring when the air isn't so wet.

Got my oversized permit today so that is done for the year. Now I just need to find someone small enough to fit in between the motors to replace the starter on the port side. My fat ass will never fit in there.

 

[89P270]

Ok so this will about wrap up this thread. I got the trailer brakes resolved. In fact it was simply the fact the two relays (shown above) weren't ever installed and likely never had been by the previous owner. So, those identified above are correct for the 2001 Ford F250 Superduty. Regarding the Hitch, I upgraded to a torquelift. Still a 2 inch receiver and a real Class V rated at 16,000/2,400lb weight Carrying. Way more than I will ever need but also wont get boned if there's ever a mishap on the freeway as it can handle the 10K weight I will tow with this F250 (also rated at 10k capable). I may before summer, deal with the oil bath to bearing buddy brake conversion on the trailer. If I do, Ill update this thread with photos of that job. I am on the fence about it. As long as you inspect them often and carry spares it shouldn't be a problem keeping oil bath. One other note, the guys at torquelift didnt have a magic bullet to keep plug pins from corroding. I bought a tube of Dielectric grease. they said this lasts 2 months or so longer than WD40 but you still need to keep up on it to avoid issues.

 

[JHornsby3]

There is nothing wrong with oil bath. I ran a tub dump trailer for five years overloaded everyday with them. It's just a matter of preference.

I would either remove the bolts on the hitch bar and run red locktite or be sure to check the torque before pulling the boat.

I use the dielectric grease on everything here in the PNW. It's cheap insurance that things will stay working when you need them to. WD lasts just until the next rain storm hits. The silicon Super Lube lasts a lot longer than that. I have pulled a plug apart after a year and a half and it was still full on the inside. To be honest, I hated myself for putting it in there when I had to install another wire into the plug.