The words of one of our customers:

"After one seasons use of my new boat and trailer, little did I know the hassle the trailer hubs and brakes would give me. I decided to check and adjust the brakes ready for the new season only to find that most of the parts, brake shoes, adjusters and springs were scrap. The trailer manufacturer was no help, the hub/brake parts are not covered for salt-water damage. Renewing the parts cost £180 and that was with me carrying out the work myself."

"I didn't want this every year and realised that the hubs needed washing out after every launch/recovery to preserve the parts. I then saw "Hub Flush". It was just what was needed to get the damaging salt residue from out of the brakes and hubs. The kit was easy to fit except for drilling the back plates to accept the nozzles. The remaining plumbing is easy with push on quick fittings."

"I kept this boat a further two seasons and when I serviced the brakes before I sold it there were no issues with any of the brake parts. "

"Hub Flush had saved me a fortune in cash and time. I was so pleased with the performance, the first item on my shopping list for my new boat and trailer was a 4 wheel hub flush kit."

Steve Walker
Manager - Operations & Technical
ExxonMobil Marine Ltd

  

Hub Flush boat trailer accessories have been INDEPENDENTLY TESTED by DIVE, the UK's best-selling SCUBA magazine.

The TEST ZONE article can be found in the September 2006 issue of DIVE magazine.

  

Edited by Charles Hood BSAC advanced instructor and DIVE'S senior correspondent.

With the diving season now at its peak, the chances are that a fair number of divers who own RIBs will have had problems with their trailers' brakes, hubs or bearings. It's a common problem. Immersing your trailer allows salt water to enter all the places you don't want it to - namely, the wheel mechanisms. Spraying the trailer down with fresh water will help, but it is virtually impossible to get fresh water inside the hubs. The trailer is then usually towed back to its shed and left there until the next dive, when you discover the brakes have jammed because of corrosion.

Enter the Hub Flush, a new hub-washing product. The idea is simple. Attach a nozzle into the rear of each hub to which there is a tube attached. Connect all the tubes from each nozzle (two for a single-axle trailer and four for a twin-axle trailer) together into one easy-to-connect garden hose-type fitting and plug it into a water supply.

We found the product worked well. We left one of the hubs exposed so we could see how the Hub Flush performed. At the end of the nozzle there is a jet, which directs the water supplied in several directions, ensuring the entire hub and brakes get a thorough soaking.

Fitting them is a bit tricky, and our advice would be to make sure you have all the tools, spanners and sockets to remove the hub as well as the tools to attach the Hub Flush kit. No specialist tools are required, but having the correct drill bit is essential. Also, you need to be able to fit the Hub Flush kit while the boat is off the trailer - a couple of cordless drills may be useful.

It is now more than three weeks since the kit has been installed on my trailer and we haven't had one stuck wheel.

DIVE TEST VERDICT

Useful product that works

VALUE: 9/10

PERFORMANCE: 9/10

  

  

Click here to read an independent forum discussion about Hub Flush on Ribnet