2022 Reflection 337RLS Bearing and Brake Replacement

[bierdude]

Figured I'd post this info if it helps anyone.
With 6,000 miles on our 2022 Reflection 337RLS, it was due for a bearing repack. I decided if I'm tearing it down I would also replace the bearings with Timken bearings.
At the same time, the brakes on this unit haven't felt right (grabbing, noisy, etc) from the day I picked it up. So I also ordered brake shoes to do it all at once.
This unit has Dexter 6,000lb Nev-R-Adjust axles.
The original bearings I removed were stamped China.
The Timken bearing boxes were all marked Made in US (and the bearings stamped US) with the exception of the outer bearing which was marked Make in Mexico.
Inner Outer
Bearing: 25580 15123
Race: 25520 15245
Seals: 10-36 Timken 412920

Brake Shoes:
DEXTER 12" x 2" Self Adjusting Electric Brake Shoes 7k (RH) #K71-676-00
DEXTER 12" x 2" Self Adjusting Electric Brake Shoes 7k (LH) #K71-675-00

Ordered everything online: bearings/seals from Rockauto and brake shoes from Eastern Marine/Trailer Parts Superstore (all in stock, great pricing, and quick shipping).
The brake shoes were in pretty bad condition considering only 4,000 miles. They were pitted and cracking. Might be some truth to what I've read that the transporters are really hard on trailer brakes.

Cheers.

[FlyStar]

How did the China bearings and cones look? Any wear, burn marks, potting. Etc. ? I just repacked mine after the first 12,000 and they looked perfect except for the China stamp on the back.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Steven@147]

Figured I'd post this info if it helps anyone.
With 6,000 miles on our 2022 Reflection 337RLS, it was due for a bearing repack. I decided if I'm tearing it down I would also replace the bearings with Timken bearings.
At the same time, the brakes on this unit haven't felt right (grabbing, noisy, etc) from the day I picked it up. So I also ordered brake shoes to do it all at once.
This unit has Dexter 6,000lb Nev-R-Adjust axles.
The original bearings I removed were stamped China.
The Timken bearing boxes were all marked Made in US (and the bearings stamped US) with the exception of the outer bearing which was marked Make in Mexico.
Inner Outer
Bearing: 25580 15123
Race: 25520 15245
Seals: 10-36 Timken 412920

Brake Shoes:
DEXTER 12" x 2" Self Adjusting Electric Brake Shoes 7k (RH) #K71-676-00
DEXTER 12" x 2" Self Adjusting Electric Brake Shoes 7k (LH) #K71-675-00

Ordered everything online: bearings/seals from Rockauto and brake shoes from Eastern Marine/Trailer Parts Superstore (all in stock, great pricing, and quick shipping).
The brake shoes were in pretty bad condition considering only 4,000 miles. They were pitted and cracking. Might be some truth to what I've read that the transporters are really hard on trailer brakes.

Cheers.

Good you took them apart and looked at maintenance of the bearings and brakes. Now you have a base line starting point if /when you look at them next year.

[bierdude]

The bearings/races didn't look pitted/burned, etc. But, since if they were bad and I had the trailer already jacked, etc. it would have been a week to get them online anyway so I went ahead and ordered them at the start. The grease on the outer bearing was dark gray/black which was weird since it has the dust cap. Almost looked like they ran out of red grease and used moly grease (who knows..glad I changed them).
A couple other notes:
These axles do have the EZ-Lube zerk fittings so greasing annually is pretty easy without tearing down the bearings.
Important to follow the Dexter Axle Maintenance Manual when doing the bearings. Namely when tightening the drum to the spindle, tighten to 50ft.lb. while spinning the drum. Then loosen without spinning and finally tighten to barely finger snug (it should have a little play) and install the retaining clip (it does not have cotter pins).
Biggest thing I found tearing it down was how bad the shoes looked after only 6,000 miles.

[goducks14]

Be careful pumping grease in as you can blow grease out past the rear seal. I would never try it as you'd never know if it happened or not until you realize your brakes are coated in grease.
IMO those EZ fill hubs should never be on a TT/5er. Only on boat trailers where the hub is submersed in water a lot.
To me it's a marketing gimmick that Dexter and RV manufactures make money from.

[Hoopy Frood]

FWIW, if the seals are in good shape and the seal surfaces are in good shape, which you know they are because you just serviced them, then it's very unlikely grease will get past the seals and onto the braking surfaces. OTOH, the EZ-Lube is an unnecessary addition, since the bearings and grease will be in good shape until the next service. That grease will not disappear, and provided you've done a good job of packing the bearings, will be fine until the next service, whenever you choose to do it.

I agree that the EZ-Lube is a marketing gimmick, but don't necessarily think they're bad, just unnecessary. And if a seal is damaged, due to improper assembly or bad seal mating surface, then grease could, in fact, get past a damaged seal. If you know everything is good, use them or don't use them, your choice.

[st2rv]

FYI EZ-Lube System
My 2017 Reflection 337RLS had an issue with the rear axle seal failure. This failure was due to a manufacturing issues LCI had at the time. Below are responses from both LCI and GD concerning the failure.

LCI- "Typically the grease seal failure that we have been seeing is due to to much grease being packed into the hub at the manufacturing plant. That is why we have done a complete over haul on the production side to change the process to prevent this from happening. The bearing should be inspected to make sure there is no scoring. If there is scoring these will need to be replaced."

GD- "The grease seal issue was the vendor problem not Grand Design or any of the dealers. Lippert was over greasing and causing the issue. They have now since bought a new machine that puts the right amount of grease in and we don’t have the problem any longer."

I personally do not use the EZ Lube system knowing this will then, I believe, over grease the hub causing the same issue as Lippert and Grand Design originally had occur and want to avoid. This is only my opinion after my issues.

"Too much grease volume (over greasing) in a bearing cavity will cause the rotating bearing elements to begin churning the grease, pushing it out of the way, resulting in energy loss and rising temperatures. This leads to rapid oxidation (chemical degradation) of the grease as well as an accelerated rate of oil bleed, which is a separation of the oil from the thickener."

This is what happened with my hubs, the separation of the oil from the thickener which then the oil leaked past the seals.
Hope this helps when deciding to use or not to use the EZ Lube system. Once again this is what I believe since having this issue with the seals and how LCI and GD responded. I prefer to do a complete service when repacking the wheel bearings.
Use this system , don't use it, this is up to you. More information is always good.

Hope this helps.
T

[Hoopy Frood]

I'll have to disagree with the above poster. While I don't think the EZ-Lube feature is needed, I don't believe it causes problems with cautious usage. It isn't a closed system, so excess grease can escape. Over zealous greasing, or using a power grease gun, which I imagine is done at the factory, is likely the culprit. But I firmly believe EZ-Lube is just a marketing gimmick, and not really needed. I used it on our old toyhauler a couple times when the trailer was new, and after I thought about it, I quit using it. I did repack the bearings after 6 years and they still looked fine.

[goducks14]

I don't get the maintenance part of it. On one had it's there so you can add grease even though no grease leaves the hub. And on the other hand Dexter says teardown and repack once a year or like 12,000 miles.
So the grease is good for a year. Why would you add more grease during that 12 month period?

[Hoopy Frood]

The Dexter advice to tear down and repack once per year is simple CYA. As you say, the grease doesn't go anywhere, and really you're looking at roller bearings where the actual grease/bearing contact area is minuscule. It's basically a point contact, not like a bushing/shaft type of contact. Provided the seals do their jobs, the grease isn't going anywhere, and contamination is kept to nearly zilch.

But honestly, brake/wheel bearing maintenance is a personal preference, and opinions are all over the place. But, FWIW, I've noticed a lot of people who complain about brake/wheel bearing issues also comment the problem occurred after having the brakes/wheel bearings serviced.