Well, they are sealed, kind of.Great point. I always wondered why they do not use a sealed bearing on trailer hubs. I guess it is price.
Well, they are sealed, kind of.Great point. I always wondered why they do not use a sealed bearing on trailer hubs. I guess it is price.
Well, they are sealed, kind of.![]()
Yes, I know, it was a joke.Not really. A sealed bearing is what you would have on the front hubs of your ram truck. Sealed bearings do not require lubrication, they tend to be more closed off, offering no route for contaminants to enter
I had a Titanium trailer with those bearings. Horrible idea in my opinion. You could not repair on the side of the road or a remote area. The bearings needed to be pressed on and off with a hydraulic press. So...in the interest of not ruining a trip you needed to carry an entire spindle assembly with you and change that if you had a bearing issue rather than two cup/cone bearings in a zip lock bagWe had a trailer (Carriage Cameo) a number of years ago that had "Nev-R-Lube" bearings. While we never had a problem with them, others did.
"Even though I swapped out my OEM bearings for Timkens, I'm under the impression that *most* bearing failures in our type of trailers are not a result of China made vs. whatever, but just a lack of general maintenance to begin with."
Over the years I've noticed that quite a few of the posts on various forums about wheel bearing issues, start with the phrase: "I just had the wheel bearing maintenance done and...". Maybe just me I but I honestly think a person is best served by pulling the wheels on their new, or new-to-them trailer, and checking the state of lubrication in the wheel bearings and packing as needed. I think the factory assembly lubrication leaves a bit to be desired.
I certainly agree Scott, we had a bearing engineer come in one time, and they counseled us that too much grease was almost, only almost mind you, as bad as too little because of the heat the excess grease will generate. And it sucks power to drive the grease packed bearing. And I have pulled the seals on sealed bearings, and you're right, the amount of grease inside can be pretty disconcerting if you're expecting it to be well packed.IMO...and you know what they say about those...a lot of bearing failures are what Howard alludes to. Just after service. And I have to think it is owners or dealer 'techs' not adjusting preload correctly. The bearings themselves don't need a lot of grease to last a long time. Certainly not what you end up pumping into a wheel hub through the EZ-Zerk. Ever pull a seal off a new sealed bearing? You would be surprised how little grease is in there. More air than grease.
So I'll bet there are very few failures caused by a lack of grease. And if you adjust preload correctly, going 3-5 years between repacks would not be unreasonable imo even though the Dexter manual says pull apart and inspect every 12 months EZ-Lube or not.
ive used EZLube since 2011 and never any bering ,seal,brake issues. You take off rubber cap & use a hand pump style grease gun and pump till DIRTY grease stops coming out all the while rotating wheel. They are designed to push grease out the front and not made like conventional bering & axles. That comment about boats ," Bering Buddies" spindle caps are a totally different item. They are just a a cap with a spring to keep pressure on the grease after the axle is pumped full to supposedly keep water out. Ive had a few boat trailer bering failures with those on the trailer.
NEVER use any kind of powered grease gun
ive used EZLube since 2011 and never any bering ,seal,brake issues. You take off rubber cap & use a hand pump style grease gun and pump till DIRTY grease stops coming out all the while rotating wheel. They are designed to push grease out the front and not made like conventional bering & axles. That comment about boats ," Bering Buddies" spindle caps are a totally different item. They are just a a cap with a spring to keep pressure on the grease after the axle is pumped full to supposedly keep water out. Ive had a few boat trailer bering failures with those on the trailer.
NEVER use any kind of powered grease gun
IMO...and you know what they say about those...a lot of bearing failures are what Howard alludes to. Just after service. And I have to think it is owners or dealer 'techs' not adjusting preload correctly. The bearings themselves don't need a lot of grease to last a long time. Certainly not what you end up pumping into a wheel hub through the EZ-Zerk. Ever pull a seal off a new sealed bearing? You would be surprised how little grease is in there. More air than grease.
So I'll bet there are very few failures caused by a lack of grease. And if you adjust preload correctly, going 3-5 years between repacks would not be unreasonable imo even though the Dexter manual says pull apart and inspect every 12 months EZ-Lube or not.
IMO...and you know what they say about those...a lot of bearing failures are what Howard alludes to. Just after service. And I have to think it is owners or dealer 'techs' not adjusting preload correctly. The bearings themselves don't need a lot of grease to last a long time. Certainly not what you end up pumping into a wheel hub through the EZ-Zerk. Ever pull a seal off a new sealed bearing? You would be surprised how little grease is in there. More air than grease.
So I'll bet there are very few failures caused by a lack of grease. And if you adjust preload correctly, going 3-5 years between repacks would not be unreasonable imo even though the Dexter manual says pull apart and inspect every 12 months EZ-Lube or not.
Maybe amount of weight carried? Other than that..I can't see any difference.Really, I'm trying to think of what the difference is between RV wheel bearings and early automobile wheel bearings (60's to 90's say)?
Big sigh, not sure why folks just don't repack bears the old fashioned way. It isn't that hard. Zero risk of blowing out the rear seal, and inspect the brakes and actual bearing surfaces for damage and wear.
I just did mine for the first time after about 8k miles. The grease wasnt bad, and the bearing looked great, no scoring or discoloration. repacked them, new inner seal and torqued to spec and loosened and finger tight on the nut as manual states. new cotter pin.
Really, I'm trying to think of what the difference is between RV wheel bearings and early automobile wheel bearings (60's to 90's say)? We never pulled the wheels to grease the bearings until it was time to replace the brakes.
John nails it on his point about when to service bearings based on years of history with older vehicles that had drums and now hi-temp discs with rotor hub assemblies. I feel sorry for those of you with disposable unit bearings…. I got rid of mine with a YUKON free spin kit.
The issue for me is the service interval.
If I can go 50-75 thousand miles on a set of front pads on my 92 F-150 and don’t pull the rotors off till I do a brake job, then why am I doing the trailer bearings at 8k??
Since you found perfect bearings at 8k then I assume you didn’t need brakes either.
Dexter issues a CYA service interval at 12 months not mileage. Can you tow 100k in 12 months?
I’m pulling this trailer around 10k per year and I’m still going on my 3rd year. I add some fresh grease with the EZ-Lube because it’s there and if it wasn’t I would still keep going till I need a brake job or I see a temp spike on the hub or feel / hear something strange when I spin them. I use a point n shoot digital thermometer to look for any excessive heat building up in the hubs or tires.
I’ve never toasted a trailer hub on any of my other trailers over the years. IMO, Utility trailers w/o brakes are the ones to look out for because a lot of people typically run them till they are dead with dry-rotting tires and never pulling a hub. Or, the weekend warriors that tow-store-tow-store-tow like a madman and don’t take the time to do a legit pre-trip inspection because it’s Thursday evening and the campgrounds will be filled up by Friday morning… then busting their hump to get home in time to get to work the next day. Rinse and repeat till it falls apart in the side of the road…
The hubs I’ve seen that got toasted were due to complete neglect, setting the bearings too tight and never lifting the tire off the ground to feel or hear how it spins. You can hear a set of dry bearings clicking or sticking in the hub when you spin them.
Preventative maintenance is an absolute necessity but there is a reasonable argument for a longer service interval if your paying attention to other signs n symptoms that come up before a complete failure. JMHO
There is no doubt that a complete disassembly and inspection is the best assurance as you say. I will do that when the time comes.
I agree with what John said:
Really, I'm trying to think of what the difference is between RV wheel bearings and early automobile wheel bearings (60's to 90's say)? We never pulled the wheels to grease the bearings until it was time to replace the brakes.
John nails it on his point about when to service bearings based on years of history with older vehicles that had drums and now hi-temp discs with rotor hub assemblies. I feel sorry for those of you with disposable unit bearings…. I got rid of mine with a YUKON free spin kit.
The issue for me is the service interval.
If I can go 50-75 thousand miles on a set of front pads on my 92 F-150 and don’t pull the rotors off till I do a brake job, then why am I doing the trailer bearings at 8k??
Since you found perfect bearings at 8k then I assume you didn’t need brakes either.
Dexter issues a CYA service interval at 12 months not mileage. Can you tow 100k in 12 months?
I’m pulling this trailer around 10k per year and I’m still going on my 3rd year. I add some fresh grease with the EZ-Lube because it’s there and if it wasn’t I would still keep going till I need a brake job or I see a temp spike on the hub or feel / hear something strange when I spin them. I use a point n shoot digital thermometer to look for any excessive heat building up in the hubs or tires.
I’ve never toasted a trailer hub on any of my other trailers over the years. IMO, Utility trailers w/o brakes are the ones to look out for because a lot of people typically run them till they are dead with dry-rotting tires and never pulling a hub. Or, the weekend warriors that tow-store-tow-store-tow like a madman and don’t take the time to do a legit pre-trip inspection because it’s Thursday evening and the campgrounds will be filled up by Friday morning… then busting their hump to get home in time to get to work the next day. Rinse and repeat till it falls apart in the side of the road…
The hubs I’ve seen that got toasted were due to complete neglect, setting the bearings too tight and never lifting the tire off the ground to feel or hear how it spins. You can hear a set of dry bearings clicking or sticking in the hub when you spin them.
Preventative maintenance is an absolute necessity but there is a reasonable argument for a longer service interval if your paying attention to other signs n symptoms that come up before a complete failure. JMHO
I absolutely agree with this reasoning. I too see no difference in wheel bearing maintenance of a travel trailer/5th wheel, or a modern motor vehicle if the bearings and seals were installed properly. The only time I clean and repack wheel bearings is if doing brake service or have to pull the hub for other reasons. Of course, I always check hub temp whenever I stop at a rest area but have never found a hot hub. Lucky maybe?
Wondering why DEXTER EZ-Lube prescribes 12 month inspection??
Are there no retired lawyers out there in this forum? IMO, they say this to prevent any chance of a lawsuit or any warranty claims if you have a failure and can’t prove you did the minimum prescribed maintenance.
That said, I do use the EZ-Lube feature on my axles. I’m not waiting to use the EZ-Lube till I need to service the hubs and try to push out / change out all the grease in one shot like a standard repacking. I don’t think that EZ-Lube was designed to do that and (IMO) if you do it this way you’re asking for trouble.
My theory is that a little fresh grease flowing thru the EZ-Lube to the bearings is better than pack it and leave it. The bonus for me is that I don’t have to pull the hubs until I need a brake job, with properly adjusted drums that should be a long time and that will make me a happy camper.
I’ve never pumped an entire tube of grease all at once to fill the voids between the bearings. I’ve never blown grease past the inner seal and soaked the brakes. After doing this process for several trips now I usually see some grease seepage coming thru the outer bearing while I’m pumping in the fresh.
I add 3-4 pumps of grease at the end of a days trip (300-400 miles) while the hubs are still warm right after unhitching. I use the hydraulic system to unhitch / auto level the trailer and then use the manual setting to lift all 4 tires off the ground so I can spin them while I’m pumping 3-4 shots of grease. I can get the whole process done in about 20-30 minutes. I’ll hit the wet bolts every 3rd stop while I’m at it. This process also allows me to feel how much if any drag there is from the hub/brakes while they are hot and keep them adjusted if needed.
I feel sorry for those of you that don’t have hydraulic levelers and have to drag out a jack then go wheel by wheel…. I guess you could level your trailer then use a bottle jack to go thru this process.
One question I don’t see asked / answered in this thread is what grease to use on the hubs. Are you using hi-temp disc brake grease, standard “tube” grease, synthetic or “oem Dexter” ??
I have drum brakes that don’t need hi-temp disc brake grease like most cars / trucks that have rebuildable front hubs with disc brakes / rotors. Do y’all with disc conversions use hi-temp?
I’m using LUCAS Red-n-Tacky tube grease. The Red-n-Tacky is flowing nicely thru the bearings. The grease passing thru to the outer bearing is abviously used but I’m not getting any noticeable contamination coming past the removable hub cover into the grease.
I did invest in a professional grade grease gun, I highly recommend the LockNLube grease gun, $70.00 on AMAZON. It has a positive locking tip that grabs the zerk and it doesn’t blow grease out all over the place.