EZ Lube weight in Please

Tommyboy57 · 03-15-2015, 10:22 AM

OK I know this thread will be full of negatives on the EZ lube but I hope to get some positives too. I'm about to use the EZ lube zerk with a small handle grease gun NOT even the long handled one and gently put in grease while rotating the wheel. The rear seal is a double lip spring loaded seal. My mechanic says I should be good. In my heart I cant believe this system is so flawed that I shouldn't use it. What say ye people! Lay it on me before I do it.

seanmcpherson · 03-15-2015, 10:35 AM

I don't have any experience on RVs but I've had EZ lube axles on my cargo trailers for years. I've never had an issue when lubing them. I also go gently, and just swap between Lucas Red and another color (still rated for use in those conditions) each time. That makes it very easy to tell when the old is out and the new is in! I jack up the side I'm working on, put it on stands for safety, then have the wheel rotated while I slowly drive in new lube and scrape out the old with a plastic scraper for disposal. The seals have responded well, I've never had any 'leak' or mess, and I check my hubs temp at every stop when I'm towing it. I've never had them get even warm, and most of my towing is in the summer, with the worst annual trips being thru IN/KY/TN/GA including thru Chattanooga and the hills there in August and September, along with IN/KY/IL/MO thru the Ozarks in earlier summer, like May and June.

NVGun40 · 03-15-2015, 10:55 AM

I also have no experience with EZ Lube. Yet, I figure as long as you stick to your plan and keep and eye front inside and out, you shouldn't have any issues. I use the Bearing Buddies on my snow machine trailer and have always had great performance. However, that trailer is small and doesn't have brakes.
When it comes to my TT and my past TT's, call me old fashioned, but I prefer to lube the axles the old fashion way, by taking the wheel apart. This allows me to check the brake pads, drums, axle shafts, bearings, seals etc. Sure it takes a lot longer, but my peace of mind is settled.

dennis b · 03-15-2015, 02:04 PM

Gotta chime in here.
If using the EZ Lube system do you still need to repack bearings every year as recommended?

seanmcpherson · 03-15-2015, 02:23 PM

Dexter's manual says to do an inspection by checking for wheel deflection, etc. I've put thousands of miles on axles w/ EZ lube, never doing anything but following their procedure for lubing thru the zerk as I described above with high quality grease (like red n tacky), and have compared the, side by side with a set that was hand re packed every year and driven in similar conditions. The set w/ EZ lube system were in exactly as good of condition (basically still perfect), so I'm yet to be convinced there's a benefit to hand disassembly and repack VS a good check of everything and a good job of replacing the grease w/o doing a half-way job. I consider a half hour and a couple tubes of grease a year an easy investment, and to date I've never had a wheel/hub issue. Friends with boats who also tow cross country regularly and use EZ lube have had similar results to me. I'd expect there's more likelihood in many cases of mis-assembling everything when it's torn completely down than in using the pass thru system, so long as you're methodical about it. If it's not leaking, tearing it all down increases the likelihood it'll start to leak

I think keeping a close eye on everything, using good grease and not the cheap stuff, and being ready to tear them down if you do spot a leak or get any heat in the bearings is the best way to go. Just my $0.02 from towing/trailering, although again, mine experience has been with cargo trailers.

NVGun40 · 03-15-2015, 02:29 PM

Even if using the EZ Lube system or the bearing buddy system, you have to supply fresh grease at regular (yearly, bi yearly, etc) intervals. The reason is the grease gets micro contaminants from dirt and dust and through usage, wears in from the heating and cooling. While the grease does not truly break down and disappear (unless you have a leak), its lubricating properties deteriorate and you can burn up bearings.
The problem with EZ lube and Bearing buddy type systems, is that when you pump in new grease, the old grease MUST be displaced somewhere. Thus is usually through a weak point in the seal. That extra old grease as it is squeezed out will inevitably go somewhere, usually getting slung around onto the trailers brakes and brake drums.

Again, to do it properly, you have to take the wheel off and the hub apart enough to remove and clean out the old grease. Since your there, you may as well keep a check on the brake shoes and drums. Once done, the Bearing Buddy and EZ Lube make repacking easy, as you can put it all back together and slowly turn the wheel while pumping fresh grease in. If you've remembered to keep the wheel and brake drum off while regreasing, you can keep and eye open and when you see the first sign of grease coming out past the seal, wipe it away, put the drum and wheel back on and you are done.

In the case of a small trailer, like my snowmachine trailer or small boat or utility trailer; without brakes, the excess grease can get squeezed out and you can wipe it away, or its gets slung around inside and underneath, where most people don't look anyway.

seanmcpherson · 03-15-2015, 02:34 PM

When you take the grease cap off the EZ lube center, that's where all the grease is coming out. It's not coming out throug the back seals, etc. You pop the rubber cap, put your grease gun on the center zerk, rotate the wheel, and pump. Every pump you push in new grease, and it displaces old grease out the front around the sides of the zerk. You scrape it out as it comes, and dispose of it. Continue until the grease coming out is pure/clean regardless of how much you rotate the wheel and inject new grease. As long as you stay with the same type of grease (lithium etc) you're good to go at this point.

NVGun40 · 03-15-2015, 02:35 PM

At the same time, eluding to what seanmcpherson is saying, on my snowmachine trailer and utility trailers, using the bearing buddy system, I rarely take them completely apart (maybe once every 4 or 5 years). I just apply a new good quality grease every year and have never been disappointed. Due to the size weight and investment of a travel trailer and the fact that when I am travelling/towing it, it is usually meant to be my lodgings at my destination, I spend a bit of extra time on it to ensure its done right and clean.

seanmcpherson · 03-15-2015, 02:44 PM

Nvgun40, I think we're just stuck in a grey area of statistical likelihood

I feel more comfortable with the mechanics of the bearing assembly when it stays as an assembly and "if it is working, keep it working" with the least possible steps/changes, which for means the EZ lube system has the least mechanical impact (odds of Mis-assembly) and would only hand repack every couple of years (depending on the miles and weights associated with the TT). In either case, I'm betting that as long as someone is thinking about it enough to come and ask, that person is going to be pretty safe in coming to their own comfort zone answer which'll still have good results (ie, careful use of EZ lube with repacks on a lesser basis, or ignoring the EZ lube in preferring to annual hand repack). I think both ways are perfectly fine and will exceed the designers/engineers/manufacturers expectations of real world use by an order of magnitude

NVGun40 · 03-15-2015, 02:55 PM

You are correct seanmcpherson. I guess I should have mentioned a little more history about why I do it myself. I have all the tools compressors and a shop big enough to do it in, to make the job easy.

Paintinfool3 · 03-15-2015, 05:03 PM

Hum I have the ez lube on both my car trailer and now my camper trailer and don't even understand how to use them ... They are not like buddy bearings as far as where you put the grease in?

dennis b · 03-15-2015, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paintinfool3

Hum I have the ez lube on both my car trailer and now my camper trailer and don't even understand how to use them ... They are not like buddy bearings as far as where you put the grease in?

So I guess yur repacking?

Paintinfool3 · 03-15-2015, 06:10 PM

Well not yet i dont have many miles or seasons on either one

dennis b · 03-15-2015, 06:51 PM

[QUOTE=Paintinfool3;279612]Well not yet i dont have many miles or seasons on either one[/QUOT

WOW ! and its a 1995? LOL

Paintinfool3 · 03-15-2015, 07:07 PM

My car hauler is 2012 with not many miles on it ... my tt is a 2015 with less than 100 miles total on it lol

dennis b · 03-15-2015, 07:21 PM

Ok was lookin at yur TV in sig line

jimandcarol · 03-15-2015, 09:01 PM

I was debating whether to use the the ez lube feature or to disassemble, inspect and pack.I called Dexter and the tech I spoke with said they recommend disassembly and inspection every 12 months, so what good are the ez lube axles?

dennis b · 03-15-2015, 09:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimandcarol

i was debating whether to use the the ez lube feature or to disassemble, inspect and pack.i called dexter and the tech i spoke with said they recommend disassembly and inspection every 12 months, so what good are the ez lube axles?

my thought exactly!

mike gourley · 03-16-2015, 04:51 AM

forgive me if i am not posting correctly just joined we have a 2013 34rlts pinnacle and i want ot install washer/dryer combo can anyone give me the correct location to drill my hole for the dryer vent? i do not want to make a mistake thanks mike

tugboat95 · 03-16-2015, 11:22 AM

I've used these for years a various types of trailers. Most was on boat trailers dipped in salt water on a regular basis. Never once had a problem with them. Only thing I did was grease them After every use to expel any salt water. Had one trailer for ten years and never repacked them. And I dare say that trailer had more hard miles on it than any RV. Not saying repacking occasionally isn't a bad idea but these systems work fine for me.

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