2011 Jay Sport - Wheel hub grease fitting

[phoxes]

The 2011 model has a zerk fitting right in the middle hub of the wheel. Seems like a great idea to me, although my dealer strongly recommends not using it, and manually repacking the wheel when it comes time. He said you don't know how much grease you are filling and you could blow the seals. Any one have any comments on this, agree disagree?

Thanks!
Matt

[Denise]

Welcome to the Jayco Owners Forum Phoxes! You can't always trust a dealer and if you check with folks on all the different forums on this, you will get lots of opinions. Forget the dealer and call Jayco direct to get the info you need for your specific newer model so you can stay within your warranty. Ask for the name of the person who supplies the info and what they said then record it in you paperwork for future reference.

[Tyreguy]

Greaseable hub assemblies ('bearing buddies') assure many years of trouble free service. When used properly you won't have the chore of teardown & repack as often as the bearings stay greased with the correct amount of fresh grease. I agree with healthi- call Jayco and have them instruct you on the proper use of a dealer-installed 'bearing buddy'.

[dixonge]

a Camping World mechanic recently told us the same thing, to never, ever use the zerk fitting - according to him, the excess can come out in the brake cylinder area, coating the brake pads eventually - he was explaining this to us as he was in the middle of replacing all four brake drums due to overheating and cracked pads. Big mess.

[CentralNH]

Bearing buddies and such are junk!! they grease the outer bearing great but the inner bearing gets very little grease. They are ok if you are going to pack your bearings every year or so. Bearing buddies were designed for people who put alot of miles on trailers (utility, campers, flat beads etc..) To make sure some grease gets in their to keep dust and dirt from seizing a bearing. In most of these greas fitting type dust caps you will see fine print to pack bearings regularly which most shops consider regularly ..yearly.
If you put too much grease in those caps they blow out the inner packing seal which is worse than not greasing at all. If you pack the cap with grease and then take the hub off and look you will see the outer bearing is greased well ........the inner bearing closest to the trailer body will have little no grease in it. Bearings on a trailer is a easy do it yourself project. If you goto Autozone or VIP or a place like that they will tell you how to do it and supply you with the 30.00 worth of tools needed for the job. You tube is a great place too. And about the dealer and warrenty read fine print.

Just my opinion......Bearing buddy type bearing dust caps are not meant to NOT properly pack your bearings at least once every year or so....they are use for high milage trailers to get some grease in the bearings to avoid dust and dirt build up.