Bearing, Spindles, and Easy Lube: Timken installed

[travelingjw]

Lippert 3500 Axle, 2017.
Yesterday I replaced all my bearings with Timken's. I had 2172 miles on my TT, bearings showed no wear.

Some questions, see related photos.
1. In many post and videos it states that when you grease bearing you should see grease come out the front bearing. If you look at my spindle, with the duel diameters, it would take an awful lot of grease to fill that void. Not sure that would be productive.

2. In the photo of the spindle, at the back area, there are a few areas where the chrome is no longer there. See black spots (it is not grease) Is this something to be concerned about?

3. On one of the the wheels, there was grease all over the brake assembly area. Does this mean that there was a broken grease seal or did I put too much grease through the Easy-Lube when I greased before my last trip. Seems suspicious since the spindle area was not even close to being filled.

Easy-Lube: I flushed the Axle of old grease (It took 5 full pumps to clear the axle channel). I saw that the Easy-Lube fitting only delivers grease to the rear seal. (See note 1 above). This concerns me as I wonder if the Easy-Lube (when grease gets hot) even has enough grease to flow to the front bearing. If not, does it means that I have to manually pack the front bearing prior to each long trip.?

Some notes for those with Lippert 3500 Axles. First, the bearing numbers in the manual can be used for replacing with Timken's, same number. Second, I couldn't find anyone who had "matching grease seals" with the Lippert number. I finally just measured them and purchased someone of equal size.

Thanks to all of you who answer.

[JFlightRisk]

I don't see any problems in either picture. If there was no grease contamination on the brake material, it's ok. The spots on the spindle are most likely imperfections on the surface after the spindle was machined down, and again not a concern at all. I've seen a LOT worse on cars and trucks. As for how the grease got through the seal onto the break hardware, it can weep through a worn seal lip, perhaps the seal was not installed perfectly square in the first place. maybe too much grease pressure, but that may only appear if the wheel wasn't being spun while you greased it. When I did my bearings, it took a 1/3 tube (14 oz.) per axle. Had to go out for another refill on number four axle. In short, your just fine with what I see.

[ttavasc]

Originally Posted by travelingjw

Lippert 3500 Axle, 2017.
Yesterday I replaced all my bearings with Timken's. I had 2172 miles on my TT, bearings showed no wear.
I replaced my original bearings with Timkens after the 2-year warranty ran out. Had about 10K miles on the original bearings and they still looked fine.

Some questions, see related photos.
1. In many post and videos it states that when you grease bearing you should see grease come out the front bearing. If you look at my spindle, with the duel diameters, it would take an awful lot of grease to fill that void. Not sure that would be productive.
I've used the EZ Lube on my utility trailer which uses the same bearings and seals as my 195RB. It does take a lot of grease to fill the void and force the grease out the front bearing. Some patience is required along with the continual spinning of the wheel while pumping but eventually it gets there. It helps to warm the bearings up a bit before doing this. I usually run the trailer down the road 10-20 miles before using the EZ Lube

2. In the photo of the spindle, at the back area, there are a few areas where the chrome is no longer there. See black spots (it is not grease) Is this something to be concerned about?

3. On one of the the wheels, there was grease all over the brake assembly area. Does this mean that there was a broken grease seal or did I put too much grease through the Easy-Lube when I greased before my last trip. Seems suspicious since the spindle area was not even close to being filled. I would agree with JFlightRisk on the potential causes for this. Worn or dried/damaged seal or too much pressure if wheel is not continually rotated when pumping grease into the system, especially if the grease in the bearings is cold/thick.

Easy-Lube: I flushed the Axle of old grease (It took 5 full pumps to clear the axle channel). I saw that the Easy-Lube fitting only delivers grease to the rear seal. (See note 1 above). This concerns me as I wonder if the Easy-Lube (when grease gets hot) even has enough grease to flow to the front bearing. If not, does it means that I have to manually pack the front bearing prior to each long trip.?
Once the void is filled between the rear and front bearings it doesn't take much additional grease being pumped in to reach both bearings. The grease in the void between the bearings stays relatively fresh so pushing just a little bit more grease into the system will push grease from the void into the front bearing. At some point though the used grease from the rear bearing will flow into the front bearing. In order clear that you need to keep pumping for a bit after the fresh grease is coming out of the front bearing until you see old grease appear again from the rear bearing. It's a lot of grease as you are replacing the grease in both bearings as well as the void between the two in order to clear the old grease from the rear bearing.

Some notes for those with Lippert 3500 Axles. First, the bearing numbers in the manual can be used for replacing with Timken's, same number. Second, I couldn't find anyone who had "matching grease seals" with the Lippert number. I finally just measured them and purchased someone of equal size.
Did you get a spring loaded double-lip seal for this? The spring loaded seals are used to reduce the risk of blowing grease past the seal and into the brakes. I get my Timken bearings and seals from DriveTrain America - the seal description for my Dexter 3500lb axle is "10-19 Redneck Trailer Double Lip Grease Seal E-Z Lube 3,500 LB"

Thanks to all of you who answer.

Added my comments above in red.

[travelingjw]

Thanks for the great information. From your comments it appears that I should fill the space with more grease. I purchased 2 extra of everything so I will look at the seals to see if they are the spring loaded ones; is there an easy way to tell without destroying the seal. If they aren't should I redo the job and install the spring loaded seals? Thanks again.

[RVhiker]

There are a variety of opinions about EZ Lube. Some believe that it is useful. Others believe that causes more problems than it solves. I'm in the latter group.

I clean and re-grease my bearings every two years or so and my bearings need no new grease in between servicing. How do I know? Because inspecting the bearings during servicing shows the bearings and spindles to be in great shape. Also, pulling drums enables a brake system inspection. When bearings are removed and cleaned in a solvent, they are clean. EZ Lube just pumps new grease through a dirty bearing.

My opinion is that on a travel trailer, EZ Lube gets you nothing but an increased risk of brake grease contamination. But on a boat trailer, with frequent dunking in water, EZ Lube sounds like a great and useful product.

[ttavasc]

Originally Posted by travelingjw

Thanks for the great information. From your comments it appears that I should fill the space with more grease. I purchased 2 extra of everything so I will look at the seals to see if they are the spring loaded ones; is there an easy way to tell without destroying the seal. If they aren't should I redo the job and install the spring loaded seals? Thanks again.

Look at the inside of the seal - you should see a spring wrapped around the back of the seal like the attached photo. The spring applies tension to make it harder for grease to flow back through the seal and into the drum. Looking at the Lippert manual they call for a double-lip seal compared to my Dexter manual where they call for the spring-loaded double-lip seal. Best I can tell both Dexter and Lippert use 1.719" ID x 2.565" OD seals so if you want to use the 10-19 spring-loaded that I referenced it looks like those would work for your application.

[ALJO]

I agree with Ez-Lube system causing more trouble than it is worth. When a cavity is full off grease and is heated it expand and has to go somewhere................yes, out through the seal. Better is to remove the hub and grease the bearing and fill the cavity with 1/3 of grease. Definitely use a double lip seal.

[ttavasc]

What I've seen on my utility trailer is more accumulation of grease around the edge of the grease cap as compared to my 195RB where I've not used the system myself, although prior to the warranty expiring I had the dealer do the bearing/brake maintenance and I could tell they had used the EZ Lube. With an old or damaged seal though the path of least resistance under pressure can certainly lead to the grease flowing into the drum instead.

[RedHorse1]

Thanks to my FIL I’m also a Timken fan. Curious, did you also replace the bearing races?

[Sundancer330]

Originally Posted by RedHorse1

Thanks to my FIL I’m also a Timken fan. Curious, did you also replace the bearing races?

You always want to replace the race/cups when replacing the bearing. Timken sells them in sets.

[RedHorse1]

Originally Posted by Sundancer330

You always want to replace the race/cups when replacing the bearing. Timken sells them in sets.

I agree, was asking if the OP did. As I said, “curious”.

[travelingjw]

Since the TT had less than 2500 miles on it, I inspected the races and found them to be in excellent condition so I did not replace them.

[travelingjw]

Sundancer, thanks, I will do that in the future. In this case, since the TT is still under 3K I wasn't going to replace unless needed. Interesting though...it took me quite a while to learn how to order the Timken's with just the Lippert number. Trying to find a part number with the races included might take
until I am ready for the next pm. .

[ttavasc]

Looking at the Lippert manual for the 3500lb axle they show the outer bearing is a L44649/44610 set and the inner bearing is a L68149/L68111 set. On the drivetrainamerica.com site search for "A4 Timken" for the outer set and "A17 Timken" for the inner set and you'll find what you are looking for. If you don't have these already I'd also pick up a bearing/race/seal tool kit. I got item # PTW83020 from etrailer.com for about $25 - makes changing the cups out really easy. Given my single axle unit I don't leave home without everything I need to do a complete swap-out if needed.

[travelingjw]

Thanks! Awesome information. Now stored in my files for the next bearing/race change.