Bearing Grease Maintenance

[ARoamer]

Originally Posted by gymracer

Why are you packing bearings on a 2020 RV? I wouldn't think about it under 50k if then. In my 50+ years I've seen more bearing damaged from people thinking they could repack and screw them up from not doing it correctly and I over tightenings the spindle nut. The older cars would run 80-100k without people messing with them.

Per Dexter Axle-

RV wheel bearings should be inspected for wear and repacked with grease once a year or every 10,000 to 12,000 miles, whichever comes first.

Being my 5er has never been repacked since new, and since we do some long trips, I feel better knowing everything is as it should be. Even the factory screws up, not enough grease, too loose or too tight bearings. My brake shoes are fine with more wear than I expected for only 9k miles. L/R axle nut was tighter than I like to run them. I'm sure many never give their axles a thought. By maintaining them I'm hoping I'm the guy that keeps on rolling, not broke down along the highway.

[Midnightmoon]

Since we are on the bearing subject, look at what we found with my landscape trailer today.

Now full disclosure, I haven't used this trailer more than once or twice in the last few years. It has just been sitting by my barn. And again, I haven't touched the bearings in at least 3 or 4 years. I did them last when I put new tires on it. There have been very few road miles on it since then. By the way, this trailer doesn't have EZ-Lube hubs. So, I have always hand packed them.

Anyway, this just goes to show you what can happen over time with them, even just sitting. I'm very thankful that these were checked today. A friend of mine asked to borrow it to go to West Virginia to pick up some equipement that he bought at an auction. I had mentioned to him when I dropped it off to him that it has been a long time since I checked the bearings. I'm so happy that he took the time to take a look before he set out with it tomorrow.

[Learjet]

Originally Posted by Midnightmoon

Since we are on the bearing subject, look at what we found with my landscape trailer today.

Now full disclosure, I haven't used this trailer more than once or twice in the last few years. It has just been sitting by my barn. And again, I haven't touched the bearings in at least 3 or 4 years. I did them last when I put new tires on it. There have been very few road miles on it since then. By the way, this trailer doesn't have EZ-Lube hubs. So, I have always hand packed them.

Anyway, this just goes to show you what can happen over time with them, even just sitting. I'm very thankful that these were checked today. A friend of mine asked to borrow it to go to West Virginia to pick up some equipement that he bought at an auction. I had mentioned to him when I dropped it off to him that it has been a long time since I checked the bearings. I'm so happy that he took the time to take a look before he set out with it tomorrow.

yep you never know....best to take a look every once and a while.

[Bill Johnson]

Originally Posted by Midnightmoon

Since we are on the bearing subject, look at what we found with my landscape trailer today.

Now full disclosure, I haven't used this trailer more than once or twice in the last few years. It has just been sitting by my barn. And again, I haven't touched the bearings in at least 3 or 4 years. I did them last when I put new tires on it. There have been very few road miles on it since then. By the way, this trailer doesn't have EZ-Lube hubs. So, I have always hand packed them.

Anyway, this just goes to show you what can happen over time with them, even just sitting. I'm very thankful that these were checked today. A friend of mine asked to borrow it to go to West Virginia to pick up some equipement that he bought at an auction. I had mentioned to him when I dropped it off to him that it has been a long time since I checked the bearings. I'm so happy that he took the time to take a look before he set out with it tomorrow.

Did the rollers actually fall out of the cage? Caught it in time

[Midnightmoon]

Originally Posted by Bill Johnson

Did the rollers actually fall out of the cage? Caught it in time

Yes.

[Rick56]

Just a quick related question for those of you that have replaced your brakes. Did you have your drums turned or honed even if they were perfect? I'm thinking along the lines of breaking the glaze on a used drum for the pads to seat to.

[Bill Johnson]

Originally Posted by Rick56

Just a quick related question for those of you that have replaced your brakes. Did you have your drums turned or honed even if they were perfect? I'm thinking along the lines of breaking the glaze on a used drum for the pads to seat to.

On a car/suv have a sanding pad I put on a drill and scratch the surface on the drum/rotor so the pad or shoe will seat. Many drums can't be cut because they are so thin. Read the dimensions on the drum and measure it to see if it can be cut

[Happy wife / happy life]

Originally Posted by Rick56

Just a quick related question for those of you that have replaced your brakes. Did you have your drums turned or honed even if they were perfect? I'm thinking along the lines of breaking the glaze on a used drum for the pads to seat to.

Just my two cent’s. If your doing your own brakes replace the drums/rotors ( your already saving about a $125.00 to $150.00 per hour in labor). If your paying a quality mechanic let them make the call.

[Puddle Pirate]

Originally Posted by Cincinnati Kid

Theoretically, with the EZ lube, you slowly pump new grease in until clean grease comes back out the front. You spin the wheel while you're doing that, to help the grease flow through. If it works as planned, you've just greased your axles without removing the drums- easy peasy.

However, if it doesn't work as planned, and a bunch of grease gets past the rear seals, you have a real mess and ruined brakes.

I've had that happen and will not use the EZ lube feature again.

Besides, you need to take the drums off anyway to inspect the brakes and bearings, so you might as well just go ahead and do it the old fashioned way.

had the same problem, wipe out my brakes, will not use EZ lube feature ever again, I do use Red-Tacky grease--no more problems, do not use the E-Z lube feature it will cost Ya!

[TomC_AZ]

This thread has me thinking twice about using the E-Z Lube feature. Our trailer only has one axle and currently everything is tight and rolling smooth still with about 14k miles that we have put on over its first year. (purchased last Aug 2021)

Brakes seem fine, but why not use EZ Lube while wheel and drum is off, would that not work? This way I would think you could see right away if there were any issue with the seals.

[Cincinnati Kid]

Originally Posted by TomC_AZ

This thread has me thinking twice about using the E-Z Lube feature. Our trailer only has one axle and currently everything is tight and rolling smooth still with about 14k miles that we have put on over its first year. (purchased last Aug 2021)

Brakes seem fine, but why not use EZ Lube while wheel and drum is off, would that not work? This way I would think you could see right away if there were any issue with the seals.

Yes, if that's the setup you have. The problem with ours is that the drum and hub are one piece, and you can't see what's leaking behind the seal until you take it apart again.

[Learjet]

Originally Posted by TomC_AZ

This thread has me thinking twice about using the E-Z Lube feature. Our trailer only has one axle and currently everything is tight and rolling smooth still with about 14k miles that we have put on over its first year. (purchased last Aug 2021)

Brakes seem fine, but why not use EZ Lube while wheel and drum is off, would that not work? This way I would think you could see right away if there were any issue with the seals.

Leaking grease past the seal while pumping is not the only problem with using the EZ lube...the after effect of having a full hub of grease is not good....It can lead to excessive churning and lost of grease past the seal.

To do it properly...the hub needs to come off to inspect the brake components and bearings.

Let the...blaaa blaaa... "never had a problem using EZ lube" folks chime in now.

[Happy wife / happy life]

Not having a place to do the work or the tools I can understand why people use the EZ lube system. It’s better than not doing the maintenance. Myself I want to know that the bearings , seals , hubs and brakes are in good shape. We have a single axel trailer. Driving down the freeway on a warm summer day or the winding mountain roads the last thing I need is bearing/brake failure.

[steve.jurnigan]

I replaced both axles last February due to warranty. I noticed the grease was red. Contacted Jayco and they say use Red and Tacky #2. I am retired but worked as electrician for 37 years in a paper mill. Our maintenance did all day class on precision maintenance. One of the topics was over greasing. In class they showed us how much temperature rise there was in bearing cavity flooded with grease and normal bearing pack. The grease is high temperature so it maybe ok to pump the hub full. Fresh pack bearing should be good for several years. Use to run a car 100,000 miles before looking at them, but the car rolled the road daily. P.S. another part of the class was torquing bolts.

[JFlightRisk]

Originally Posted by TomC_AZ

Brakes seem fine, but why not use EZ Lube while wheel and drum is off, would that not work? This way I would think you could see right away if there were any issue with the seals.

The drum and bearings have to be in place for the EZ lube function to work. The grease goes through the center of the spindle to a hole behind the inner bearing, between it and the seal. With the drum off, the grease will just fall onto the ground. The system works well when it's hot outside, and the grease gun and cartridge is warm too. It flows much easier. Still should jack the wheels up and spin them as the grease is pumped in slowly.

Yes, I've done it more than once without greasing the brake shoes. The idea came about for boat trailer axles, because they get submerged in water all the time.

[RedHorse1]

I’m not a fan of Chinese bearings (my factory set) and have a complete replacement set of U.S. made Timken in my spares box. After 8 years and roughly 40k miles my original bearings are still in service. I use the EZ-lube each season and do a manual inspection/repack every 3rd year. Each time I’ve done the manual I’m surprised by the condition of the cones and cups. When they fail the Timkens are going in but as long as they look good they stay.
I credit my love of Timken to my FIL who was a machinist and would use nothing else. He and I did many brake/bearing jobs together over the years, in the later years he supervised and I did the labor. He’s gone now and I miss him.