Wheel bearings

[timnsusie]

I wanted to pack my wheel bearings but I am not familiar with the "Lippert Components" grease cap on my 2017 Jayco Jayflight trailer (see attached picture) Is there a zerk fitting under that rubber cap? Was thinking about replacing all the caps with "Bearing Buddies" or is that what these are similar to?thanks.
Tim

[LiftedAWDAstro]

Do NOT use bearing buddies! There is a zerk under the rubber cap. What I do and some will disagree, is to jack up the wheel so it is off the ground and while spinning it, put a couple pumps of grease in until you start to see grease come out around the zerk. Do not flush it all out. Every other year I remove the wheel and hub and inspect the bearings and seals and replace as needed. I also repack the bearings if the grease looks bad. If the seal was not leaking, I do not replace it. I wipe the spindle off with a rag and check for wear too. I then clean the brake components with air and brake cleaner and lube the brake shoe to backing plate rub points.

[curver900]

grease seals are cheap ... anytime you remove your hub after a year just replace them cheap insurance and you already have it apart...


I agree with adding grease while spinning the wheel.. it works just like they say DON'T add grease to it without spinning the wheel or it will cause issues with the grease seal... then you get to buy new brakes too...


make sure you use the same grease as is in there.. mixing them can cause failure... if you don't know what is in there.. take them all apart clean and then repack and use that grease type going forward...

[timnsusie]

Thank you Lifted for your reply. Let me ask this, does the rubber cover lift off or do you need to remove the entire unit? What kind of grease do you use? I was going to use Lubrimatics LMX red grease.

[Quantum]

Yes, the rubber cover can be pryed out with a flat screw driver.

There is a certain type of grease to use, it is red and stringy, high temp bearing/drum grease.

[Isaacs]

Yes, there is a fitting under the rubber cap which just pulls off. I've been "mixing" grease for years with no problem but it's probably not a good thing to do.

What that thing does is send grease through the center of your spindle to the back of the rear bearing. From here, the grease gets forced against the rear seal and, assuming it doesn't blow through it, has nowhere else to go but through both bearings and back out the front around the fitting you are pumping it into.

As others have said, a good thing to do is to spin the wheel while pumping grease into the fitting. This encourages the grease to make a complete round trip and come back out the front. If the old grease is cold or hard it will block things up and your new grease will simply find its way out of the back of the wheel and do no good. You'll know this is happening because the old grease won't be coming out where you can see it.

Another good way to grease is after you've driven the trailer for a while. This heats up the grease and helps it to circulate. If you have a big slimy mess around your grease gun fitting you're doing things right!

[DanNJanice]

Originally Posted by timnsusie

I wanted to pack my wheel bearings but I am not familiar with the "Lippert Components" grease cap on my 2017 Jayco Jayflight trailer (see attached picture) Is there a zerk fitting under that rubber cap? Was thinking about replacing all the caps with "Bearing Buddies" or is that what these are similar to?thanks.
Tim

AFAIK, there is a zerk under the seal to grease the bearings. Basically, it IS a bearing buddie.
Many argue that you are better off to simply repack the bearings the old fashioned way. If you use the zerks, make sure you raise the wheels so you can rotate them while greasing.

[29BHS ECO]

Why is special wheel bearing grease required, can't good old automotive wheel good bearing grease be used . Except for boat trailers why do we have to do them at all, they are just as good as what we have in our TV's and daily drivers. Larry

[ricemanwm]

The Lippert website has plenty of Technical Information Sheets and the Owners Manual for your axles. Lots of pictures and detailed procedures. Always nice to have the official documentation handy when performing any axle maintenance. Everything everyone has said so far follows right along with these procedures.

https://www.lci1.com/support-spring-axles

[RedHorse1]

Lippert has specs on what they view as acceptable grease, search their web site and you can find the axle manual which has the specs and some brands listed.
I copied the specs and buy accordingly:
Thickener Type-Lithium Complex
Dropping Point-215 C - 419 F min
Consistency-NLGI No2
Additives-EP, Corrosion, Oxidation Inhibitors
Viscosity Index-80 min

IMHO if they tell me that the grease should have these properties there’s a reason.

The grease system you are asking about is called “Ez-Lube”. Many people advise against it and prefer to manually repack. I add grease a couple of times a season and did a manual repack after about 3 years and found no problems. The key is to add grease slowly as the wheel is turning.

[timnsusie]

riceman, thank you. Great info. Went to the website, perfect just have to figure out wich axels I have.
Thanks again

[timnsusie]

Redhorse1
Thank you , very helpful.
Tim

[ricemanwm]

Originally Posted by timnsusie

riceman, thank you. Great info. Went to the website, perfect just have to figure out wich axels I have.
Thanks again

No worries, glad to help. To figure out which axle you have requires crawling under the camper. On the axle tube you will find three numbers, these are mine, yours should be similar

Variant# V000179566
Cust Part # 0243982
Ser# 045-004013485

Once you have the numbers you’ll be able to verify which axle you have, I’m betting you have the standard 3500lbs axles but could be wrong.

Before I cracked mine open I was curious if I had the auto adjusting brakes. I contacted Lippert through the “Contact Us” link on their website, gave them the three numbers and they responded quickly verifying I did have the auto adjusting brakes. So if you have questions they will respond and answer your questions.

[RedHorse1]

Originally Posted by timnsusie

Redhorse1
Thank you , very helpful.
Tim

Tim, more than welcome! Welcome to JOF!
Bearings are a frequent and hot topic, my neighbor (also a TT guy) has had a couple of bearing (and tire) failures. I think it’s his speed and weight.
Back to bearings, I prefer Timken (USA made), I thank my FIL for that. I still have the original bearings in play, made in PRC, but I have a set of Timken replacements in my spares box. Baring any problems I will probably replace them in the next year or so.

[PlayersZ28]

Lots of good info already posted. Only thing I'll add is that if they've never been greased through the zerk it'll take a lot of grease to fill the inside of the hub. First time I did mine thru the zerk I thought I'd blown out the back seal and took it all apart to find there was till lots of air inside. Think mine take 25+ pumps to get it coming out the front.

I tear mine down, clean and hand pack one yr then zerk the second and repeat. New seals when I hand pack.

As mentioned, wheel in the air and rotate it as you pump. Easier to have a wheel turning friend while you pump so you don't have to try to do both at the same time.

[geezerbob]

What a mechanic who works on campers told me is the worst thing they could have done is to put zerk fittings on trailers with brakes.
If it is a trailer without brakes like a small boat trailer or ?? go ahead and zerk away.
His words not mine.
I bet this will get some responses
Bob

[repacs0103]

Originally Posted by geezerbob

What a mechanic who works on campers told me is the worst thing they could have done is to put zerk fittings on trailers with brakes.

If it is a trailer without brakes like a small boat trailer or ?? go ahead and zerk away.

His words not mine.

I bet this will get some responses

Bob

That mechanic is 100% accurate.

It’s not that EZ-lubes don’t work- they do, but they are known to blow out seals and contaminate brakes, especially in the hands of novices.


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[PlayersZ28]

If the seals are good and you pump slowly while rotating the wheel the grease should find it easier to come out the front than out the back. On the other hand if the weight is on the wheel and you pump the gun like a fiend it'll likely go past the seal.

At least with the zerk fill they'll generally get lubed whereas if you had to take it apart to lube many wouldn't get done until they failed.

[Sundancer330]

Originally Posted by geezerbob

What a mechanic who works on campers told me is the worst thing they could have done is to put zerk fittings on trailers with brakes.
If it is a trailer without brakes like a small boat trailer or ?? go ahead and zerk away.
His words not mine.
I bet this will get some responses
Bob

I agree 100%, and if you don't feel you have the ability to repack your bearings don't be filling the hub with grease using the EZ Lube because at some point the bearings need to be checked otherwise they are going to fail

[Redbird7]

Originally Posted by timnsusie

I wanted to pack my wheel bearings but I am not familiar with the "Lippert Components" grease cap on my 2017 Jayco Jayflight trailer (see attached picture) Is there a zerk fitting under that rubber cap? Was thinking about replacing all the caps with "Bearing Buddies" or is that what these are similar to?thanks.
Tim

1st if you have a grease zerk, you have EZ lube hubs. This moves grease to center of the hub. Not intended to grease hubs but install new grease into hubs.

2nd. Buddy bearings do not grease bearings. They pressure up the hubs to prevent water intrusion

3rd. If you want to repack the bearings, you need to replace the seals. They do not last longer than a year or two.

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