Repacking wheel bearings

[new rver]

I have a set off Dexter axles.every 3000 miles I Jack it up spin wheel put 3 pumps of axle grease in them. My ? Is how many miles till I should repack bearings.
Thanks for any replys

[TMyers17]

Originally Posted by new rver

I have a set off Dexter axles.every 3000 miles I Jack it up spin wheel put 3 pumps of axle grease in them. My ? Is how many miles till I should repack bearings.
Thanks for any replys

I've read 10 to 12K miles. One thing that I also do is crawl under and look for any signs of grease at the back of the wheel hubs and brake plates. The seals are the weak link.

[TXiceman]

If you have the Dexter E-Z Lube axles, you are not servicing them correctly and can actually do harm to them. Get the Dexter manual out and read the instructions and follow that procedure. Just pumping in grease like you are doing, can blow the grease seal and ruin the brakes.

There are numerous videos online on how to grease the E-Z Lube axles.
Dexter

Ken

[Stateboy]

Jayco owners forum has a current bearing grease thread going that may be of some help (if the link is allowed on here).

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/top...ink_source=app

[new rver]

Just looked at manual. They say to jack up wheel spin pump grease in till new grease comes out. As anyone done this. I'm used to have to repack by hand.

[Stateboy]

Originally Posted by new rver

Just looked at manual. They say to jack up wheel spin pump grease in till new grease comes out. As anyone done this. I'm used to have to repack by hand.

I did mine this way the first time a few years ago. This time (last week) I removed the brake drum from the spindle (axle) and hand packed the outer bearing after cleaning it. I didn't have a real seal to do the same with the inner bearing soi left it intact and I wiped as much of the grease away around the inner bearing and spindle cavity as possible. I reassembled and did the spin and pump until the red grease I was using pushed through both bearings and out around the zerk fitting. I figured I used about 3/4 of a tube since it took three tubes to do the same thing four times on my tandem axle trailer.

[jleonard]

I have a similar system on my boat trailer. Not sure if it's Dexter but it's intended to do the same thing.
i wasn't happy the way it didn't get as much grease in as I wanted.
I haven't tried doing this on a known Dexter axle, but I will try it, then I plan on taking at least one hub apart to see if the grease really got where it was supposed to.

[1Blue78]

Originally Posted by new rver

Just looked at manual. They say to jack up wheel spin pump grease in till new grease comes out. As anyone done this. I'm used to have to repack by hand.

That is what I have done. The first time it took about 1/2 tube of grease per wheel till it started to come out.

[new rver]

Thanks for the replys

[TeJay]

Here's my input!!! Wheel bearing packing is a needed service procedure. Most of the short cut methods have issues and that's why I'd never use them.

1. Boat trailer. A boat trailers rear wheels and bearings are immersed into water when the boat is launched. I do not own a boat so I'm not up with all the dos and don'ts. Most owners use the method to just add a few pumps every so often to help keep the water from being an issue.

If I did own a boat I'd begin each season with removing, packing all bearings as well as new grease inner seals. WHY?? Because of the wter immersion especially if i were going into salt water. Secondly the ocassional squirt or two of grease may not grease the bearings very well and can push the inner seal out allowing more water into the bearings.

2. Travel Trailer. First of all all TT manufacturers tell owners to perform bearing service every 12 months or 12,000 miles. WHY? The front wheel bearings on rear wheel drive vehicles usually required bearing service about as often as replacement of the front shoes or disc pads which was 35,000 to 40,000 miles. Why require bearing service on a TT at 12 months or 12,000 miles?? They are protecting themselves from the use of cheap bearings and the electric drum brakes used on the majority of TT's. It's to costly to use anyother type of better or improved braking method.

3. Utility trailer. I won't discuss this to much since it's can be used seldom or every day. Base your service on how often it is used.

Some TT manfacturers are using the same method for renewing the bearing grease as boat trailers. Again as already mentioned adding a few squirts every few months can and will blow the inner seal out and ruin your brake shoes. Most guys when told to add 1 or 2 squirts can't often stop at 1 or 2. If 1 or 2 is good then 3 or 4 squirts of grease is better. It's just our nature.

When packing wheel bearings the old fashioned way you remove them and wipe off the old grease. Always look at the grease and if you see little pieces of metal flake the bearings are bad and need replaced. Any of the other methods of adding grease does not allow a tehnician to easily view all the old grease. Therefore you'll not be able to see metal flake in the grease and know your bearings are failing.

From 2010 to 2014 we owned 3 TT's. The 4 tires were barely capable of carrying the max weight for the TT. No self adjusting brakes, no shock absorbers, and plastic bushings in the leaf spring shackles. On one trip to FL and back (2,200 miles) all plastic bushings were worn out.

Based on the above issues I always felt like we were traveling on the edge of failure/destruction. In my mind it was not very pleasant traveling. We decided to go back to a motor home in 2014 and never looked back except for some regrets!!!

[arcaguy]

Originally Posted by TeJay

If I did own a boat I'd begin each season with removing, packing all bearings as well as new grease inner seals.

While I pretty much agree with everything TeJay said except I would do the maintenance at the end of the season so as not let the bearing sit over the winter with water in them. I don't believe it will hurt the grease to sit all winter long.

[TeJay]

arcaguy,

You make a very good point that I'd agree with 100%. Perform a complete bearing/seal service at the end of the season and you'll be good for the next year until it's time to put it away for the off season.

I'll add this to the equation. Finding a decent tapered roller bearing can be a bit difficult. We are familiar with Timken tapred bearings. For many of us they were the standard. These days they are made all over the world so thinking every Timken is of high quality may or may not be accurate. So what's next??

I thought about that and asked myself what country flooded the U.S. with motocycles beginning in the 60's or 70's, "Japan." We only build I think one MC in the US and that's HD. Based on my experiences with other MC's it is my educated belief that Japan does build a good tapered bearing. I've used TOYO and several other Japaneese brands over the many years which have so far worked out OK.

Just last month I used two Japaneese brand sealed bearings for my table saw. The ones that only lasted 8 years were made in China!

[Dave Pelletier]

Originally Posted by TeJay

Here's my input!!! Wheel bearing packing is a needed service procedure. Most of the short cut methods have issues and that's why I'd never use them.

1. Boat trailer. A boat trailers rear wheels and bearings are immersed into water when the boat is launched. I do not own a boat so I'm not up with all the dos and don'ts. Most owners use the method to just add a few pumps every so often to help keep the water from being an issue.

If I did own a boat I'd begin each season with removing, packing all bearings as well as new grease inner seals. WHY?? Because of the wter immersion especially if i were going into salt water. Secondly the ocassional squirt or two of grease may not grease the bearings very well and can push the inner seal out allowing more water into the bearings.

2. Travel Trailer. First of all all TT manufacturers tell owners to perform bearing service every 12 months or 12,000 miles. WHY? The front wheel bearings on rear wheel drive vehicles usually required bearing service about as often as replacement of the front shoes or disc pads which was 35,000 to 40,000 miles. Why require bearing service on a TT at 12 months or 12,000 miles?? They are protecting themselves from the use of cheap bearings and the electric drum brakes used on the majority of TT's. It's to costly to use anyother type of better or improved braking method.

3. Utility trailer. I won't discuss this to much since it's can be used seldom or every day. Base your service on how often it is used.

Some TT manfacturers are using the same method for renewing the bearing grease as boat trailers. Again as already mentioned adding a few squirts every few months can and will blow the inner seal out and ruin your brake shoes. Most guys when told to add 1 or 2 squirts can't often stop at 1 or 2. If 1 or 2 is good then 3 or 4 squirts of grease is better. It's just our nature.

When packing wheel bearings the old fashioned way you remove them and wipe off the old grease. Always look at the grease and if you see little pieces of metal flake the bearings are bad and need replaced. Any of the other methods of adding grease does not allow a tehnician to easily view all the old grease. Therefore you'll not be able to see metal flake in the grease and know your bearings are failing.

From 2010 to 2014 we owned 3 TT's. The 4 tires were barely capable of carrying the max weight for the TT. No self adjusting brakes, no shock absorbers, and plastic bushings in the leaf spring shackles. On one trip to FL and back (2,200 miles) all plastic bushings were worn out.

Based on the above issues I always felt like we were traveling on the edge of failure/destruction. In my mind it was not very pleasant traveling. We decided to go back to a motor home in 2014 and never looked back except for some regrets!!!

Great post IMO;

- I agree that nothing is a good substitute for hand packing the bearings. Also, good quality bearings on a trailer (other than a boat trailer) should last a VERY long time - I have a small fleet and it's normal to get well over 100,000 miles from a set of rear wheel bearings. My motorcycle bearings can last that long as well.

Due to the extra weight and sporadic use as well as possible cheap bearings, I can see doing a TT more frequently than evey 50,000 miles BUT every year or 12,000 miles is overkill IMO.

My ORV has Goodyear endurance tires, self adjusting brakes, MoreRyde CRE3000 suspension and shackles and Bilstein gas shocks so the suspension is much better than most. I don't trust the EZ lube axle procedures and overgreasing is a concern; I took the trailer on one short trip then took it in and had all the bearings packed and adjusted - I have no plan on doing anything else with them for several years. I do have a laser thermometer I use to check the drum temps to keep an eye on things.

2 cents,
Dave

[new rver]

Where do you put the jack to jack up TT. Do I put a bottle jack on frame ?
Thanks for any reply