# Greasing The Axles



## Greg (Nov 12, 2009)

My trailer is exactly a year old now. Just wondering how often you grease the axles?


----------



## hautevue (Mar 8, 2009)

If you mean repack the wheel bearings, I do them every 10,000 miles of towing or every 2 years. I bought 'er in April 2009 and did them once in the fall of 2009 after towing over 8K miles that summer. Next wheel bearing repacking/greasing is in 2011.

I have the Zerk fittings and it's easy, but try not to use pressurized grease guns as in RV shop--overdoing the grease can cause the grease to squeeze out the back of the hub and get grease on the brake shoes, magnets, drums, etc. It's impossible to remove grease from brake shoes so you'll be faced with at least buying new brake shoes plus cleaning hubs, magnets, and miscellaneous parts for hours. Not fun.

To the best of my knowledge, my axles have no places to add grease.


----------



## Greg (Nov 12, 2009)

hautevue said:


> If you mean repack the wheel bearings, I do them every 10,000 miles of towing or every 2 years. I bought 'er in April 2009 and did them once in the fall of 2009 after towing over 8K miles that summer. Next wheel bearing repacking/greasing is in 2011.
> 
> I have the Zerk fittings and it's easy, but try not to use pressurized grease guns as in RV shop--overdoing the grease can cause the grease to squeeze out the back of the hub and get grease on the brake shoes, magnets, drums, etc. It's impossible to remove grease from brake shoes so you'll be faced with at least buying new brake shoes plus cleaning hubs, magnets, and miscellaneous parts for hours. Not fun.
> 
> To the best of my knowledge, my axles have no places to add grease.


 Sorry, yes i do mean grease the bearings using the zerk fitting at the end of the hubs I was just wondering if this should be a yearly thing or a mileage thing. If you say do it every 10k then i should be good till the end of next camping season, most of our camping is done within about 2 hours from home


----------



## Blip (Sep 26, 2010)

Greg said:


> If you mean repack the wheel bearings, I do them every 10,000 miles of towing or every 2 years. I bought 'er in April 2009 and did them once in the fall of 2009 after towing over 8K miles that summer. Next wheel bearing repacking/greasing is in 2011.
> 
> I have the Zerk fittings and it's easy, but try not to use pressurized grease guns as in RV shop--overdoing the grease can cause the grease to squeeze out the back of the hub and get grease on the brake shoes, magnets, drums, etc. It's impossible to remove grease from brake shoes so you'll be faced with at least buying new brake shoes plus cleaning hubs, magnets, and miscellaneous parts for hours. Not fun.
> 
> To the best of my knowledge, my axles have no places to add grease.


 Sorry, yes i do mean grease the bearings using the zerk fitting at the end of the hubs I was just wondering if this should be a yearly thing or a mileage thing. If you say do it every 10k then i should be good till the end of next camping season, most of our camping is done within about 2 hours from home
[/quote]


----------



## Blip (Sep 26, 2010)

I have a 2011 301BQ, and it is only a few months old. I already have greased mine once. I will try to do it every few months. If you give each hub a few pumps I am sure you will be fine.


----------



## rdvholtwood (Sep 18, 2008)

From what I’ve found out, the EZ-lube axles are a convenient way to lube the axles, but, hand packing is the more preferred method. With using the ez lube, the wheels must be off the ground (and rotated while using the grease gun) or you may, per Dexter, blow a seal. Also, it is recommended that the electric brakes should be checked yearly and since you have to pull the wheel, why not re-pack the bearings? I’ve been bad and need to do both so its #1 on my list for next year at the start of the season. To answer your question, they should be done each year or every 12,000 miles whichever comes first.


----------



## clarkely (Sep 15, 2008)

rdvholtwood said:


> From what I've found out, the EZ-lube axles are a convenient way to lube the axles, but, hand packing is the more preferred method. With using the ez lube, the wheels must be off the ground (and rotated while using the grease gun) or you may, per Dexter, blow a seal. Also, it is recommended that the electric brakes should be checked yearly and since you have to pull the wheel, why not re-pack the bearings? I've been bad and need to do both so its #1 on my list for next year at the start of the season. To answer your question, they should be done each year or every 12,000 miles whichever comes first.


I know on my snowmobile trailer....... my local shop told me for about the same price as repacking them..... they could just put new ones on......


----------



## W5CI (Apr 21, 2009)

Am i missing something here, i thought the purpose of the EZ-Lube axels was to eliminate haveing to remove and repack the wheel bearings.


----------



## clarkely (Sep 15, 2008)

The name itself (IMHO) implies it all..........EZ ..........

I have found when they use a name like that.... generally it is the exact opposite..... same with worlds like Reliable _____ (plumbing, electrical....... Etc.) Generally those companies aren't thus they need to imply they are with their name.

this is a quote from Dexters site

http://www.dexteraxle.com/faq_s
"







*E-Z LUBE - What is the E-Z Lube option?*
The E-Z Lube option was designed specifically for the marine application where the axles are constantly being immersed in water. This feature provides a convenient method for purging the water from the hub cavity without having to pull the hub every time. The hubs should be removed every 12 months or 12,000 miles to inspect the bearings and it is imperative to replace the seal at this time to assure that the grease does not leak out the back onto the brake linings rendering the brakes non-functional."

If you search the topic you will find all kinds of forums and reports on how they leak to brake shoes..........

I am not an expert on it, but above is what i know on the subject.....

hope that helps,
clarke


----------



## NJMikeC (Mar 29, 2006)

You must jack each wheel to grease as the wheel needs to be rotated while pumping. If you don't do that then you will blow a seal and read below what that gets you. The rear bearing gets greased rather easily on the E-Z Lubes but not so much the fronts so you have to pump quite a bit to get grease to the fronts.

Repacking is nearly a 1/2 day job or more because you will need to clean and inspect every bearing before re-packing. Dump the bearings in gas then clean with brake clean and then hot water and finally dry them very good.

If you find a seal blown you can probably salvage all the brake parts including the shoes. This is not like blowing the seal on a rear wheel car. That is oil and you put way more mileage on it. Clean the shoes real well and then sand them some. If they turn back to a brownish color and hence are not soaked with grease then your good to go. If you do find a seal blown though it is likely one or more bearings are gone. Look on the inside and see if they have been heat damaged . Bearings can creep a little but if they spin from not enough grease well then you will see that on the inner race. Then look and feel the spindle carefully. If you feel a big ridge in it well you got problems because the spindle can't be replace and you need a whole axle.

Next and very important is the pre-load on the bearing. Few have the experience or touch to do it with channel locks so just do it with a torque wrench and 1 1/2" socket. Get both at Sears or you can get the Metric equivalent. 1.5" * 25.4mm= 38mm at 50 ft-lbs of torque. Back the torque of it and put on the retainer and your all set.

Finally when your done greasing then adjust the brakes. Rotate the star wheel upwards to tighten the shoes. You want to feel a constant drag when you rotate the wheels. Be careful because the adjustment from a nice drag to nearly locked up is often just a few spins of the starwheel.

Don't take greasing the axles lightly as there is a little more to it.

Trailer parts super store online is a good place to buy seals and bearings.


----------



## SlowerLower (Oct 26, 2010)

EZ Lube axle fittings are for the routine greasing of the axles--basically topping them up. This is routine maintenance. For me, I don't put many miles on my camper so I apply a few zerks to each wheel about twice a summer. You don't want to over grease or pump like a mad man because (as stated above) excess grease will start squirting out into your brake hubs. If you see grease coming out or the grease gun starts putting up strong resistance STOP.

Repacking is a 10K mile/2 year maintenance item for me. It has nothing to do with EZ Lube. It involves removing the wheels and physically removing and cleaning all grease out of the bearings. There are some good internet videos that demonstrate how to do this and it is not too hard to do. Just messy.

Pay close attention to the grease that you choose and stick with it. Mixing different types of grease can cause water to accumulate within the bearing or lead to unusual wearing of the bearing over time. I use Castrol Wheel Bearing grease. I have a dedicated grease gun for the camper. You want choose a grease with a temparature rating appropriate for the application (high dropping point). Check the axle manual for your camper, it will tell you the details for the grease to use. I have been very satified with the Castrol product and you can get it at PepBoys.


----------

