# Greasing The Hubs



## Collinsfam_WY (Nov 9, 2006)

When greasing the hubs, is there a grease "vent" somewhere where excess grease will come out so you can tell when you have put enough in? I put in each wheel about 20 pumps of grease with the grease gun but don't know if that was enough.

Thanks!!!

-CC


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## thefulminator (Aug 8, 2007)

Did mine for the first time a few weeks ago. It took a lot of grease. I am guessing that when the axles are new, they only pack the bearings and that the path the grease flows through when using the zerk fitting is empty. It took three 3oz tubes (total all four hubs) before I had grease venting. When you see grease coming out around the outside of the zerk fitting you are there.


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## jdpm (Apr 12, 2007)

OK guys, don't hate me for saying so. BUT.......in a perfect situation (warm hubs, warm grease, turning the wheel while pumping-in the grease) the excess grease may come out of the weep hole on the backside as illustrated. However, you will find many, many post here and on other forums about greasing the hubs with the E-Z lube feature. Often times, the grease pushes out the rear seal and all the grease goes onto to the brake pads resulting in a major reduction of braking. It happened on ours. We had to replace all 4 brakes due to them be covered in grease. Our dealer must have done it on the pre-delivery inspection. I never felt the brakes were very strong. So we removed the hubs ourselves and inspected. They were covered in grease. 
We could not believe the difference in the braking performance once we got rid of the grease covered brakes. So I caution you - monitor your brake performance closely afterwards. I will never, never, use the zerks. Besides, Dexter recommends yearly packing and inspection anyway. It's the only way to be sure they are properly lubed and to avoid compromising the rear seals. I never want to compromise the trailer brakes in any way. One day, you may need all the stopping power possible and if the brakes are oily, it's not going to happen! Safe travels. phillip


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## Collinsfam_WY (Nov 9, 2006)

Thanks guys, I pumped in more grease very gently after letting the gun sit in the sun and warm up. I then pulled the wheels and pumped the grease slowly until it came out of the "vents" around the zerk. I appreciate the words of caution Philip!

Curtis


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## bama29fan (Jun 22, 2009)

collinsfam_tx said:


> Thanks guys, I pumped in more grease very gently after letting the gun sit in the sun and warm up. I then pulled the wheels and pumped the grease slowly until it came out of the "vents" around the zerk. I appreciate the words of caution Philip!
> 
> Curtis


i am one who didnt have luck....i greased mine and since then i have taken it back to a dealer to fix the mess. i did just as described...jacked up, pumped in and rotated at same time. i ended up having grease break thru the rear seal and cover the brakes. still fighting the no brake issue now and we leave for the mountains in a week. obiously we wont be going without brakes tho.


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## jdpm (Apr 12, 2007)

bama29fan said:


> Thanks guys, I pumped in more grease very gently after letting the gun sit in the sun and warm up. I then pulled the wheels and pumped the grease slowly until it came out of the "vents" around the zerk. I appreciate the words of caution Philip!
> 
> Curtis


i am one who didnt have luck....i greased mine and since then i have taken it back to a dealer to fix the mess. i did just as described...jacked up, pumped in and rotated at same time. i ended up having grease break thru the rear seal and cover the brakes. still fighting the no brake issue now and we leave for the mountains in a week. obiously we wont be going without brakes tho.
[/quote]
Exactly the point I was trying to make. You may see the grease coming out of the weep hole as designed, BUT you can't see the grease being pushed out of the rear seal and onto the brakes. Scary! phillip


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## chuck&gail (Mar 8, 2010)

Many of us have used EZ-Lube for years with no problems. I've never had trouble. I do pump slowly.


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

chuck&gail said:


> Many of us have used EZ-Lube for years with no problems. I've never had trouble. I do pump slowly.


Yes, I think most people use it and it works great (always has for me as well). However, as Philip was pointing out, if the rear seal fails, it is a big pain and expense.


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## ZHB (Mar 17, 2009)

OK guys, I'm pleading ignorance here. Bought the 300BH last May. I've been diligent about tires & batteries & tanks & checking the roofs/seams......but I don't know anything about greasing the hubs. What do I need to do?


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

ZHB said:


> OK guys, I'm pleading ignorance here. Bought the 300BH last May. I've been diligent about tires & batteries & tanks & checking the roofs/seams......but I don't know anything about greasing the hubs. What do I need to do?


Hopefully you got an axle manual with everything else. In there it explains how you can pump grease into the bearings. It also points out that you should have the bearings repacked with grease every year. Many do not do that. If I re-pack with a good grease, I'll repack every other year and pump in grease the alternating years that don't have a re-pack.

You can pay a dealer to re-pack the bearings. Also may mechanics would be happy to do it for a fee or you can do it yourself as it really isn't difficult, just takes an afternoon.


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## ZHB (Mar 17, 2009)

Thanks Nathan~ I'll check it out this weekend.


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## duggy (Mar 17, 2010)

I've always been told to only give one or two pumps, a couple times a season. Any more, and you're risking seal failure. As posted above, you still need to inspect and repack the bearings at least every couple of years.

Doug


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