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Old 09-25-2019, 01:39 PM   #21
Dave10
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Forget Easylube and grease the bearings the old fashion way as recommended. I removed the grease zurks and replaced them with a plug. Easylube is it for boat trailers and not intended for RV's. Easylube is a bad marketing ploy.
 
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Old 09-25-2019, 01:54 PM   #22
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I have had the bearings on my coach packed every two years (disk brakes) but we pull the wheels and check the disc brake pads annually. Don't get a lot of mileage each year but given the heat and humidity around Kansas I feel better checking the bearings at least every other year. Dealer said not necessary but....
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Old 09-25-2019, 05:26 PM   #23
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave10 View Post
Forget Easylube and grease the bearings the old fashion way as recommended. I removed the grease zurks and replaced them with a plug. Easylube is it for boat trailers and not intended for RV's. Easylube is a bad marketing ploy.
If you are old enough, remember the days when your front rotors housed the bearings and had to be repacked. For me it was done at every brake job when the rotors were removed to have them turned. This was done around every 25-30k+. And that was done on a steering axle with lots of side to side stress being applied.

No way an I repacking bearing every year or even 2 on a camper that has been towed your normal 2-5k miles. I think the EZ lube feature work as intended if you do it right, which most do not do.

I keep records of miles towed and since 2006 or so I have never repacked a bearing on any trailer of the 3 trailers I have owned. Around 40k towed without an issue using the EZ lube feature. Just saying
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Old 09-25-2019, 06:46 PM   #24
Dave10
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If you are old enough, remember the days when your front rotors housed the bearings and had to be repacked. For me it was done at every brake job when the rotors were removed to have them turned. This was done around every 25-30k+. And that was done on a steering axle with lots of side to side stress being applied.

No way an I repacking bearing every year or even 2 on a camper that has been towed your normal 2-5k miles. I think the EZ lube feature work as intended if you do it right, which most do not do.

I keep records of miles towed and since 2006 or so I have never repacked a bearing on any trailer of the 3 trailers I have owned. Around 40k towed without an issue using the EZ lube feature. Just saying
To each his/her own. There are too many issues for me to trust EasyLube. I go by Timken training and recommendations. I have packed trailer, auto and truck wheel bearings since the '50's. The issue is the type of grease used and the proper preload of the bearings and routine maintenance. The bearings and axels on RV trailers are generally no where as robust as auto's and trucks and therefore should be serviced more often. Now that I am getting older, I look for a service center that I can trust and believe me that is difficult these days. Meanwhile I will continue to do my own maintenance until I find a shop that actually knows what it is doing
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Old 09-26-2019, 05:30 AM   #25
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Lots of comments about how "any one can do this" and "it's easy". Bottom line is that it MUST be done periodically and 5 years is WAY too long,. If you just aren't comfortable doing it or would rather leave it a professional, so be it. This is one of the required maintenance items, like winterization.
I burned out a bearing once and you don't want this to happen to you. I now pay extra attention to periodic wheel maintenance. (I've had similar experience with E-rated tires. Nuff said about that).
I put about 6,000 miles a year on my trailer. I have a professional grease the bearing every 2 years. I remove the rubber cap and give each wheel a few pumps of grease through the zirk fitting before every big trip (remember that the wheel must be spun while doing this). We stop at rest stops every 100 miles or so, and I walk around with a Non-contact Digital Laser Infrared Thermometer Temperature Gun and take the temps of all the tires, rims, brakes, and hubs.
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Old 09-26-2019, 07:50 AM   #26
brent53
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Less Schawb is a great place to have your axles serviced and don't forget wet the bolts!
In my part of the country they charge $125/axle.
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Old 09-26-2019, 09:45 AM   #27
Dave10
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Bearing burn out is all to common on RV and boat trailers. Since the reasons are not well quantified, I would highly recommend routine maintenance by a competent service organization if you are not doing your own. Some of the reasons are improper preload on the bearings(too loose/tight), over loaded axles(common problem with RV), incompatible grease(common problem with easylube), grease aged (the reason to repack yearly), grease contamination (common problem with easylube), water (common in boat trailers), improper grease for application and etc.
As mentioned it is a good idea to check the hub temperature periodically while traveling. If the hub is too hot to hold you hand on for 30 seconds would signify that the bearing are running too hot. Applying the brakes create heat so do that when there is limited brake application. IR temperature device would be helpful, but requires a little experience.
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Old 09-26-2019, 12:43 PM   #28
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I'm a cautious RVer with my Montana and don't exceed 65 MPH. Also, I avoid fast braking stops like the plague. I drive 1300 miles to an RV Park for the summer, park for 5 months and then drive 1300 miles home. Do I still need to grease my Monty bearings annually? Why?
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Old 09-26-2019, 01:32 PM   #29
Dave10
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Originally Posted by cgeis48 View Post
I'm a cautious RVer with my Montana and don't exceed 65 MPH. Also, I avoid fast braking stops like the plague. I drive 1300 miles to an RV Park for the summer, park for 5 months and then drive 1300 miles home. Do I still need to grease my Monty bearings annually? Why?
I too do similar miles as a snow bird. I also add several hundred miles nearer to home during the summer. I inspect the bearings and grease in the fall before driving 1400 miles to my snow bird location. Generally my bearings are good to go and the high quality grease is still good, but I re-pack them anyway just to be on the safe side. The grease seals are also replace because they do wear and brake dust gets into the bearings. Brake dust and general oil separation of the grease is the primary reason to inspect and pack the bearings. Also bearing preload should be verified because that is most likely killer of bearings. Bearings do wear and get loose after awhile-- especially with the non-tang or cotter key castle nut like most Lippert/Dexter axles are using these days. BTY if you want the most precision preload use shims with the castle nut. Automobiles and truck have a more accurate way to adjust preload. The reason for proper preload is the bearing needs rotate freely with proper load distribution for the rollers and be able compensate for temperature increase. If it is too tight the bearing will destruct rapidly and too loose will also destruct but will take longer because of the load distribution. BTY I carry and extra set of bearings and races while traveling to be prepared in case of a burn out---
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Old 09-30-2019, 02:07 PM   #30
Irv
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Wheel bearing hub

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Originally Posted by beeje View Post
If they are easy lube there should be a removable plastic cap in the center of the chrome center cap. Once you remove it you should see a black rubber plug in there. Pry that out to reveal the grease zerk to lube the bearings. They are best lubed with the wheel off the ground and spinning while being lubed. It takes quite a bit of grease to force the old grease out. Possibly a 1/2 tube or more. Some have had issues with grease getting by the seal and do not use that feature. If done correctly you should not have an issue.

I pump 30-40 pumps into each wheel every season. IMHO inspecting/repacking the bearings every year is a waste of time if you keep them lubed up properly with the ez lube system. I have NEVER removed and inspected the bearings of the 3 trailers I have owned over the last 15 years and have never had a problem. All 3 had the ez lube system.

I use Mobil 1 red synthetic grease.
Completely agree and have added a picture of the hub. Don't use (nor let someone else use) an automatic grease gun. Pump the 30-40 pumps slowly as you rotate the tire a 20(?) times.
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Old 09-30-2019, 03:14 PM   #31
Twopetes
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I will agree with the Ez-Lube, but in my opinion, you need to remove the tires and the dust cover to get accurate results. This lets you see the end of the bearing / hub and it's easier to see the grease move. If you do not remove the dust cover, all you do is fill it up and you cannot see what is going on with the grease. Spin the hub while pumping grease! (if you put the tire back on which I do, remove the chrome center cover and spin the tire) Spin while pumping 3-4 pumps and spin for 4-5 revolutions and pump 3-4 more - spin and repeat. Remember keep spinning that hub / wheel. This moves the grease.

I do mine this way and I use less than a full tube of grease for all 4 wheels. I can see the grease as it pushes out of the hub around the nut and it is easy to see when you are getting clean grease and it moves easy and freely. Keep spinning the hub or wheel until the grease stops working it's way out. If needed pump a few more pumps and keep spinning.

Doing it this way lets you see the clean grease and you can wipe away all old dirty grease. And pumping slow and continually spinning the hub will moved the new grease and you will not pump thru the seal into the brake area.

I will say 30-40 pumps seems like a lot, but depends on your gun. I bough an air powered gun at Harbor Freight that keeps pumping as long as I hold the trigger, but 3-4 pump cycles and keep spinning the hub. Might notice a pattern - spin that hub continually even while pumping grease.

When complete, clean the old grease, wipe the nut and end of the hub and reinstall the dust cover and wheel - Torque accordingly - in steps and you are good to go.

And just as a note. I know how and have packed bearings the manual way and sometimes this is the way to go. Truck hubs, cars etc. And my utility trailer gets done annually. But as a process engineer, I see no reason the Ez-Lube hub system will not do the job just fine. remember follow the guidelines. However - to each their own - what ever floats your boat!
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Old 10-01-2019, 01:02 PM   #32
Dave10
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the problem is Easy Lube does not fit Timken guidelines. "you should allow enough space in the housing for heat dissipation so excess grease throws clear from the bearing. Contain the grease around the bearing. The housing should normally be 1/3 full of grease during bearing assembly. Too much grease in the housing may cause high temperatures and excess churning of the grease." EasyLube fills the housing completely.
The excess heat and churning becomes more of a problem for long term highway speed. Again Easy lube was original intended for boat trailers and not RV's which generally run longer distances and higher speeds. Filling the hub with grease minimizes water intrusion for boat trailers and is not necessary for RV's.
There are other issues as well like grease compatibility, worn seals (allowing contamination of grease and grease on brake linings), improper application and old grease from the large bearing migrating to the small bearing.
One must choose what they think is best and it is nice to have facts while choosing. I have never lost a bearing from using Timken guidelines of packing while I don't believe those who use Easylube can claim that-- judging from the blown bearing I've witness while traveling around the USA.
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Old 10-01-2019, 06:12 PM   #33
beeje
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave10 View Post
the problem is Easy Lube does not fit Timken guidelines. "you should allow enough space in the housing for heat dissipation so excess grease throws clear from the bearing. Contain the grease around the bearing. The housing should normally be 1/3 full of grease during bearing assembly. Too much grease in the housing may cause high temperatures and excess churning of the grease." EasyLube fills the housing completely.
The excess heat and churning becomes more of a problem for long term highway speed. Again Easy lube was original intended for boat trailers and not RV's which generally run longer distances and higher speeds. Filling the hub with grease minimizes water intrusion for boat trailers and is not necessary for RV's.
There are other issues as well like grease compatibility, worn seals (allowing contamination of grease and grease on brake linings), improper application and old grease from the large bearing migrating to the small bearing.
One must choose what they think is best and it is nice to have facts while choosing. I have never lost a bearing from using Timken guidelines of packing while I don't believe those who use Easylube can claim that-- judging from the blown bearing I've witness while traveling around the USA.
I can claim that I have never had a bearing or seal issue in 15 years of using the EZ lube system and have NEVER repacked bearings on any of the 3 trailers I have owned in that time frame. And believe me, I am a maintenance guru. Disclaimer: We only tow around 2-3k per year
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