Wet Hub or EZ Lub Hub

[Phil P]

Wet Hub or EZ Lub Hub

This is not a comparison between these 2 items.

Instead this is to encourage the folks with any one of the 3 common wheel bearing systems to understand the requirement to do maintenance. The exception to this is the forth wheel bearing system now in use. This is a sealed hub and can’t be serviced.

I recommend the units that sit 50 weeks a year and operated 2 weeks to remove the wheel bearings before the annual trip for inspection regardless of the type of hub you have.

At the same time if you pull your trailer 15 or 20,000 miles a year the EZ Lub system works well. We now have 100,000 miles on our 2009 3665RE and have not changed a wheel bearing yet just lubricated them in accordance with Dexter’s recommendation.

The following pictures are of a wet hub that was not maintained properly.

Picture #1 is the nut, washer and what’s left of the rear hub seal.

Picture #2 item 1 is the outer bearing inner race, item 2 is the outer bearing outer race and item 3 is the inner bearing outer race.

Picture #3 is a close up of both outer races.

Picture #4 is what is left of the inner bearing inner race after I cut it off the spindle with a torch.

Picture #5 is spindle notice there are no marks from the torch.

Picture #5 is a picture of the hub on the axel behind the one I am working on. I had to remove the outer bearing in order to identify the axel. Note the small puddle under the hub that is the sizes of a half dollar and all of the oil that was left in that hub.

All 3 of the hubs that were not damaged needed to be service with 80 wt oil.

Phil P

[Phil P]

The rest of the pictures

[dieselguy]

Just goes to show no matter the configuration "you have to look things over". Just hooking up and dropping it in drive doesn't get it for very long. You've well documented over the years how well the EZ lube has served you ... all well and good. I've swapped out greased up brakes and blown seals on probably 15 or so trailers over the past few years that didn't have that stellar a service from the EZ lube ... I just work on trailers by word of mouth so my geographical area is small. It only works with patience and complete understanding of how the system will be successful ... of which many owners or service departments don't possess.

[Phil P]

dieselguy

I made it clear at the beginning of the post that this was not a comparison between any one of the 3 serviceable wheel bearing systems used in today’s trailers.

Any service performed in an improper manner on any wheel bearing system will result in problems.

The outfit we purchased our Montana from didn’t have any competent service personnel on staff. They even damaged the trailer trying to change a tire.

Phil P

[dieselguy]

You were clear ... I was also agreeing with you about maintenance. I just pointed out that results may vary.

[Ram Montana High Country]

Phil - thank you for the time detailing this information. I look forward to view on the laptop so I can see all the data. At first glance the 50 week statement caught my eye. Why is this condition so potentially bad?

Some folks have enough luck, they could break a hammer or use a service that uses the screw driver as the multi purpose tool - pry bar, chisel or hammer.

[WeBeFulltime]

Originally Posted by Phil P

The rest of the pictures

Was this wet hub with electric brakes on your Montana?

[prndl]

The pictures show electric drum brakes.

[WeBeFulltime]

Originally Posted by prndl

The pictures show electric drum brakes.

Yes, I understand that they are electric drum brakes, duh, but the hub has threads for a wet drum cap. I have never seen that on a Montana.

[prndl]

Only three or four of the members on the forum are actually mind readers. I am not one of them.

if someone asks if a picture is of electric brakes I naturally think they mean electric brakes.

I just can't make the jump to "is the hub threaded for a wet drum (bearings) cap" from the question.

I did go back to the original picture to make sure that the brakes were not hydraulic but rather electric. The magnet is a little hard to make out in the pic.

[WeBeFulltime]

Originally Posted by WeBeFulltime

Was this wet hub with electric brakes on your Montana?

Originally Posted by prndl

Only three or four of the members on the forum are actually mind readers. I am not one of them.

if someone asks if a picture is of electric brakes I naturally think they mean electric brakes.

I just can't make the jump to "is the hub threaded for a wet drum (bearings) cap" from the question.

I did go back to the original picture to make sure that the brakes were not hydraulic but rather electric. The magnet is a little hard to make out in the pic.

Where did I ask OP if that was a picture of electric brakes? I asked him if that wet hub with electric brakes was on his Montana because I have never seen one like in the picture on a Montana and he hadn't really said what it was on. I am well aware that you aren't a mind reader but maybe you should be sure what you just read before making a smart remark.

[Phil P]

Hi WeBeFulltime

There have been a few posts on RV forums of owners that have put the wet hub on their Montana. I am not sure if one of them was here or not. They advocate the wet hub being superior to the hub using grease.

I don’t advocate any of the 3 serviceable wheel bearing systems being better.

I do however advocate proper maintenance and proper maintenance intervals for all wheel bearings.

If that axel was on our Montana it would not have been in that condition.

The axel in the picture is an Al-KO 10,000 Lb axel with one piece hubs integral drum and hub and duel wheels. I would not recommend this axle on a Montana. I just used this extreme failure as an example of improper maintenance and the need to be aware of what is going on behind you when you are towing a trailer.

The grease on the brakes is another example of improper maintenance when the Dexter instructions are followed this doesn’t happen.

At the same time the hubs without the EZ Lube system that are not maintained properly can have the same problems as the grease on the brakes or damaged bearings.

Bearings that sit for 50 weeks a year and the used 2 weeks have 2 problems. The grease tends to harden and produce less lubrication, Also the bearings can cause irregular surfaces to develop from sitting.

For this reason I recommend the bearing removal, cleaning, Inspection and repacking for trailers the sit for long periods of time.

I hope this answers all the questions ask here.


Phil P

PS: I have been doing this type of maintenance for 60 years now and have seen all kinds of failures.

[mhs4771]

I'll pass this info on that I got last summer.
While touring the Mor/ryde Facility I asked what they thought of Oil Bath Bearings. They didn't recommend them for RVs because of the amount of time many RVs sit, while great for Over The Road Truckers who are always on the move,
So I'll be staying with grease on mine.

[Phil P]

Hi mhs4771

That goes back to my assertion that the trailers that sit 50 weeks a year and operate only 2 need the wheal bearing service every year before the annual trip.

The oil filed hubs would let the oil drain down from the top of the bearing and increase the change of corrosion.

Phil P

[Ram Montana High Country]

Phil, thanks for expanding my knowledge - I had not really thought about the oil draining off the bearings or grease hardening - makes considerable sense. Back when did brakes were just becoming more common, I learned the lesson the hard way that there was now a better wheel bearing grease. I repacked bearing on a '73 Monte Carlo and had the wheel bearing squalling in a day. Disc brake heat melted the grease and was spinning the race on the spindle ... I always remember the hard lessons

[mhs4771]

Phil, that was the exact explanation that Mor/ryde gave for staying away from Oil Bath on RVs.