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Old 11-03-2021, 07:37 PM   #1
Gubs
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Shackle and bearing lube

How often is it recommended to grease the shackle serts and how much grease should be used?

How often is it recommended to pop of the wheel cover and grease the serts inside the wheels and how much grease should be used?

Can you use a small pistol grip grease gun to preform these two functions?

Please no comments about stupid questions, the only stupid question is the one you don't ask and then something goes really wrong!! Thanks in advance!!
 
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Old 11-03-2021, 08:40 PM   #2
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Larry,

Good questions!

I lube my shackles twice a year. I pump until I see fresh grease come out. A hand grease gun works fine. Get your wheels in the air if you have trouble getting the zerks to take grease.

Recommend wheel bearings packed by hand vice using the zerk fitting. Inspection of the brakes and bearings is important.
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Old 11-04-2021, 05:34 AM   #3
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As Zack said, about twice a year on the wet bolts. I think the recommendation was 5-6K miles. I also hand pack bearings once per year. I don't trust the zerk fitting on the hub. Too easy to push grease past the seal and ruin your brakes.
Any grease gun should work, but for the wet bolts, I would get a good quality one that can produce enough pressure to force grease into the shackle. I also bought a Lock-n-Lube coupler to make this easier.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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Old 11-04-2021, 07:47 AM   #4
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100% agree on all your recommendations. Before IS install, i did wet bolts a little more often. wanted to know when one was plugging up.
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Old 11-04-2021, 02:47 PM   #5
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This is copied from the Dexter manual, page 67:
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Old 11-04-2021, 02:52 PM   #6
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Thanks, Bob. I stand corrected.
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Old 11-05-2021, 11:10 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RMcNeal View Post
As Zack said, about twice a year on
Any grease gun should work, but for the wet bolts, I would get a good quality one that can produce enough pressure to force grease into the shackle. I also bought a Lock-n-Lube coupler to make this easier.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

My zerks are in very tight space. I have a flexible hose on the gun and have to really bend it sharp to hold the nozzle on the zerk. I don't think a longer nozzle would fit like with the locknlube(?) nozzle. Any suggestions about this?
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Old 11-05-2021, 11:16 AM   #8
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You can get zerk fittings with 45 or 90 degree angles to fix tight areas.
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Old 11-05-2021, 11:20 AM   #9
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In addition to the Lock-n-Lube, I bought a 90 degree fitting for those tight spaces.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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Old 11-05-2021, 01:10 PM   #10
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IF you do choose to use the axle EZ-lube fitting to grease the wheel bearings, make sure you spin the wheel and pump slowly so you don't blow out the inner bearing grease seal.
I bought the lock and lube fitting and it does reach the axle zirk with the wheel/hub on.
I also got the needle adapter for injecting (packing) the grease into the bearings before reassemble.
You can get a cone adapter for repacking the bearings. It works very well too.
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Old 11-05-2021, 01:37 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RMcNeal View Post
In addition to the Lock-n-Lube, I bought a 90 degree fitting for those tight spaces.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I had one of these, but it didn't stay locked on the zerk.
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Old 11-06-2021, 06:08 AM   #12
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A pistol grip grease gun will seldom give you enough leverage to grease shackle Zerks. I have one along with the usual lever version - and that one has been tough getting grease through as well and I know the bolts are installed right. You also need a flexible hose.
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Old 11-10-2021, 01:52 PM   #13
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Long term options?

Is there a sealed option that will work on these trailers to eliminate lubricating every 6000 miles?
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Old 11-11-2021, 04:16 AM   #14
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For the wet bolts, I've read that they have a replacement bushing made of some kind of material like Teflon that doesn't require grease like the bronze bushings. They are supposed to be "lifetime", but those who have them don't speak well of them.
On the bearings, you could convert to oil bath system, but you'd still need to check brakes from time to time.
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Old 11-11-2021, 04:36 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RMcNeal View Post
For the wet bolts, I've read that they have a replacement bushing made of some kind of material like Teflon that doesn't require grease like the bronze bushings. They are supposed to be "lifetime", but those who have them don't speak well of them.
On the bearings, you could convert to oil bath system, but you'd still need to check brakes from time to time.

Thosr bushings are LCI Never Fail po;y,ides which I have on our HC. Only have about 3K miles on them but so far seem to be holding up. They are on some MORryde bolts, having a set available but have never been greased. https://www.mirageinc.com/trailer-pa...fail-bushings/
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Old 11-11-2021, 12:23 PM   #16
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How do you replace a straight zerk with the 90 degree ones? We assumed they were threaded but can't get them off.
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Old 11-11-2021, 12:59 PM   #17
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They are threaded into the end of the wet bolt.
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Old 11-12-2021, 05:02 AM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RMcNeal View Post
They are threaded into the end of the wet bolt.

....and might take some REAL effort or even Vise Grips to remove (personal experience) instead of breaking that 5/16" wrench
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Old 05-17-2022, 04:26 PM   #19
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On the REAR I REMOVED THE wet bolts and replaced with regular bolts. I think the hollow in the wet bolts may make them weaker and break. Used regular bolts on cars and trucks and they never broke.
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