New TT and bearings

[DiverDennis]

Decided to check the wheels, hubs, and brakes on our new Salem Hemisphere 302FK.
Jacked up the wheels and adjusted the brakes.
One spindle took a lot more grease than the others. (pumped grease while turning wheel)
Checked the torque on all lug nuts.
Checked for slop in the bearings.
Checked the tire pressures.


Going to be happy campers on Wednesday.

Dennis & Beth
Dewitt, MI

[f5moab]

I'm going to guess that when they install the hub to the spindle, they pack the wheel bearings add some extra grease around the front/rear bearings and ship it. When I did mine the first time, I used a tube for both sides. I do not believe that they add grease through the EZ lube system at the factory, so there is a fairly large empty void around the spindle, between the bearings.

[DiverDennis]

That would make sense. Thanks for the reply.

[Ddubya]

Just a caution. I checked my hubs recently and found a rear seal that was leaking. This after less than 2k miles.


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[f5moab]

Easy to remove a hub and check the seal to see if leaking.

[SKnight]

I've got a big trip coming up in August, I'll be doing this sometime in late June, plus I'll be repackaged the bearings instead of just pumping them full. This way I know I'll have one brand of good grease in there.

[DiverDennis]

Good basic info here. I use Lucas Red 'N' Tacky on my boat trailer so it will also go in the TT.

[silverback 35ts]

I was just looking at buying grease as my bearings need to be cleaned and repacked, And I looked at red-n-tacky and did not purchase it because it is not rated for well bearings, did purchase the Marine version from Lucas. Just thought I should help out.

[f5moab]

Strange! I won't use Lucas red and tacky cause I only use Synthetic, but know people who do, and it has the GC-LB label.

http://lucasoil.com/pdf/TDS_Red-Tacky-Grease.pdf

[WSY DD693]

My RV service folks advised re-packing the bearings annually
or every 8,000 miles is a better way to go. Many times pump lubing the bearings can cause seal damage.
Not being a certified mechanic, for the price of having them repack the bearings as part of a seasonal pre-trip checkup is worth the minor cost to be worry free for our long journeys.

[f5moab]

I was told to lube, twice a year or more if traveling a lot, through the zerk fitting and disassemble and repack every three years or about 20K miles. But the most important thing I was told was to use a MANUAL grease gun. don't use an air powered grease system like auto dealerships use.
After three years I can say my seals held up perfectly.

[WSY DD693]

Always good to hear advice and experiences from fellow TT folk

[f5moab]

NOT advice, experience. But if not for the cleaning of the bearings, races, etc., and the mess of repacking bearings, it does not really add much more than an hour, per wheel, onto the entire procedure.

[Ddubya]

I am curious as to where the grease goes? If the dealers say to grease the bearings twice a year the existing grease must be leaking out somewhere?? If so where?
Do these dealers add grease to their cars and trucks twice a year? I think not.
If the grease is escaping the trailer hubs there is a problem that should be addressed before adding more grease.


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[f5moab]

I understand your statement, cause I have often thought it sounds ridiculous to have to change out the grease in a trailer hub when newer vehicles can go thousands of miles with sealed hubs. And considering when I was younger, an oil change included a lube of the hubs seals; prior to the newer sealed systems. And that was usually at about every 3K. One reason is that oil/grease has greatly improved in the past twenty years.

However, the zerk fitting on the end of the axle sure makes it easy to lube.

However, my limited experience is it doesn't go anywhere, after the initial lube is done.

It appears, that from the factory, they lube the bearings add a little grease to the spindle, assemble and ship. When I added grease to the zerk fitting the first time, it took a heck of a lot of grease before the grease started to come out the area around the zerk fitting. From then on, when I did the addition of grease, it came out almost immediately.

It does appear to get dirty or worn and every year I would add lube until nice clean stuff started to come out. (Talk about a mess!)

This year, when I switched out the brakes and springs, I did just what I assume the factory does, and that is lube the bearings (using a bearing lube thing I purchased), greased the spindle and installed the drum/hub. I then added more grease through the zerk fitting (as described in the instructions from AL-KO), and it took a heck of a lot of grease before the grease started to exit around the zerk fitting.

So, I don't believe the lubing every spring, at least in my experience, is not adding grease that has disappeared as much as making sure it has grease, and basically changing out as much as possible every year.

[Ddubya]

I had the experience of checking my new hubs and found the hubs almost void of grease. I also found a leaking seal. I pulled all four hubs,cleaned,repacked and greased per factory specs.
I still do not understand why the grease would need to be replaced periodically if using a high quality grease other than maybe poor quality bearings are wearing and leaving metal residue inside.
Common sense would dictate checking the hubs periodically as a CYA measure just to have piece if mind.


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[f5moab]

Originally Posted by Ddubya

if using a high quality grease

In my opinion, I'm going to guess they use grease that barely meets specs. (Just like tires, axles, etc., the bare minimum.)

Now that I have completely repacked and filled the bearings and hubs with Mobile 1 Synthetic grease, I won't worry about changing the lube, just add a squirt or two a few times a year. And probably every three years, do a complete cleaning and repacking....

[SKnight]

Cleaning and repacking isn't just about replacing high quality grease, it's about inspecting bearings and seals that are under much higher loads than cars and trucks with the modern permanently lubed bearings. My camper has about 10,000 pounds on the wheels, or 2,500 pounds per corner, my 2015 Equinox weighs about 3,800 pounds or about 950 pounds per corner. Huge difference in load.

So it's a good idea to pull and check things every now and then, and repack with fresh grease while you're there. I'm not a fan of using the zerk, it fills the hub space with grease which doesn't do any good and could pump grease past the seal causing brake issues. Lots of people have good luck with it, that's just my perception of them.