Greasing ball bearings and axle in 213x

[Keeblercamps]

Hi folks,

So I'm heading to the East coast and 2 buddies reminded me that I need to grease the axles when I'm out there. Or I should.

I'm not a mechanic! Lol
I wasn't going to pry the Hub off, but are ball bearings behind it?

Is it easy to do?

I might call a local dealer and pay them to show me.

Cheers,
Brian

[Crusadernoob]

Whatcha work in on? How many miles on the bearings? Have they ever been maintained?

[Keeblercamps]

Hi Crusader,

Maybe 2000 miles on them at most. Will be putting that in and maybe more on our trip.
Never been serviced. Just got it last year.

[W5CI]

There is no Ball Bearings in the hubs, they are tapered roller bearings

[Keeblercamps]

Hi,

Thanks. Does that mean it's a bad thing or I don't need to worry about greasing?

[uhduh camping]

Dexter axles website has some good videos on servicing the bearings. I would do this before going to the east coast. Although it is not clear if it is necessary. Age, mileage, road conditions all factor in on when to service bearings.
I do mine once a season, I pull the hubs clean bearings check seals and hand pack bearings. I use a infrared temperature gun to monitor the bearings. If I see temps over 150 degrees I will give them a shot of grease. I also have ez lube hubs so that makes it kinda simple. You will have a hard time finding a shop that will "teach" you how to do it.

[Keeblercamps]

So to clarify, is there is a grease fitting to grease the bearings or if i have to remove them to grease them?

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by Keeblercamps

So to clarify, is there is a grease fitting to grease the bearings or if i have to remove them to grease them?

Depends on brand and model of axle.

[Keeblercamps]

Hi,

Thet label says tandem axle CSA Z240 series.

[Larry Cole]

I wouldn't think it is necessary to repack the bearings every season, although it's a guarantee that they will be in good shape. As far as I know there is no easy way to repack the bearings. Pull the wheel and hub and, like uhduh, handpick the bearings. You can check for wear and any foreign material in the drum at the same time. Visual inspection will tell you how good your bearings are.
Have fun. Check you tube. I'm sure there are lots of demonstrations there.

[youroo]

Originally Posted by Keeblercamps

Hi folks,

So I'm heading to the East coast and 2 buddies reminded me that I need to grease the axles when I'm out there. Or I should.

I'm not a mechanic! Lol
I wasn't going to pry the Hub off, but are ball bearings behind it?

Is it easy to do?

I might call a local dealer and pay them to show me.

Cheers,
Brian

It makes No difference if unit is New bearing should be checked/greased! Since you stated "Not a mechanic" you probably Dont have the Tools or Jacks/safety equip. to perform this job anyway,any GOOD repair shop should be able to do this inspection/lube job correctly! Youroo!!

[NMWildcat]

It's not a hard job, but time consuming and you have to have the time, new seals, tools, jacks, and jackstands.

If you have never done it, take it to a tire or RV place you trust and it's usually $250 or less. I have mine done yearly by an independent RV repair guy I know for $160.

[itat]

If your axles have the zerk grease fittings, you'll need a bottle jack, proper sized sockets and a torque wrench capable of 100-110 ft.lbs., plus the grease gun and high temp bearing grease (I use Lucas Red N Tacky).

Here is a video of the Dexter E-Z Lube system.
https://youtu.be/WzW1kK8oWkc

[Swift 2]

My son and I bought new break plates and hand packed the bearings in 4hrs. Old breaks were covered with grease and looked unusable to us. It is messy job. Bought the break plates at the local RV dealer for $65 and could have gotten them for $45 something on the Internet but were pushed for time. Good luck and get a tube of hand cleaner😉

[Filterman]

Originally Posted by uhduh camping

Dexter axles website has some good videos on servicing the bearings. I would do this before going to the east coast. Although it is not clear if it is necessary. Age, mileage, road conditions all factor in on when to service bearings.
I do mine once a season, I pull the hubs clean bearings check seals and hand pack bearings. I use a infrared temperature gun to monitor the bearings. If I see temps over 150 degrees I will give them a shot of grease. I also have ez lube hubs so that makes it kinda simple. You will have a hard time finding a shop that will "teach" you how to do it.

X2 Pull all wheel once a year in the spring. Check for any wheel end issues. This year has two outer bearings that were showing some hi heat color so replaced them. Also has a wire broken off one brake magnet sp caught that. My theory (And history shows it works) ...... a little PM at home beats sitting on the side of the road somewhere with a when end issue. When I'm traveling I like to have to do a minimum of maintenance on the road. Just sayin !

[Filterman]

Originally Posted by Swift 2

My son and I bought new break plates and hand packed the bearings in 4hrs. Old breaks were covered with grease and looked unusable to us. It is messy job. Bought the break plates at the local RV dealer for $65 and could have gotten them for $45 something on the Internet but were pushed for time. Good luck and get a tube of hand cleaner😉

Or better still use disposable gloves!

[Steveboe]

Some axles have a fitting on the axle end just under the hub cover. You can work the rubber cap out of cover or grip the metal cap with channel lock plyers. Shooting Greece in the fitting is Not as good as comleatly removing and manually repacking but still a good thing to do. Well lubricated bearings won't fail unless there is contamination present.
Check utube for help.

[bpa098]

I have the same camper and it has the fittings for a grease gun. for my warranty i have to take it to a dealer for yearly maintenance (water heater, furnace, axel lube, check all seals and more). Pretty sure he just hit it with a grease gun

[itat]

Originally Posted by bpa098

I have the same camper and it has the fittings for a grease gun. for my warranty i have to take it to a dealer for yearly maintenance (water heater, furnace, axel lube, check all seals and more). Pretty sure he just hit it with a grease gun

Is that an extended warranty? Aftermarket?

Depending on the mileage you put on your trailer, I would recommend that you should pull the wheels and manually clean and repack the bearings at least every other year. If you do a lot of miles, it would be better to manually do the bearings once a year. Using the grease fitting to inject fresh grease periodically throughout the season is a good preventative maintenance measure.

[bpa098]

Originally Posted by itat

Is that an extended warranty? Aftermarket?

Depending on the mileage you put on your trailer, I would recommend that you should pull the wheels and manually clean and repack the bearings at least every other year. If you do a lot of miles, it would be better to manually do the bearings once a year. Using the grease fitting to inject fresh grease periodically throughout the season is a good preventative maintenance measure.

its a life time/extend warranty the dealer through in for me