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Old 05-23-2013, 06:51 PM   #1
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Dragging Drums

Today was "Lube the EZ-Lubes" day. It does take a lot of grease! I used 2-1/2 tubes on 4 hubs. I was a good boy and jacked up the trailer so I could spin the wheels as I pumped the lube in.

One of the 4 was dragging at one spot in the rotation. (I could still turn the drum, but just barely.)

I figure it's probably a warped drum. Any other opinions on that?

I'm still under warranty. Is this likely to be covered?
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Old 05-23-2013, 07:00 PM   #2
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Today was "Lube the EZ-Lubes" day. It does take a lot of grease! I used 2-1/2 tubes on 4 hubs. I was a good boy and jacked up the trailer so I could spin the wheels as I pumped the lube in.

One of the 4 was dragging at one spot in the rotation. (I could still turn the drum, but just barely.)

I figure it's probably a warped drum. Any other opinions on that?

I'm still under warranty. Is this likely to be covered?
Get a fairly large flat screwdriver, take the plug out of the backing plate and adjust the brake. Doubt it's a warped drum, just adjusted too tight.
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Old 05-23-2013, 08:41 PM   #3
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i personally am done with bearing buddy "ezlube" grease zerks. 4 tubes of grease ? there is a very very good chance you pushed the seal out of the back of your hubs, and filled the backing plate area with grease.
Not trying to be the bearer of bad news, but that is just a fact. the seal on the back of hubs pushes out quite easily. grease everywhere. been there, done that.
each season i just take my hubs off, clean all the nasty grease out of the bearings and hub with kerosene or whatever is handy, then pack em by hand totally full, pack the bearings with grease, then put it all together.
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Old 05-23-2013, 08:48 PM   #4
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i personally am done with bearing buddy "ezlube" grease zerks. 4 tubes of grease ? there is a very very good chance you pushed the seal out of the back of your hubs, and filled the backing plate area with grease.
Not trying to be the bearer of bad news, but that is just a fact. the seal on the back of hubs pushes out quite easily. grease everywhere. been there, done that.
each season i just take my hubs off, clean all the nasty grease out of the bearings and hub with kerosene or whatever is handy, then pack em by hand totally full, pack the bearings with grease, then put it all together.
2.5 tubes for 4 wheels he said.

Which still sounds high.

I pumped 6 times each wheel good enough.
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Old 05-23-2013, 08:52 PM   #5
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He said he had one brake dragging, nothing about blown seals or excess grease. When I put shocks on mine, I cleaned all the grease out and it took about 2-1/2 tubes to fill all 4 after I hand packed the brgs.
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Old 05-23-2013, 09:00 PM   #6
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sorry. misread the number of tubes , but i did see TUBES, as in plural tubes and said "holy cow". And although opinions on if it's too much or not seem to differ, that is a LOT of grease for 4 hubs that should have been pretty full to begin with. (it's a 2013).
That said, it would not be that difficult to pull a hub off and check. The ol' "better safe than sorry" before you find grease all over the inside of the backing plates and hubs.
It is easy to push the seals out of the back of the hub.. really.

and if he was having a hard time turning one of the wheels, that hub's brake shoes are adjusted too tightly. It's gonna get real hot, and that grease will get to the consistency of heavy oil, and if there is pressure built up from too much grease, he is really gonna have a mess . See it many times.
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Old 05-23-2013, 09:07 PM   #7
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I've found they vent the excess grease out the front around the brg & washer and out on the wheel rather than 'blowing' the seal.
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Old 05-23-2013, 09:15 PM   #8
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BTW, when I put the shocks on, my hubs had no grease in the hub cavity and very, very little grease in the brgs. Don't think it would have gone very far without some kind of problem. Had a burnt brg on a Kodiak when towed from Concord, NC to Chattanooga, TN when brand new and I think this 5er would have duplicated that experience had I not cleaned and repacked the brgs.
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Old 05-23-2013, 09:28 PM   #9
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I did mine yesterday but I used a bit less than one tube, they were full and started pushing grease out on the first pump. This is the first time I have done this as I new the dealer I use had filled them up doing the PDI but I think next time I will pull them off and do it by hand.
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Old 05-23-2013, 09:38 PM   #10
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Wow! Sounds like you folks are not familiar with Dexter EZ-Lubes. They are NOT "Bearing Buddies". It took that much grease to push the old out and get fairly consistent "new" grease coming out. Putting in a few squirts isn't going to cut it (unless you do it frequently). If the rear seals had come out the grease would have stopped coming out the front.

Sure, I could adjust the brakes so that they are ineffective thru 75% of the rotation in order to stop them from dragging thru 25%. If they're not consistent thru the while rotation doesn't that mean that the drums are warped (or turned improperly) at least to some extent?
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Old 05-23-2013, 09:49 PM   #11
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6 pumps and I was getting clean grease back out so as I said I'm good....
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Old 05-23-2013, 09:57 PM   #12
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i personally am done with bearing buddy "ezlube" grease zerks. 4 tubes of grease ? there is a very very good chance you pushed the seal out of the back of your hubs, and filled the backing plate area with grease.
Not trying to be the bearer of bad news, but that is just a fact. the seal on the back of hubs pushes out quite easily. grease everywhere. been there, done that.
each season i just take my hubs off, clean all the nasty grease out of the bearings and hub with kerosene or whatever is handy, then pack em by hand totally full, pack the bearings with grease, then put it all together.
X2. And it's a two eyed sword with boat trailers between grease getting out and water getting in.
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Old 05-23-2013, 09:59 PM   #13
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Old 05-23-2013, 10:20 PM   #14
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Disc brakes don't drag or need adjusting, and the lube thing will be history soon as I get 'bout 6-12K miles, then it's 75 - 90w gear oil from that point on. Woo hoo!
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Old 05-23-2013, 11:37 PM   #15
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Originally Posted by BarryD0706 View Post
Today was "Lube the EZ-Lubes" day. It does take a lot of grease! I used 2-1/2 tubes on 4 hubs. I was a good boy and jacked up the trailer so I could spin the wheels as I pumped the lube in.

One of the 4 was dragging at one spot in the rotation. (I could still turn the drum, but just barely.)

I figure it's probably a warped drum. Any other opinions on that?

I'm still under warranty. Is this likely to be covered?
The hub cavity between the inner and outer bearings can be quite large and I don't think a couple of tubes is excessive for 4 hubs! Especially if the bearings were only hand packed at installation. I will be doing my wheel bearings tomorrow and will post as to the results.
On your the brake adjustment check did you rotate the wheel both directions i.e. forward and rearward? When it get's to the point where it drags, reverse the rotation for a couple of turns and then go back in the original direction. I don't think you have a warped drum, however without physically seeing and adjusting it's a crap shoot at best! Good luck in your outcome.
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Old 05-24-2013, 12:37 AM   #16
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Simply take that drum to a shop and have it turned.
Instructions, diagrams, videos and photos for bearing packing and re-packing are easily found on the web.
I fill the cavity by hand b4 putting the hub back on when I repack the bearings. It saves pumping time but uses the same amount of grease.
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Old 05-24-2013, 08:49 AM   #17
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6 pumps and I was getting clean grease back out so as I said I'm good....
Are we talking about tricycle wheels here? Most hubs are too big to possibly be getting clean grease out in 6 pumps.

Maybe I should be asking how big the piston is on your grease gun. ;-)
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Old 05-24-2013, 08:54 AM   #18
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Are we talking about tricycle wheels here? Most hubs are too big to possibly be getting clean grease out in 6 pumps.

in the future, after the warranty is up, i highly suggest pulling the hubs off the axles to do a real re-grease job. Cleaning all the old grease out with your choice of cleaning solution, compressed air to dry the bearings, and pack that hub full up with grease. you might be getting old grease pushed out of the outer bearing, but the inner ? not so much.

From everything i have seen, bearing buddy, dexter ezlube, whatever, there is no "ez" way to do this job right. Pulling the hubs and repacking by hand is the "best" way. It's messy, but that is how it should be done each season if you tow a bunch of miles. This will also ensure you are inspecting the pads and drums, the magnet and the magnet friction surface of the hub.. as well as checking to see if that 2.5 tubes of lube pushed past the seals at any given time
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Old 05-24-2013, 08:55 AM   #19
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Are we talking about tricycle wheels here? Most hubs are too big to possibly be getting clean grease out in 6 pumps.

Maybe I should be asking how big the piston is on your grease gun. ;-)
Depends, I have 2, one is a small one handed with a 1-1/8" piston and another 2 handed one with a 2-3/4" piston.
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Old 05-24-2013, 09:06 AM   #20
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you might be getting old grease pushed out of the outer bearing, but the inner ? not so much.
That would be wrong. It's impossible to get grease from the outer bearing without lubbing the inner bearing. See picture below. It sounds like you don't much believe in technical progress. I certainly agree that this doesn't eliminate the need for inspection of the brakes.
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