EZ Lube Axles - Lubrication

[Alpine207]

My new camper came with EZ Lube axles. I put 800 miles on the camper, plus however many miles for delivery (probably another 600 miles). I wanted to do an initial greasing, so I knew there was sufficient grease; I know they come prelubed from factory. As I spun the tire and pumped grease into fitting, I couldn't see grease coming out toward me. I pumped 9 times on grease gun and no sign of grease moving, so I stopped because I didn't want to blow out seals. Why am I not seeing grease come out toward me?

[lbrjet]

I had to pump almost a half a tube into each hub when it was new. The channels were not filled with grease when I bought mine.


2010 F250 5.4L 3.73
2011 Flagstaff 831FKBSS
Equal-i-zer 4pt 12K

[Ddubya]

It is not unusual for the axels on new trailers to come with too little grease,misadjusted bearings and blown rear seals.
Suggest tearing them all down for a complete inspection.


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2017 Alpine 3401RS - 2016 Ram 3500 Laramie 4x4, CC, LWB, Aisin

[jaherbst]

Simply because the factory puts little or no grease in them. They buy their axles and mount them without greasing them. Keep pumping until you see grease. You would have to fill the hub with grease before any grease gets to the rear bearing. Not a big fan of Bearing Buddies for this reason. The rear bearing always fails first due to not getting any grease. I would not worry about the amount of grease injected and you would have to pump extremely hard before grease will come through the rear seal.

Jack

[SidecarFlip]

You really cannot overfill them. There is a relief hole in the outer cover that the grease will come out of when full.

I've run bearing buddies for decades with no issues at all, no rear bearing failures.

I still pull the hubs ocassionally and check them however.

[TURBS]

Originally Posted by SidecarFlip

You really cannot overfill them. There is a relief hole in the outer cover that the grease will come out of when full.



I've run bearing buddies for decades with no issues at all, no rear bearing failures.



I still pull the hubs ocassionally and check them however.

Ez lube axles do not have bearing buddies.

Yes you can over fill them, it'll push rear seal out, you are giving bad advice because of lack of knowledge of the op's system.

3 campers over 11 years, never grease mine.

If they are packed properly they should not need grease.

[TURBS]

Originally Posted by jaherbst

Simply because the factory puts little or no grease in them. They buy their axles and mount them without greasing them. Keep pumping until you see grease. You would have to fill the hub with grease before any grease gets to the rear bearing. Not a big fan of Bearing Buddies for this reason. The rear bearing always fails first due to not getting any grease. I would not worry about the amount of grease injected and you would have to pump extremely hard before grease will come through the rear seal.



Jack

Ez lube axles lube the rear bearing first

[Jay2504]

The grease that you pump in comes out a hole between the back of the rear Bering and the rear seal. Pump too hard and the grease blows past the seal and will get on the brakes if enough gets out. How much of the caveity between the front and rear Bearing is filled by the factory? I have no idea. With this system the front bearing will get no new grease pushed through it until the cavity has been filled. Thats ok because the front and rear berings are supposed to be greased from the factory. If one of the bearings doesnt have grease you will know very quickly! I have put about 3000 miles so far on our TT. The only thing I did was three slow pumps on each wheel after about 1500 miles. I will probably continue to do that a couple times a year until grease comes out the front bearing. Some people here have pumped through a different color grease through each jacked up and spinning wheel until the new color comes out. Jay

[SidecarFlip]

Originally Posted by TURBS

Ez lube axles do not have bearing buddies.

Yes you can over fill them, it'll push rear seal out, you are giving bad advice because of lack of knowledge of the op's system.

3 campers over 11 years, never grease mine.

If they are packed properly they should not need grease.


Attachment 126301

I have both styles.

EZ lube on my HD Dexter Axles (with the rubber plug) and Buddies with the plastic cap and the weep hole. Pump the buddies until the spring compresses and that preloads the grease to the bearings, with the Dexters, when the grease starts showing between the plug and the outer bearing, it's full.

I still pull them both frequently and clean and repack the bearings manually. Grease is cheap, especially in 150 pound drums.

[bob caldwell]

Originally Posted by TURBS

Ez lube axles lube the rear bearing first

X2

[bigmurph]

The best way to grease them is to jack up the wheel and pump the grease gun while you or someone else spins the wheel slowly. This helps the grease get through the bearings. Don't pump too fast so that you don't overload the rear seal. The reason that they get pushed out is because the grease gets pumped in faster than it can move back through the bearings towards the front (outer) bearing. It will take a lot of grease to do this the first time. Next time, you will only need to put a few pumps in to push out some old grease. That is the biggest advantage to these axles. It allows you to replace the grease basically. They still require maintenance.

[bob caldwell]

Depends on which day your manual was printed.....mine says spinning not required...

[bigmurph]

I know that they have changed the manual but I'm just stating what I have seen over time. Only time I've seen the seal push out was when they were not spun. I think that the manual was changed because they were worried about someone not jacking it up in the right place and damaging their axle.

[Bama Rambler]

There are two different systems being talked about here.
The Dexter EZ-Lube and the Al-Ko Ultra-Lube.
The EZ-Lube manual says to rotate the hub slowly as you pump grease into the bearings and the Ultra-Lube manual says that lifting the wheel (and therefore rotating) isn't required.

[bob caldwell]

Agree there!..…

[DouglasReid]

Personally I WILL NOT use the easy lube axles. I much prefer to remove the tires and wheels, repack the bearings by hand so I KNOW that they are properly lubed. Then reinstall them with new inner seals.

I have seen too many that have had the inner seal blown and grease all over the brakes and inside the hub. At the very least, this destroys the brakes ability to stop the trailer by coating the magnet and hub with grease. It can also coat the brake shoes with grease ruining them and requiring their replacement.

I have also had one wheel that the outer bearing race had spun in the wheel that I would not have found if I had simply pumped grease in to the hub. This could/would have been catastrophic and only discovered when the wheel separated completely from the axle had I not caught it when I did.

All in all, a bit of effort and the small expense of new grease seals is cheap compared to the possible catastrophe that can befall you if the wheels are neglected by lazy maintenance procedures.

[Jay2504]

Based on my 25 years of boating experience, you only have to see smoke comming out of the wheel on the trailer once to start paying attention to wheel bearings. Boat trailers are not loaded as heavy as camper trailers but most people don't submerge their camper wheels in a lake. The best thing I found for my boat trailers was converting to oil fed bearings. I don't see the need to do this to my 2504 though. Just add some grease once or twice a year. For those who pull the hubs and pack bearings for piece of mind, I say do what makes you feel safe towing down the road. Jay

[denville]

Amazingly enough when I was packing grease into the easy lube axle I got concerned about how much grease I was putting in. I called Dexter and spoke to their Tech support. They told me do not pump grease into the easy lube, they said pull the wheel and pack them the old fashion way. That way you know they are greased, the seal is not leaking and you can inspect the brakes while your in their. They recommended watching the videos on their web site


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[Mr Havercamp]

Originally Posted by denville

Amazingly enough when I was packing grease into the easy lube axle I got concerned about how much grease I was putting in. I called Dexter and spoke to their Tech support. They told me do not pump grease into the easy lube, they said pull the wheel and pack them the old fashion way. That way you know they are greased, the seal is not leaking and you can inspect the brakes while your in their. They recommended watching the videos on their web site


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Not saying someone did not tell you that by any means, nor its not a good idea to pull them apart and inspect every so often based on use, but its not only amazing...it's absurd. Are you sure you were not talking to the receptionist, mail room clerk, janitor, or lunch lady at Dexter?

Straight from the current Dexter service manual. Their tech support slightly conflicts with their own documentation, but only a little.

The person who told you that better hope one of the supervisors does not read these boards and can track them down. They could very well be standing in a line next week for some government cheese.

[cheewilson]

The Buddy and the EZ are altogether diff. I lubed my 08 Wildcat about 2 squirts every 500 to 800 miles for the first 5000 miles. Pulled hubs at 5000 miles and all brakes were ruined from the lube working out onto them. Replaced all brakes, cleaned mess up, cleaned and inspected bearings (had one faulty from factory) repacked bearings and added no grease to hubs (wiped in enough to hold off rust). I have now pulled about 70,000 miles, adding one (ONE) squirt about every 10,000 miles. Inspected twice, once this year and all like new. These axles should never been put on RV units. If you inspect every couple of years you should not add grease. THIS IS MY EXPERIENCE---DO AS YOU FEEL NEEDED..