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Old 04-18-2015, 08:49 PM   #1
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Can I grease bearings without lifting?

I have around 400 miles total on this camper since I purchased new in 2013. I'm leaving Friday for a 80 mile ride to seasonal site. I have not greased bearings since I purchased this. I don't have any equipment to lift camper. Is it possible to put some grease in fittings right before I leave while on ground? Or should my bearings still be good?
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Old 04-18-2015, 08:51 PM   #2
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I pumped some in last year with out lifting, this year I lifted it with a 8 ton jack, need a 12 ton minimum. They are about $45 bucks.
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Old 04-19-2015, 05:03 PM   #3
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Instructions say to lift, but doesn't tell you where to put a jack, and also tells you not to jack on the frames... I guess you could use one of those drive on jacks, but you would have to be hitched up and in an area that allows you to work on the rig.

Personally, I have always just pumped in Mobil1 synthetic grease through the EZ lube fittings. Never lifted and spun the wheel. Last camper (Tracer 230FSB) had over 8000 miles on the factory bearings.

I will say, that it does take several SLOW pumps to see any of the old grease start to move out, so be patient. And don't believe they are "fully greased at the factory" like the sales people tell you. You will agree with me on that one when you see how much grease it takes the first time.
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Old 04-19-2015, 05:42 PM   #4
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When I took my wheel off the other day, I noticed a rubber thing over my axle...does that mean I have the EZ Lube on my Rocky?

This video says to lift the wheel so you can rotate it while squirting in the grease.

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Old 04-19-2015, 09:13 PM   #5
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Jacking on the axles is a no no. The factory jacked my trailer up on the frame between the axles. I did the same last week,


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Old 04-19-2015, 09:27 PM   #6
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my camper sat on seasonal site all last summer..then i drove it home 80 miles in October..then to dealer for winter storage... i am now gonna attempt to drive it 80 miles back to seasonal camp Friday morning... then in October drive it back to dealer for storage and i will have them redo the grease next spring when i pick it up.. hopefully the bearing grease is still good after two years and 600 miles.. I have two ways up to seasonal site, either i can stick to normal county roads that are curvy and 55 mph or i can jump on interstate at 65 mph and is straight driving..any idea what is harder on bearings?
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Old 04-19-2015, 09:44 PM   #7
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Your Bearing will NOT know which road you took! Youroo!!
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Old 04-19-2015, 10:00 PM   #8
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Your bearing grease should be good for several years & several thousand miles. Two years & 400 miles is nothing but it is your trailer..... I personally run mine a lot more miles & a lot more time & I pull / own five different trailers.



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Old 04-19-2015, 10:18 PM   #9
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My camper has Forward stopping adjusting brakes. Drive it up on some boards and lift one tire at a time off the ground. Check your brake tightness and adjust it looser if needed and then grease the spindle zert while turning the tire slowly.
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Old 04-19-2015, 10:32 PM   #10
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Quote:
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Drive it up on some boards and lift one tire at a time off the ground. Check your brake tightness and adjust it looser if needed and then grease the spindle zert while turning the tire slowly.
Works for me, but with the wide stance on my Lacrosse i still have to use a jack
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Old 04-20-2015, 06:43 AM   #11
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I have no option then to jack mine up. The center caps are not removable unless the wheel is removed. I just did mine last month. And it took 3 tubes of Grease to do all four wheels.
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Old 04-20-2015, 07:02 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ColoradoRick View Post
When I took my wheel off the other day, I noticed a rubber thing over my axle...does that mean I have the EZ Lube on my Rocky?
Probably. Just remove one of the rubber caps and check to see if you
have either a grease zerk (little nipple thingie that a grease gun fits on) or
a threaded hole for a grease zerk. My last 2 trailers had the threaded hole
but no fitting. I had to supply my own. They were the tiny 1/16-27 threads.
I just took one fitting and moved it wheel to wheel as I turned and greased
them.
Pump slowly- pump turn-pump turn. When you see any movement of grease
around the outside of the end you are looking at you are done.
IMO once hubs are filled you never need to add grease again at least until
you do a tear down and inspect/replace of bearings and seals.
Good Luck!
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Old 04-20-2015, 07:14 AM   #13
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can i grease bearings without lifting?

While it is most likely that the hubs are not filled with grease from the factory I would be just as concerned with the bearings being loose. Mine were very loose when I checked them after only about 500 miles. Luckily they were not damaged. I also found one rear seal leaking.
For these reasons I would remove the hubs,check the seals, clean and inspect bearings, grease, and properly torque the nut.


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Old 04-20-2015, 12:14 PM   #14
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Grease on wheels

I just did mine this weekend. I used the trailer-aid plus and still the wheel did not quite come off the ground still had about .5" to go. I jacked the axle up the remaining .5". I was able to spin the wheels and grease. Mine took about 1.5 14oz tubes of grease for four bearings. What I don't understand is if everyone knows that the manufacture does not put enough grease in the fittings (even the dealer) , then why when you spend $300 - $500 for a dealer prep charge don't they fill them as part of their PDI or even tell you about them being dry. If your buying your first unit you may not know that they are dry till the bearings seize up.
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Old 04-20-2015, 04:18 PM   #15
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Newbie Q.

I'm confused. If you can't put a jack under the frame and you can't jack under the axle, where do you lift from?
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Old 04-20-2015, 04:21 PM   #16
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The trailer-aid plus you drive up onto the ramp and it lifts the opposite wheel on the same axle. Then you can grease the bearing. Mine did not quite lift off the ground.


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Old 04-20-2015, 05:19 PM   #17
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Jack on the frame between the tires with a bottle jack.


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Old 04-20-2015, 05:27 PM   #18
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Mine's got about 12K miles on it. I replaced the seals this year and was going to replace the bearings. They looked good so I put them back after packing them and packing the hubs in between the bearings. Since then I have put another 3K miles on them and lifted the trailer and pumped in grease once... with no problems. I pump in grease at the beginning of the season one year, and do a tear down inspection with new seals the next.
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Old 04-20-2015, 07:16 PM   #19
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When I worked part time in the service dept. for a dealership checking bearing grease was not on the prep list. That is until a bunch of new pups started coming in on wreckers. It seems the axel supplier failed to add grease to the bearings. After that we pulled the hubs and re-pacted as a part of the prep on all trailers. I now check it every time I get a new trailer.
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Old 04-20-2015, 07:21 PM   #20
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Why is it a Nono to jack the axle to raise the tire? I have watched my dealer jack all four wheels using a floor jack, same at RV dealer in Meridian Ms last Oct. I have seen road service change a tire and use the axle to jack it up. Just doesn't seem logical to me. Some body explain?
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