When would you grease a dexter ez lube

[popshumphrey]

I have 2022 trailer with dexter ez lube axels. They only have 2k on them. When would you add grease or do a complete job. Just went to a trailer from a sle 2250 sunseeker. So wondering when to start.

[Bob K4TAX]

I'm sure others have seen this before. I prefer to pull the wheels and hubs in order to inspect the brakes, magnet, bearings, and seals.

Too much grease or too much grease gun pressure will blow out the grease seals.

Based on average and normal use, once per year is the recommendation.

Bob

[popshumphrey]

Originally Posted by Bob K4TAX

I'm sure others have seen this before. I prefer to pull the wheels and hubs in order to inspect the brakes, magnet, bearings, and seals.

Too much grease or too much grease gun pressure will blow out the grease seals.

Based on average and normal use, once per year is the recommendation.

Bob

Wow Bob that is quite a mess. I think my concern is whether to trust the manufacturer to do it right before I drive 4k miles. I have also heard that people check the temp of the hubs with a laser. I wonder what temps they expect for them to be. Do you know?

[dalford]

Originally Posted by popshumphrey

Wow Bob that is quite a mess. I think my concern is whether to trust the manufacturer to do it right before I drive 4k miles. I have also heard that people check the temp of the hubs with a laser. I wonder what temps they expect for them to be. Do you know?

The individual wheel hub is not as important as is the temp of a hub relative to the other hubs. If one hub has a bearing problem or a brake dragging I will be much hotter than the others.

TS not a laser gun even though it has a laser pointer to show where you are measuring. It measures using iR…pretty cheap.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/General-...T205/303305337

[popshumphrey]

Originally Posted by dalford

The individual wheel hub is not as important as is the temp of a hub relative to the other hubs. If one hub has a bearing problem or a brake dragging I will be much hotter than the others.

TS not a laser gun even though it has a laser pointer to show where you are measuring. It measures using iR…pretty cheap.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/General-...T205/303305337

Thanks. That’s what I have. I will check and see what I find out on this trip

[mikeyk101]

IMHO, I would put some grease in there right away. I have seen many reports that the new axles are a bit lacking grease. I did mine shortly after purchasing and seem to remember I ended up using about 3 tubes for all the axles. I feel much better knowing that they are now filled with grease.

As far as the ez-lube, you are going to see lots of opinions and personal experiences but I thought it was pretty easy to use. The key to doing it right is to have whatever wheel you are working on off the ground and continue to slowly spin that wheel while pumping in the grease. Also, make sure to use a hand pump grease gun and not a compressor type gun. Those compressor ones just pump at a higher volume. Just use one of the hand pump ones and go slow.

[BRinSCupstate]

Originally Posted by popshumphrey

I have 2022 trailer with dexter ez lube axels. They only have 2k on them. When would you add grease or do a complete job. Just went to a trailer from a sle 2250 sunseeker. So wondering when to start.

I just did my, new to me, 2018 Flagstaff Super Lite. After pulling the rubber caps to access the grease fittings, it was clear they had never been done since factory. The metal caps were clean. There was only a little grease residue on grease fitting. Also helped a friend do his this past weekend. It is a 2020 and looked the same. We had no problems and did not push out the seal. We jacked up each wheel, rotated constantly and went very slow with the grease gun. It took us several hours due to pumping so slow. I think that is the key to not pushing out the seal.

[popshumphrey]

Thanks folks. I will do it Friday

[HangDiver]

Originally Posted by mikeyk101

IMHO, I would put some grease in there right away. I have seen many reports that the new axles are a bit lacking grease. I did mine shortly after purchasing and seem to remember I ended up using about 3 tubes for all the axles. I feel much better knowing that they are now filled with grease.

As far as the ez-lube, you are going to see lots of opinions and personal experiences but I thought it was pretty easy to use. The key to doing it right is to have whatever wheel you are working on off the ground and continue to slowly spin that wheel while pumping in the grease. Also, make sure to use a hand pump grease gun and not a compressor type gun. Those compressor ones just pump at a higher volume. Just use one of the hand pump ones and go slow.

Ditto - what he said^^^^^^

[Homebrew]

Originally Posted by HangDiver

Ditto - what he said^^^^^^

I agree also.

[PhilFromMaine]

I do the EZ lube once a year in the Fall before leaving for Florida. I probably put on about 3-4 thousand miles per year on the trailer. I think that is probably over kill, but I like to have a yearly maintenance schedule.

[D W]

Originally Posted by popshumphrey

Wow Bob that is quite a mess....

Every time I see something like this I just shake my head! Where did they think all that grease was going? I've seen folks on this forum claim that they emptied 2 to 3 14oz grease cartridges into the EZ Lube fitting!!! That should automatically raise a red flag. Contrary to popular belief, there's no requirement to "pack the hub", only the bearings.

...And, if you're going to spend 2+ hours slowly pumping grease in while spinning the wheel, why not just pull the hub and pack the bearings the correct way?

[mikeyk101]

Originally Posted by D W

Every time I see something like this I just shake my head! Where did they think all that grease was going? I've seen folks on this forum claim that they emptied 2 to 3 14oz grease cartridges into the EZ Lube fitting!!! That should automatically raise a red flag. Contrary to popular belief, there's no requirement to "pack the hub", only the bearings.

...And, if you're going to spend 2+ hours slowly pumping grease in while spinning the wheel, why not just pull the hub and pack the bearings the correct way?

It definitely should raise a red flag because that shows there was very little grease in there in the first place. When buying a brand new camper, you expect that everything is done so its ready to go. That includes making sure the hubs are filled with grease.

As far as 2+ hours, I would have to agree that although it's a good idea to go slow, but not sure that going that slow is necessary either.

[Homebrew]

Originally Posted by mikeyk101

It definitely should raise a red flag because that shows there was very little grease in there in the first place. When buying a brand new camper, you expect that everything is done so its ready to go. That includes making sure the hubs are filled with grease.



As far as 2+ hours, I would have to agree that although it's a good idea to go slow, but not sure that going that slow is necessary either.

They claim each wheel should take 14 oz when new.
I think they pack the bearings at the factory but don’t fill the ez lube system.

[BRinSCupstate]

Originally Posted by Homebrew

They claim each wheel should take 14 oz when new.
I think they pack the bearings at the factory but don’t fill the ez lube system.

I agree. It’s pretty clear they only pack the bearings and not fill the hubs.


Ez lube does make easy and definitely puts fresh grease in both inner and outer bearings. Pulling hubs and packing bearings manually definitely works also but would require removing wheels and rear seal, otherwise, there’s no way to remove old grease and repack bearings. I’m perfectly satisfied with using the EZ lube as they’re designed. I will on occasion pull the hub and check brake pads but I’ll continue to use the EZ lube design.

[D W]

I'll continue to follow the maintenance schedule the traditional way, once a year. This gives me the opportunity to check the bearings/races for scoring and pitting as well as inspecting the brakes, hardware and magnets. Last year I found a pitted inner bearing. Would have never known about it with EZ Lube. Easier to replace it in my driveway than on the side of the road. Things only go well with those you actually check.

[Camp20144]

Originally Posted by popshumphrey

Wow Bob that is quite a mess. I think my concern is whether to trust the manufacturer to do it right before I drive 4k miles. I have also heard that people check the temp of the hubs with a laser. I wonder what temps they expect for them to be. Do you know?

My 2018 Rockwood 5th wheel had “enough” grease for the assembler to say “yup, I got some grease in there”. Found that out with 600 total miles on the trailer when I stopped for dinner and had a hot drum. Got a trailer repair shop approved (warranty) to check - found ground up brake parts, bent backing plate, and tore up brake pads. I think the minimal grease and failed brake were unrelated. Pulled rest of drums - insufficient grease in all four hubs.

I touch the back of my hand to the drums at every stop. If I can’t keep my hand on it, it’s too hot. With a laser temp and no braking I think temps run 90s to low 100s.

[Camp20144]

Ditto on hub temps being close in temp - a hot one or a cold one says trouble
Ditto on pulling hubs - I have the ez-lube but as mentioned earlier you don’t see the bad bearing or race or other problems.
I too repeat once a year

[NavyLCDR]

I think it is amazing the many thousands of trailers on the road out there that have gone years without a single thought given to greasing the bearings.

[jimmarako]

Originally Posted by NavyLCDR

I think it is amazing the many thousands of trailers on the road out there that have gone years without a single thought given to greasing the bearings.

Trailers confuse me. Your suppose to remove, inspect, repack bearings every year. OK. Back when cars had repackable bearings I never gave a second thought to only looking at them when the car needed a brake job. 30-40-50K miles and those bearings lasted forever.

And when is the last time you went out and torque check your cars lug nuts before you went to work, or took off for a long week end? Never sounds about right.

Jim M.