Ultra-Lube Axles and Bearings Procedures

[sherdep]

those rubber end covers? (don't know the proper name for them) are easy to come by and inexpensive. can't beet the price if they just send them to u.
picked up the self adj brake assemblies today; weather will delay installation though.
when u go to replace ur seals, take ur old one with u. they have a couple that are close. (i learned my lesson from buying auto parts. hate to get home and it doesn't match).

they are really just Dust Covers to keep the dirt out of the grease fittings.
According to Al Ko they are called "Grease Caps"

They are doing the same purpose as the Bearing Buddy Dust caps - Keeping the dirt out of the Zirk Fitting - if the Zirk fitting gets dirt in it and you put more grease into the fitting - well now we just pumped grease and dirt right into the bearing - wouldnt be a pretty site to be stuck on the side of the road with a scored bearing or race - when I towed Boats I always carried a spare set of inner and outer bearing's and races as a just in case -
If there is one thing the Marine corp taught me it is to be over prepared then to not be prepared at all.

 

[jerr7]

HI all i have a question , im handy and have changed the bearings on my old POP?UP years ago. Now i have a roo23ss 2009,.Please dont think im an idiot yet lol. My axle states its 3700 lb rated is that for one axel or both??.Does anyone know how i can tell if my axel is an ezlube type for the roo23ss.If its not then i have to take apart the wheel and check the bearings and seals and might as well replace all.Last how do i know what size seals and bearings to get is there a certain part Number for this.The complex grease i have.Thanks i hope someone can help
jerry

 

[jimh-FRF]

The ez lube axels have rubber dust Cover on the end of the metal cover. Remove that cover and u will see a grease cert.
There r other post that have lube procedures on insurting the grease. U will also find manuels. (Think it's this thread).
If u do replace seals or bearings take the old ones with u. There were several seals that were close.

 

[MtnGuy]

HI all My axle states its 3700 lb rated is that for one axel or both??

That should be per axle. 3700 lbs. seems like a weird figure though, as many axles are 3500 lbs.

 

[jerr7]

JIM and MTn guy i appreciate the come back . The Roo23 ss states 3700lbs lol but you know that Forest River lies when comes to their site .I think its alot less but ill use that as a reference lol. i fig somewhere bet 3200-3400 be about right.I looked at the wheel and i see the rubber cap you stated.I gather i can squirt some grease in and see if i can get the grease to flow back out like it states in some of the other replys. I looked into the sites and all the info and i dont think i have to take the wheel off??. Also have used the trailer for about 3000 miles over the 2 1/2 years i had since new.I just dont know how ill be able to tell if the inner seals will be in good shape.I assume if i pump grease in it will eventually come out front lol.I hope 2 tubes to do whole job??I just dont want to have any problems with the rear seals ozing out onto the brake pads Thanks

 

[Herk7769]

JIM and MTn guy i appreciate the come back . The Roo23 ss states 3700lbs lol but you know that Forest River lies when comes to their site .I think its alot less but ill use that as a reference lol. i fig somewhere bet 3200-3400 be about right.I looked at the wheel and i see the rubber cap you stated.I gather i can squirt some grease in and see if i can get the grease to flow back out like it states in some of the other replys. I looked into the sites and all the info and i dont think i have to take the wheel off??. Also have used the trailer for about 3000 miles over the 2 1/2 years i had since new.I just dont know how ill be able to tell if the inner seals will be in good shape.I assume if i pump grease in it will eventually come out front lol.I hope 2 tubes to do whole job??I just dont want to have any problems with the rear seals ozing out onto the brake pads Thanks

If you feel in any way uncomfortable doing this job take it to a shop.
Peace of mind alone is worth the money.

If you have not lubed your hubs AT ALL for 2 1/2 years you may very well need the bearings replaced due to galling of the races or burned rollers. This is not a job for the uninformed since you will need to know by looking at them whether they need to be replaced or not. You will need new seals in any case if you pull the hubs.

The whole idea behind the Ultra-Lube hubs is to lube a few pumps every trip and a flush out through the Zerk fittings every year. You only need to pull the hubs every three years or so to inspect the bearings and change the rear seal.

Without them you would need to pull the hubs and repack the bearings every year.

 

[jimh-FRF]

ok, i'm in the process of repacking the bearings. (i'm also replacing the brakes from the plate out. once i tighten down on the axel nut to resistance, then back off, and repeat all while rotating the wheel, translated into laymens terms, how much do u back off on the nut befoe u insert the pin?
i found 1/2 round but had been backing off 1/4 (from hand tight snug). .001 to .01 doesn't have a lot of meaning to me. how much do u feel comfortable with? i have al ko 6k axels.

 

[KyDan]

1/4 turn back from -tight- is ok as far as I know.
When I install new bearings I tighten them tight to
help make sure they are seated then loosen to
where you can turn the nut by hand then just tighten the
nut enough to feel resistance in the nut.
Then find the nearest hole for the cotter pin.

It's not real critical. Just slightly firm or just slightly
loose or somewhere in between will work.

If you grab the side of the tire and can feel any play
you've got them just a tad loose

 

[jimh-FRF]

1/4 turn back from -tight- is ok as far as I know.
When I install new bearings I tighten them tight to
help make sure they are seated then loosen to
where you can turn the nut by hand then just tighten the
nut enough to feel resistance in the nut.
Then find the nearest hole for the cotter pin.

It's not real critical. Just slightly firm or just slightly
loose or somewhere in between will work.

If you grab the side of the tire and can feel any play
you've got them just a tad loose

thanks. they r free at 1/4 turn and don't feel the side to side play at that point. i want to leave room for expansion without over doing it.

 

[52Dodgeman]

Good and timely info in this thread. I just started to pre-trip the Flagstaff for the trip to Branson. When I checked my hubs I found that both the right side Zerks were damaged ( look like they were banged against something before the dust cap was installed). I sent Al-KO customer service an email and they are sending me four new zerks. Can't beat that. Once I get the zerks installed I'll pump a little grease in the bearings. The one thing that does dissapoint me is when I measured the center to center distance between the hubs (for a set of wheel chocks I am working on) I found that there is over a half inch difference between the right and left axles. So much for having the axles square to the frame.
Maybe I should just be happy that the bearings were well greased from the factory.

 

[tentcamper1]

so what should the temp be outside to get the best results for pumping the grease into the zerks.

 

[Herk7769]

so what should the temp be outside to get the best results for pumping the grease into the zerks.

It was FREEZING when I tried to lube my bearings and only 3 of the 4 took grease. I hit the stuck one at our first rest stop and it took it just fine then.

 

[fbroussard]

I just took off the grease caps on my 2008 Shamrock and confused by what I found. Only one spindle had a zerk fitting that was sheared off, I had to insert a small flathead to unscrew what was still inside. The other three spindles had no threads I could see and appeared to only go in .25" where the zerk fitting should be. Very strange since I was expecting 4 functioning zerk fittings. What should my next step be?

 

[sherdep]

I just took off the grease caps on my 2008 Shamrock and confused by what I found. Only one spindle had a zerk fitting that was sheared off, I had to insert a small flathead to unscrew what was still inside. The other three spindles had no threads I could see and appeared to only go in .25" where the zerk fitting should be. Very strange since I was expecting 4 functioning zerk fittings. What should my next step be?

can you take a picture of this so we can make a better answer for you

make sure you have Al Ko axles - you say grease caps - are they silver / metal covers? or are they rubber covers?

If they are metal covers you may need to install say like Bearing Buddies which are spring loaded and have zirk fittings to allow you to pump grease into the bearing.

Not knowing exactly what you are looking at this would be my answer

 

[fbroussard]

they were silver metal covers, not the ones with the rubber sections. There were no zerk fittings anywhere else so I assumed they would be on the spindle. why would only one spindle out of four have a zerk fitting? poor manufacturing standards or possible repair?

 

[sherdep]

they were silver metal covers, not the ones with the rubber sections. There were no zerk fittings anywhere else so I assumed they would be on the spindle. why would only one spindle out of four have a zerk fitting? poor manufacturing standards or possible repair?

if they had metal cover's then they are probably not the syle in this thread (Al Ko Axles)
If the Zirk fitting is on the spindle then those are the kind you would find on a Utility or Boat trailer from what I have seen.
some axles had a single zirk fitting in the spindle and greased both sides.

A few years back I had to replace both axles on a utility trailer and it had a zirk fitting on one side and not the other - I removed the zirk fitting and installed Bearing Buddies and got the covers for the bearing buddies and called it done which is what I would suggest you should do after you clean out the old grease and re-pack new grease into those bearing and install new seals. If the races for the bearing have any scoring they will need to be replaced as well or new hub's if you do not have the tool to remove and install new races.

 

[52Dodgeman]

Crawl under the trailer and note the axle ID tags. That will give you the manufacturer and the axel part number. If they are AL-KO axles, then I would suggest you contact their customer service dept. for an explanation.

 

[fbroussard]

Will verify the manufacturer next time, thanks for all the advice.

 

[jimh-FRF]

a point i will make abt the proper grease. both seals on one side were leaking. believe i pumped a general purpose (incorect drop pt temp) into both of them abt a yr ago. in both of these, the grease was almost liquid (that that closest to the rear bearing). that nearer the outside bearing was fine (proper grease).
by the time i had gone to the other side, i had changed to the proper grease. one seal was fine the other was leaking some...that is aslo the seal that had been disturbed last year to do brake repairs. seal was good at that time. haven't been into anything sense bought in 2002.
i now know why they (manufacturer) doesn't want u to mix grease.

in looking at how the grease is inserted into the ez lube axels and how the buddy bearing works, it appears the buddy bearing would do more than keep pressure on the hub and keep water out. the ez lube allows u to push the old grease from the back out the front...changing it out.

 

[DAISY BOYKIN]

Al-ko axles bearing adjustment>

1. To get a proper "feel" for bearing clearance, the spindle nut must turn freely on the spindle and the brake must be readjusted so that there is no drag on the drum.

2. While slowly turning the hub/drum tighten the spindle nut to approximately 20 ft/lbs then loosen. This is especially important if new bearing races have been installed.

3. With drum stationary (do not rotate), re-tighten the spindle nut to 7 ft/lbs (zero clearance) then back off one slot (0.001"-0.010" end play) align the cotter pin hole. Insert cotter pin and bend both ends over end of spindle. Install grease cap.

This is quoted from the 2,000-7,000 lbs AL-KO owners manual, page # 23.