Wheel Bearing size needed.

[JimS]

Camper is a 93 T-1740.

From the brochure files on this site, looks like it is a 2500# axle, times two.

Five lugs per wheel.

I’m a neophyte to working on brakes. So forgive my lack of knowledge in terms and understanding. Worked on a few wheel bearings with non road use farm trailers.

Pulled wheel off and it looks like a Dexter drum, but the one thread I read here led me to believe that doesn’t mean it’s a dexter axle. True or not?


3AA5DE2E-F68F-43D2-968E-1BF4189A51A6.jpg




The link to dexter bearings was not working in that thread.

Do you measure OD of drum or inside?
Measurement of drum where the caliper is placed on the drum is 10 3/4” OD. It would be like 10 5/8” if not on the step.


B762A237-E8FF-49DB-8718-1F85DFA77E30.jpg


Then the drum depth. Is this right at 2 7/16” ?


4D552D03-E58D-4718-A85F-B686E4F83F4D.jpg


Or is it 2 15/16” ?

A16F29CF-2F08-47D2-9239-D7352A9E3AB5.jpg

[JimS]

Additional information: I assume this will make it easy???

When I buy something used, I don’t ever trust what the person did before me. I like to double check stuff. If they did it wrong, I don’t want to repeat it!!!


From manufacturer it says Dexter axle. Has a serial number if that helps.
Do I trust it? Not sure how to be certain.


EE69CD46-12C0-450D-B719-F5E73532934B.jpg

Top of manual has wording and number. Don’t know if that means anything.

DDC2F8F8-520F-402C-A598-CE12DDB1B1DE.jpg


Assume I have a 10 x 2.25”. So the part numbers in this row? Just go to Napa and ask for that?

122AB439-2EAA-4A8C-AF63-FF25A058B060.jpg


A seal number is circled, assuming that’s what was used before.

8AAAF3B1-1EB9-4D8D-8F39-8AF7578B2FBA.jpg


Is just that easy? All the numbers I need is there and accurate?

[JohnB]

Hi Jim,

The brake size is known by measuring the "inside" brake drum diameter and the width of the brake shoe itself.

You "might" have a 3,500# axle tube, brakes and bearings for a 3,500# axle, but you may only have 2,500# springs.

Napa will have the bearing cones, races and the seal. If you pull the drum off, there are numbers on the bearing cones, the races, that is harder, they have to be out of the drum in order to see those numbers. They can match up what you need, take the drum with you.

Odds are favorable, you have the standard Dexter size.

I never made it to posting this on this forum, but this is a 3,500# Dexter axle setup with pics with standard adjust brakes which may help you.

https://forums.trailerlife.com/index...d/17173784.cfm

Hope this helps and ask away any questions, we have many members who do their own bearings and brakes who can help.

John

[JimS]

I’m assuming the seals will not have numbers on them. Will having the numbers off the bearing parts lead me to the proper seals?

[JohnB]

The seal is not "always" identified by the bearings. They ride on different diameters then the bearings. Sometimes the seals have a brand and numbers on them, and sometimes they do not.

Measure the OD of the shaft where the seal rides on before you head to the store. This shaft OD is not the same as the inboard bearing ID. Take the brake drum with the seal in it to the store. They can size up the OD of the seal from the drum with a set of calipers and you can confirm the seal shaft ID size.

Make sure you request the "double" lip seal. It will have the garter spring inside it. The single seal has no garter spring. Yes, they do make them that cheap.


If by chance, you do have the Dexter 3,500# rated axle tube, (odds are good you do, but confirm with old brakes drum) This is what I bought at our local NAPA for the 3,500# axles.



Also, this may help if you are changing the races, I cannot find the post right now, but here are pics on my Flickr photo site using large sockets and all thread rod to install the races if you do not have a bearing race driver. One has to work with what they have to work with. This is what I have. https://www.flickr.com/photos/camper...7662633031167/

[JohnB]

This may help too on the seal, again if you have the 3,500# Dexter axles. They only make so many axle sizes, so the springs change to lower the ratings.

These are what I now buy for the 3,500# axles, the ones at Napa are OK too, I just buy in more bulk from Eastern Marine. You can see the size callout in the description

https://www.easternmarine.com/dexter...eal-010-019-00

[JimS]

I read in one post that different types of grease should not be mixed in the bearings. My bearings have the red grease. Are all red greases considered the same type?

[JohnB]

Originally Posted by JimS

I read in one post that different types of grease should not be mixed in the bearings. My bearings have the red grease. Are all red greases considered the same type?

Hi Jim,

I'll tell you what I know on the grease topic. I'm not an expert on this, but have worked in some of the areas of equipment lubrication.

You are partly right about your reading and certain greases are not compatible with each other and negative reactions can occur when some types are mixed togther. This does not matter if it is in wheel bearings, ball joints, universal joints etc.

There are compatibly charts that list which grease "types" are be compatible with each other and which are not.

Here is one such chart https://www.machinerylubrication.com...-compatibility

And on the grease topic, here is a write up from NAPA on the topic.
https://knowhow.napaonline.com/greas...ou-mix-grease/

Now your wheel bearings and the color of the grease. Color by itself is not a good indicator of being compatible or not from what I know. The color comes from the manufacture, but does not represent the type of grease it is from brand to brand. You have to read the label for find the type on that specific brand.

Did your plan change on redoing a wheel bearing pack? If you are servicing the wheel bearings, even if you reuse the old bearings and races as they pass inspection, I always clean out and wash out all the old grease regardless of type from the bearing and the hubs. I get 99% (all visible) of the of the old grease out just for debris contamination reasons. Then use all new grease. I then know going forward the brand and type I'm using. No mixing of different types occurs.

I would suggest you do the same on cleaning out all the old grease as you have no idea if they used a good high quality wheel bearing grease or not.

Hope this helps

John

[JimS]

Originally Posted by JohnB

Hi Jim,

I'll tell you what I know on the grease topic. I'm not an expert on this, but have worked in some of the areas of equipment lubrication.

You are partly right about your reading and certain greases are not compatible with each other and negative reactions can occur when some types are mixed togther. This does not matter if it is in wheel bearings, ball joints, universal joints etc.

There are compatibly charts that list which grease "types" are be compatible with each other and which are not.

Here is one such chart https://www.machinerylubrication.com...-compatibility

And on the grease topic, here is a write up from NAPA on the topic.
https://knowhow.napaonline.com/greas...ou-mix-grease/

Now your wheel bearings and the color of the grease. Color by itself is not a good indicator of being compatible or not from what I know. The color comes from the manufacture, but does not represent the type of grease it is from brand to brand. You have to read the label for find the type on that specific brand.

Did your plan change on redoing a wheel bearing pack? If you are servicing the wheel bearings, even if you reuse the old bearings and races as they pass inspection, I always clean out and wash out all the old grease regardless of type from the bearing and the hubs. I get 99% (all visible) of the of the old grease out just for debris contamination reasons. Then use all new grease. I then know going forward the brand and type I'm using. No mixing of different types occurs.

I would suggest you do the same on cleaning out all the old grease as you have no idea if they used a good high quality wheel bearing grease or not.

Hope this helps

John

You confirmed what I was guessing. That all the grease companies don’t have an industry standard on the colors.

My plans are to open up one wheel bearing. I was hoping to get a list of everything I need without doing that, but it is what it is. I have read so many new things on this site about maintenance, and I’m trying to hit the most important ones first in my time crunch before using the camper again. We live in a very remote area, and going to the nearest store is at least a 3 hour round trip, so you get why I can’t just make another quick trip for something I forgot ( make a list and check it twice!). If I open a bearing up, I want to be prepared to get it closed up quickly so I can use it. I’ll open it up carefully so hopefully I can put the old seal back if needed. My fear is that the store won’t have one, and need to order it and not get it in time. Would like to get at least one full set of bearings ( really four full sets if they have it), just to have on hand for emergencies. If I can get the seals and a bearing set, then I’ll open my wheel bearings up one by one and evaluate each as I go. But minimum to get started, need the new grease and enough cleaner. I’ll do as you suggested and start with new grease as the simplest maintenance check and go from there as to what parts I get.

Kind of a rambling post, but that’s what my thought/plan is.

Thanks, Jim

[JohnB]

Hi Jim,

OK you have a sound plan. That should work out well.

A heads up, one never knows what you will find when you pull the brake drum. That's why you are checking. Most times the brakes and things just need cleaning up and you can get them going. Other times, the entire brake lining detached from the shoe and is laying in the drum. Over time the bonding agent just dried up and let go. This is why we have to check these things.

Before retiring, I would travel to VA, we had a manufacturing plant in a small town southwest of Lynchburg I would support. There are for sure back country roads and remote places in VA. Winter can be bad, ice storms will shut down the area. But, a lot of pretty places too. I have many friends from the plant still down in that area. We will make it back with the camper for a visit, sometime in the future.

Good luck on the brakes.

John

[JimS]

John, perhaps you have traveled I-64 east going to Lynchburg. When you cross from WV into VA it’s very mountainous thru there. We live south of that area. We are only about 15 miles from the WV border as the crow flies, but takes us an hour to get there. If you are ever coming thru the area let me know and we can meet up along 64. Or if you want to camp on our property for a layover your welcome to do that. It’s the least I could do for all the help you’ve given me.

Went to NAPA today. Wasn’t a great experience. Not like the NAPA i was used to years ago. They would not touch the drum, literally. They could not find bearing replacements even tho the bearings have numbers. Claimed that they can only look up items with part numbers. He said they took all their catalogs away and don’t have the ability to cross reference. Everything is computerized. I wonder if this is just a bad store. I’ll look into seeing if there is another one around. With the refusal to take measurements, I asked if I had measurements would he be able to find it, and said no.

I’m glad at this point I only have one wheel opened up. The bearings look good and I can just put it back together.

- Jim

[JohnB]

Jim,

Bummer on your NAPA experience. For sure see if you can find a different one. I'm fortunate our local store still has at least 3 main counter people who know their stuff and their inventory. And they have calipers under the counter, they have been around a long time and know their stuff.

I think I still have the NAPA new bearings in the barn. I will look tomorrow. I cannot find those box numbers on the NAPA web site. I'll see if there is an SKU number on the box.

Do you have a set of calipers you can read 3 place decimal with?

Did you confirm you have 10" x 2 1/4" Dexter brakes? Those bearing numbers are good numbers for a 3,500# brake axle in the picture you showed


And the seal is a good Dexter number


This NAPA kit, has the whole kit which appears to fit a no. 84 spindle which is used on 3,500# axles. You can zoom in and read the bearing numbers off the pic, they match up with your chart

NAPA Part #: BK 7304458
Line: Balkamp

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/BK_7...pressionRank=1

If you need just the seal, Here is a cross reference set of numbers for manufactures.

The seal is 2.565" OD, 1.719" ID and 1/2" wide, double lip

Dexter: 010-019-00
NOK: AD2548E0
Chicago Rawhide: CR 17144 (FYI: SKF bought out Chicago Rawhide a number of years ago)
National: 473336
Redline Trailer Parts: RG06-050 (10-19 seal)

Hope this helps,

John

PS. I'll respond on I64 later. Yes, I have been over that road.

[JohnB]

Hi Jim,

My walk to the barn this morning was fruitful.

For a 3,500# Dexer axle, with 10" x 2 1/4" brakes, these are Napa bearings sets, (bearing and race) per wheel.

The older part numbers.(box about 10 years old) You can see the bearing numbers printed on the label.
These match your manual for a 10 x 2 1/4" brake


And the newer, (box is ~ 3 years old) updated NAPA part numbers, for the same bearings. I pulled the bearings out of the box and the bearing numbers matched.


To recap what you are looking for: Dexter 3,500# axle, with 10" x 2 1/4" brakes. No. 84 spindle.

Inner bearing, Race/cup: L68111 - Bearing/cone: L68149

Outer bearing, Race/cup: L44610 - Bearing/cone: L44649

It appears that NAPA may have renumbered them again. For sure open the box and see if the bearings numbers match.

I found these on their website this morning

Searched PBR4 and got this PGB PBR4 (they added some letters PGB )https://www.napaonline.com/en/search...ing&referer=v2

Searched PBR17 and got this, PGB PBR17 https://www.napaonline.com/en/search...ngs&referer=v2

Pending what you want, it may be cheaper per axle to buy the kit in the reply above and not use what you don't need. Just the 2 bearings per axle comes to $18.78

Hope this helps

John

[JimS]

Yes, thank you. I’ve been researching and it looks like the 10-19 seal in my book is actually a double lip seal. Book has it marked as EZ. The seal I removed is #171255. On the Napa site it appears to be 171255 TB. Guess the Napa guy couldn’t figure that out!!! All of these are listed as the same ID and OD.

I have a very good caliper for up to one inch, and does OD only. I’m going to pick up something else next time out.

I’ll post some pics of the drum sizes later. I’m 95% sure it’s a 10 x 2.25, but…..

[JimS]

And that kit # you posted earlier looks like the right things as comparing to my parts. A lot cheaper than buying individuals.

[JohnB]

Originally Posted by JimS

Yes, thank you. I’ve been researching and it looks like the 10-19 seal in my book is actually a double lip seal. Book has it marked as EZ. The seal I removed is #171255. On the Napa site it appears to be 171255 TB. Guess the Napa guy couldn’t figure that out!!! All of these are listed as the same ID and OD.

The Dexter EZ lube does use a double lip seal, that is a better seal. Same ID and OD as it fits in the same bore in the drum. It has 2 lips and the garter spring. Your original may have had the single lip seal, no garter ring, not as good as a seal.

I only use the double lip seal, EZ lube or no EZ lube. The EZ lube was made from the boating world when the axle was submerged as it fills the cavity packed full to help keep the water out. This is not an issue on a non brake axle. The EZ lube morphed into brake axles on camper as a "feature" in hopes that the owner would do something to grease the bearings. Many die from lack of lube as they never got any attention. It is whole topic by itself to have EZ lube and use it or hand pack the bearings. After seeing and dealing with grease seals that have blown out onto the brakes, even the double lip, I just hand pack as you have to inspect the brakes anyway. Even if you jack up the camper, spin the wheel and slowly hand pump the grease, that does give you a chance when the seal is new. But an old seal, and a cheap quality, sooner or later it will blow out.

This is a pet peeve of mine as they make industrial seals to holds thousands of pounds of pressure. Hydraulics do it all day long. They would make the EZ lube feature work very well. BUT, those seals cost $$, and the trailer industry is after, just good enough to save cost.

Sorry for the rant,

Good luck on the next try at the auto parts store.

John

[JimS]

Sure looks 10x2.25 to me. Do I need to be more precise than this on measuring? Are there break drums that are 1/4” one way or the other that it could be mistaken for?


07DFE4BE-737F-44EC-AB28-3BA78B93D9A3.jpg

F43A9370-3654-43E7-A677-B5F2E300EF27.jpg

Does this mean I have a 3500# axle (not the springs)for sure?

[JohnB]

Hi Jim,

The tape measure is, A OK, in this case. They only make so many sizes.

You have the 10" dia x 2 1/4" width brake size. The next size down is 10 x 1 1/2", and the next size up is 12" x 2". As you can see, that is a big difference, no problem using a tape measure in this case.

And yes as to your vintage axles, your drum measurements point to you have a 3,500# axle, with a no. 84 spindle and 10 x 2 1/4" brakes. The springs as we said may not be 3,500# rated.

If you want an updated Dexter service manual, see here on the Dexter site. They have updated this several times in the last 10 to 15 years, and I'm sure a lot more since yours. But, you may seem some of the same old pictures. Scroll down to "600-8K Complete Service Manual (LIT-001-00) and download your own copy.

https://www.dexteraxle.com/Resources...enter/?type=70

And this link can help on the axle and parts from Dexter. They do give some level of tech info other then just their PN, it helps sometimes.
https://www.dexteraxle.com/Resources...mily=&keyword=

[JimS]

neighbor found out what I’ve been doing and came over with his calipers to help me out so I could get things closed back up. Need to use the camper very soon. I don’t really have questions on this, just posting pictures of what we found.the sizes are obviously off some. Some ID’s are smaller than the OD, and we know that can’t be possible.

Where grease seal goes on Shaft then Grease seal;

2642B901-1EE4-4EBC-A7C8-3B15BCDDFC67.jpg

95F10423-EA98-430F-9E54-B99ACCABD119.jpg



Pocket on brake hub and then Grease seal OD;
Was hard to reach inside of pocket;

4243B7EF-5244-4877-B95E-22CC4BB38DE2.jpg

9CB31613-99C5-4619-BEF6-9FC34B201569.jpg

[JimS]

Shaft area for the inner race,
then the inner race bearing.

AC02C0F6-BD04-46DC-A620-494AB3AFB4FF.jpg

B390AC47-F20A-4EB6-924E-34CCABF5181B.jpg