Zerk fittings on wheel bearings, T2553 2006

[Gimmie66]

Hello,
Getting the TT ready for the season and noticed the wheels (only had the camper 1 yr) have "zerk fitting" . Do these really work for greasing the wheel bearings or should it be done by taking the bearings out and repacking ? Also, I'm sure the weight of the TT should be off the wheels when this is done?
Let me know if anyone has used these (zerk fitting) and are you satisfied with the results?

[PTHutch]

Originally Posted by Gimmie66

Hello,
Getting the TT ready for the season and noticed the wheels (only had the camper 1 yr) have "zerk fitting" . Do these really work for greasing the wheel bearings or should it be done by taking the bearings out and repacking ? Also, I'm sure the weight of the TT should be off the wheels when this is done?
Let me know if anyone has used these (zerk fitting) and are you satisfied with the results?

Hi Jim,

I have the same zerk fittings. IMO yes they work and I have used them.

However, I’ve had mixed instructions on how to use them. The Tech at our RV shops says only pump 3 times. The Dexter manuals says pump until grease comes out.

JohnB is our resident expert, so hopefully he’ll pitch in with his opinions and suggestions.

Hutch

[JohnB]

Gimmie66

See if this helps any.

Here see from Dexter on there EZ lube feature



Here is a link to the Dexter site http://dexteraxle.com/e_z_lube_system

This product was originally designer for boat trailers than went under water.

See here on page 51, what Dexter say on how to do this. http://dexteraxle.com/i/u/1080235/f/...-07_72_res.pdf

Basically they say to rotate the wheel and pump until new grease can be seen coming out. So that is a complete purge.

I have used this EZ lube setup on Cargo trailers. And yes you lift the trailer, slowly rotate and pump “SLOW”. Eventually grease will glob out the hole in the end where the rubber plug was and out around the grease gun tip. The grease globs up out the hole so have a shopping bag or paper towel to collect it in.

Here are some heads up.

If this is the 1st ever greasing, you might pumping a real long time until anything much comes out. When the axles are new, they do not put much grease in them. Only on the actual bearing. So you are filling the cavity.

Do not use an air operated or high volume greaser. The back seal most likely will blow.

If you ever pull the brake drum, a new rear seal is almost a must. This is to protect the grease from getting up into the brakes.

Each year, no longer then 2 years, you should pull the brake drum and inspect the brakes. These electric brakes need to be looked at. And you can look at the bearings and races then too. When you pull the drum the seals have to be changed. When you are that far into it, hand packing is not that much extra to do. Even if I had EZ luber and had the bearing flushed and cleaned,. I would still hand pack the actual bearing cages. I do not know if I would trust single point injection to fill the roller cage.

So they are nice to fill the bearings with more grease from the original factory install since they are so dog gone shy on the grease. Must be a cost savings thing. And they can help you make it from drum pull to drum pull if you do not get to it in 1 year if you had real low mileage one year.

My Sunlines have the older, take off and repack by hand. If I had the EZ lube, I would use them, but I still pull my brakes every year. So on a TT, I have not figured out how to actually get the same high level of benefit from them like you do on a boat trailer.

What Hutch’s RV tech told him about the 3 pumps, I can’t figure out the logic in this in this specific double bearing application. If this was a single bearing to grease, then yes, 3 pumps is an industry practice on a single grease able bearing on a certain run frequency.

But we have 2 bearings several inches apart. 3 pumps on a new axle will not even get grease in the cavity it is so little. On a filled system, 3 pumps only puts new grease on the rear bearing. The outboard bearing gets left over grease. Without being able to ask the tech why they recommend it that way and how they expect to get new grease to both bearings I can’t figure out the logic in this recommendation. They may have not thought it thru and was going on the standard bearing lube practice for a single bearing system.

Hope this helps

John

[Gimmie66]

John and Hutch,

Thank you for all that information! Great diagrams, now I understand the concept.

thanks a bunch,

Jim

[PTHutch]

Originally Posted by JohnB

What Hutch’s RV tech told him about the 3 pumps, I can’t figure out the logic in this in this specific double bearing application. ...

.. Without being able to ask the tech why they recommend it that way and how they expect to get new grease to both bearings I can’t figure out the logic in this recommendation. They may have not thought it thru and was going on the standard bearing lube practice for a single bearing system.

John,

I can't provide any insight to the logic behind his statement.
However, I remember him saying that he say a lot of trailers coming in that had a lot of grease in the brake drum. Maybe he attributes that to people over pumping grease in the zerk. But after reading your explanation, I would think grease in the brake drum would be more from the seal not being replaced (or the method they pumped it in).

You're probably correct in your statement that they may not have thought is thru.

Hutch

[luvrque]

[quote="JohnB"]
See if this helps any.

Here see from Dexter on there EZ lube feature



JohnB
This sure does help me !!
Another excellent informative and detalied post !!
Just in time, I was going to grease the Que's bearings this weekend.
I put the Bearing Buddy's on my boat trailer & grease them every trip I take. They are a completely different system.
I never knew how the DEXTER EZ lube system worked.... Grease to the inner bearing first then to the outer bearing. THIS SOUNDS GREAT !
I would had thought it was something like the Bearing Buddy system.
Of course for the boat trailer bearing buddy keeps the system under pressure preventing temp. changes (Hot hubs & Cold water) from creating a vacuum in the bearings & pulling in water. This is not needed on the TT.
I am glad the Que has the EZ lube system and will grease them just as you said.....

Thanks again for all the info. ..........................Joe

[JohnB]

Originally Posted by PTHutch

However, I remember him saying that he say a lot of trailers coming in that had a lot of grease in the brake drum. Maybe he attributes that to people over pumping grease in the zerk. But after reading your explanation, I would think grease in the brake drum would be more from the seal not being replaced (or the method they pumped it in).

You're probably correct in your statement that they may not have thought is thru.

Hutch

Hutch

The fact that a number of TT’s come in with grease on the brakes is probably a fair statement. However there is generally more to it on how it got there.

Most people own a modern day auto. When was the last time they took their car or truck in for a bearing grease repack on the front axle?

For those auto’s still left that have rear drum brakes, how many crawl under and adjust them every 3,000 miles? Since they are self adjusting, they do not have to.

So unless the dealer at pre delivery inspection time tells the person about this or they themselves have some insight into trailers, they do not know they should be doing annual/every other year annual brake/grease maintenance.

If they pull the drum and there is a nick in the seal, it has to go. They short cut it and put it back on = grease on the brake.

They do not pull the drum annually or every other year so the grease gets hard in side. Now when they pump it in, the hard grease does not flow out the outboards bearing like it is suppose to, It builds pressure and goes out the brake side.

The strange thing in this is, well if you are suppose to pull the brake drums every year or every other year, then you change grease then. Having the zerk fitting is a nice luxary, just if you are following the brake and bearing recommendations, well by hand you are changing the grease anyway.

Ideally the trailer industry needs to go to self adjusting brakes or disk brakes and sealed bearing hubs like on the front of your car. Then every 40,000 miles well, you do a brake job. On a TT that is one real long time. I still have not figured out why they install 1950 brake technology on many brand new campers. It is not even an option in most cases other then the aftermarket disk brake conversions.

For right now, well grease on….

John

[Sunline Fan]

Hey John,

Why don't you create the first Sunny with self adjusting drum brakes !

Jon

[JohnB]

Originally Posted by Sunline Fan

Hey John,

Why don't you create the first Sunny with self adjusting drum brakes !

Jon

Actually schock absorbers will be before the self adjsuting brakes. Right now it is "my self" who adjusts them

Maybe that was what they mixed up....

John

[partimcmpr]

So the wheels need to be turning????

I'm not sure if I should ask DW to run along side the trailer pumping grease while I'm driving? Or if I should pump grease while she drives???

Seriously - I have never tried to jack up the side of my trailer. Any tips on how to easily and safely do this?

What type of jack works best? Floor jack? bottle type hydralic??

ParTimCmpr

[JohnB]

David

My Sunline manual has a sheet in it that shows, “Do not exceed 18” from each spring mount on the frame when applying a jack to the frame”. I’m away for work, but if needed I can scan when I get back home.

How I do it is

1. Camper on level surface
2. Block the wheels, front and back, on the side you are not jacking up.
3. I use a floor jack under the frame behind the wheel and then if I’m doing much wheel work, I put a jack stands under it.

For just greasing, just lift until the tire spins. You can use a bottle jack as well but make sure it is a stable one. Like a 10 ton or larger if you have one. The little 2 ton bottle jacks will lift it, but can be unstable as the base is so small. Go slow as the entire camper is lifting on that one side and it will creak and grown.

You can see here when I put my jack. In this pic I was taking both wheels off so I use jack stands. Never trust a jack if you are under any part of the system.



You can also see here. While this is not jacking up the trailer, it is part of my anti wiggle experiment. If I’m on the road changing a flat this is how I would do it. Just only on 1 side. That red jack is a 10 ton jack. The orange one in the back ground is a 20 ton.



Hope this helps

John

[partimcmpr]

That really does help. I like the idea of having a bottle jack for road side repair. I wondered how I would deal with a flat on the road.

I think I recall seeing one of the pictures in an earlier post. Thanks for bringing it back up.

I will let you know how it goes. I have 400 mile trip to Florida next week and would like to get this done before I go.

Thanks again!
David

PS. No need to scan. I believe I have that same picture in my notebook as well.

[partimcmpr]

John and others,
Just a quick update - I got the jack and was able to grease the wheels as described.

Thanks for the help!

David

[JohnB]

David

Glad all worked out. Good for you

John