This is great! You should ALWAYS spin the wheel as the new grease is being pumped in! We refer to this as: Dynamic -vs- Static! If you DO NOT spin the wheel, the new grease will take the path of least resistance, of which will be between the rollers, allowing much of the old grease to be left behind! Ultimately, we shoot for a complete exchange of "Old" grease for "New" grease..... and by spinning the wheel, we get as close to that as we can! Note how he continues until he no longer sees the old discolored grease exiting!
Ive done this exactly like you show for years, no issues 8000km trips every year, yes lots of old grease comes out!! Have lots of paper towels on hand and lots of time on your hands
Yeah, these axles are great. They're so easy to maintain and zero problems. I use a plastic one inch putty knife to scrape the old grease as it comes out while the wheel is spinning - works a charm.
These axles are great. I have two trailers that have them. Once a year or so I just pump the new grease in and the old comes out. I scrape the old grease off with a small plastic putty knife as I spin the wheel. I've never had any issues with this setup and I am very satisfied with them.
Thank-you for the video. I've been doing it wrong for years. I think the only way I can do this without getting covered with grease is to have my son do it.
I saw one guy fitting in a toilet paper roll to catch the old grease. Great idea. He forgot to spin the wheel and totally fouled up the job. But the toilet paper roll was smart.
@@gtileo That would require taking the wheel off. Then the ez, in ez lube axles isn't that easy. This it what is designed to do without removing the wheel.
Thanks. Great video. I recently lubed the bearings using the EZ-Lube system, rotating the tire as I used a manual grease gun. About 350 miles later, I noticed that grease was leaking out one of the four hubs, which I'll be fixing in a few days here. It's possible that the leak was there before I EZ-lubed the bearings (I'm embarrassed to say that I only recently learned the importance of getting under the rig regular to inspect welds, leaks, etc), but just the same, I won't be using the EZ-lube system again.
@@stuffyoucando2 I'm seeing new grease at the two small holes at the bottom of the brake assembly (the holes on the back for adjusting the brakes), and old grease coming out between the brake assembly and the drum. I also noticed the truck being pushed very slightly to the left when braking. Only happened once, but I still need to inspect the brakes to see if they were contaminated.
This is how I did my tandem axle travel trailer a few years back. I used 2 tubes of grease to fill and purge the cavities of old grease. Once the hub is full it takes a lot less grease the next time. I just did mine last week before our 500 mile trip and used less than a whole tube to do all 4 wheels. Just my $0.02
Came across your tutorial as i have dexter axles on my travel trailer. Cross referenced with dexter & you did it by the book. Let these haters project their (lack of) intelligence, their obviously too stubborn or ignorant to realize you're doing it correctly.
I use the Lucas too, it seems to be working well for me. I just picked up another trailer, also with tandem Dexter axles and will be using the same on it too.
I just lubed the bearings on our fifth wheel for the first time, using the Dexter EZLube procedure. When I removed the rubber cap, the inside was totally clean and dry. It did seem to take a lot of grease, nearly an entire tube on the first one, and almost that much on the others. Hope it works as it was designed to, and I don’t regret not hand-packing. I will say that I couldn’t get the inside of the hub as “clean” as it was before so hope it was ok to leave some traces of grease behind the rubber dust seal. Thanks for the good video instruction.
StuffYouCanDo2 I guess it did. The rig is only 9 months old, and this is the first time I’ve checked them/greased them. I’ve read some documents on Dexter’s website and sounds like they really have tested this to be sure it wouldn’t cause issues and also do a good job getting the bearings packed well. Will keep an eye on mine now that I’ve got the first time behind me. Thanks again for the video!
This is not the way to do it, your going to be that guy on the side of the freeway with bad bearings. This is like letting a blind man do your bearings, do you know if it has enough grease, is the real seal blow, are the bearings worn. Its so easy to do it the right way and not the lazy way and guess. Good luck
for @@sundancer3700 Please reconsider your statement. I'm 78, can not get on the ground nor handle wheels very well. I am not lazy for if I told you the things I did, you would probably not believe. Do you know for a fact the E-Z way is not effective? I don't know but I think the big majority of bearings rolling down the road needed greased years earlier. ave a good day. tim durham sr. the bee man
I tried this method exactly as shown. Spun the wheels while pumping grease. All 4 inner seals blew out. Ended up replacing all brake assemblys, bearings etc. Will repack the correct way from now on.
Did all this. Sadly, after about 15 pumps and old goo squirting out as it should, the frickin Princess Auto gun just stopped working. Tried everything, it just stopped, and the nipple would remained jammed on the wheel insert point. Just my luck. Cheap gun on special. Gonna return it. Your simply explained video was very helpful to get me doing this. Thanks for helping us out here.
Best axles I ever had used oil in the wheel bearings. By far my favorite setup so far. Had to replace the sight glass on one of them that probably got damaged in the mountains somewhere but they seemed to be a pretty good design. Can't remember the brand of axles but they were on Titan stock trailer.
I’ve heard of them on semis before, but have never seen them on a regular trailer. Are the axles submersible? That’s what perk to the EZ lubes is that it’s easy to push out grease that’s been contaminated with water.
@@stuffyoucando2 I don't know if you're supposed to submerse them but they've been through a few stream crossings with no issues. Im guessing the same seal that keeps oil in would also keep the water out. It was a standard 8 lug wheel bolt pattern on a torsion type axle setup. I think it was 16 foot trailer.
Interesting, I did a little homework and it seems they are pretty good, though the weak link seems to be the cover which is prone to leaks or breaking.
@@stuffyoucando2 ya that is the only problem I had with mine. One got cloudy one got cracked, but that trailer saw a lot of back country miles, it was a super simple fix though. Maybe if a guy could figure out some sort of metal center cap and just pull the wheel from time to time perhaps that would be the way to go.
I’m not sure how far those stick out, but I used to run chrome center caps on my camper, the kind that snap over the lugs and cover the hub. Maybe a set of those would work and just pull them to check oil level occasionally.
great video, i thought i was doing something wrong, cause my first wheel hub took a full tube, sure enough the other 3 did as well. New trailer, only drove it 100 miles. Heard they come from the factory without much grease in em.
Good video - and one thing I have heard is to use a manual grease gun like you used, otherwise the 'powered' ones like at a garage can have too much pressure and blow the inner seal.. Maybe that's just a rumor, but I also just use a manual gun.. Also check with the axle manual re: the correct type of grease. Best wishes...
Im blown away by just how much grease you had to pump in there. I have owned many boat trailers with ez lube axles, and never, ever had to use more than 1/8 of a tube to completely purge out the old grease. The volume in the grease chambers is just not that much. It just blows my mind that you could possible fit more than 1/4 tube in there. You sure its not leaking out the rear seal?
No leaks, the other 3 wheels each took about a half a tube. I think if it was leaking I'd have seen that come out from behind the brakes. I've used the trailer since then and have no issues with my brakes. Here's a link to a how-to instruction on greasing them, and they also say they used about 3/4 tube per wheel. www.fiveina5th.com/how-to-lubricate-dexter-ez-lube-axles/
@@stuffyoucando2 1/4 tube per hub is all it took for me, which is what I have always seen on my boat trailers. If you want to do anal retentive level purging, I can see you using 1/3 tub max.
Regarding how much grease is needed. The original bearings had very little grease, just on the bearings. The first time I greased them using the Ez-lube system, it took a couple tubes (total) to do all 4 wheels. The next time, it was nowhere near as much. Also, as can be seen in this video, it takes a lot of pumping. I have a air power grease gun from Harbor Freight that pumps slow, and I let it cycle (click) 2-3 times, wait 3-5 seconds and keep rotating the wheel and repeat. Never had an issue.
The hub shouldn’t be totally full! New packed bearings only need enough grease for the bearings, that’s all, this isn’t like changing the oil in a car, the old grease is fine. Cars go for 100k miles with just grease in the bearings, no need to explode it with grease!
@@bryanmontgomery4050 Thats kinda what I was thinking! Like this guy is packing SO MUCH GREASE into the hub.. like how much grease is really needed??? I work on aircraft and we only pump in enough grease into bearings for it to come back out the service port (zerg fitting); after that YOU'RE DONE. I get cycling old grease, but if you have sufficient new grease the old will just break down and the new will remain... a lot of pumping and extra waste for what exactly?
Ok this is helpful.... I started this and was like... how much grease do I need to pump in? I haven't done it since I bought it last year, so now I understand... A LOT
Wow, seems quicker and easier to just pull the wheel and repack by hand, and you know it’s actually going where it’s supposed to and not blowing out the seal.
I am in agreement but I am ready to service my bearings for the first time on my new trailer, so I am going to do it the way it was done on this video, which follows the official Dexter video, and see what happens. I think the only thing that makes we want to take the hubs off is I am assured that no grease purged out the inside at the seal, but I am told the seals on these are "double" and generally do not leak unless they are worn. Additionally I think that for trailers with brakes, pulling the hub/drum allows inspection of the brakes.Maybe I will do this every 6 months or so and then pull the drums during my annual "pre-season" maintenance to do a bearing and brake inspection.
Thanks for this video. Having owned boats and trailers for over 40 years, I'd never heard of EZ lube until I bought this last boat...I made some real rookie mistakes! Takes WAY more grease than I thought...and if you don't spin the wheel, you can say good-bye to a rear grease seal...guess how I know that?! My "issue" is I know the caps are on correctly, but one side keeps throwing the cap, leaving the bearing open...any ideas on why? A dealer gave me a solution to keep them on to get to my fishing spot, but it's not a permanent solution...
My guess on the cap might be you could have dented it in a little when you pried it off originally. You could take a look at it and take a pair of pliers flare it ever so slightly so it fits a little tighter and see if that helps. Otherwise put a little bit of silicone around the edge before putting it on and it’ll help keep it in place but still allow you to pry it off next time.
Mine does the same and it pretty sure it was the cotter pin pushing it out, took off the cap and bent the pin to where it wont move at all and all is good
Glad i am not the only one that had lots of grease everywhere lol. I tightened all the wheels less than 1/8th of a turn or so , enough to take the slight side to side movement out. I did mine tonight and i pumped 15 pumps of the grease gun. The grease started to move then. I will do it again to put more new in tomorrow. I believe i did this 2 years ago or last year. I wonder if it makes more sense to me to do it a few pumps every spring and fall. I am using a White Lithium axle grease
I haven’t had any issues with them myself, I also had them on my 29ft travel trailer (it came with them). I’ve since switched to Goodyear Endurance on that though.
Here is the way I am going to do a hybrid method for my EZ lube axle. I have only repacked mine the standard way so far. Have not attempted the EZ Lube way yet. I'm going to do a hybrid version that partly uses both methods....use manual grease gun to pump some grease in while spinning the wheel slowly. Maybe 6 pumps. That should adequately renew the grease in the inner bearing, because the spinning wheel will distribute the grease all around in the inner bearing. Now support the outer nose of the hub with my small rolling jack (not necessary, but that will keep the hub from tipping down on the spindle when the outer bearing is removed), remove the metal dust cap, remove the outer wheel bearing, hand-pack it, re-install the bearing and nut retaining devices, and the cap. This way both bearings get greased, and the whole inner hub cavity does not get filled, and I avoid the more work intensive process of removing the inner bearing. Of course, occasionally pull it all down the standard way for compelete re-pack and inspection. Comments?
I noticed a slight grinding sound when you spun your wheel. Mine made the same sound when I repacked the bearings today, but no wobbles or other behaviors that would indicate trouble. Any idea what that is? Btw, we have 30,000 tow miles on our 2015 Rockwood Roo, including 9,000 plus from Michigan to Alaska and back. I follow the Dexter instructions every spring, and lubed halfway thru our Ak trip. So far, no problems.
Great video for showing how to grease the Dexter EZ axles. But the only thing I'm worried about is blowing out the seal. Some people say that can happen. Now I don't know what to do? Is it possible to blow the grease seal out? I don't want that to happen and have grease all over my brakes. What do you think?
The risk for blowing out the seal comes from doing it while NOT turning the wheel or using a powered/pneumatic grease gun. Do it like the video and you should be fine.
I have two trailers with this setup and I've had them for years. I've never had any issue with a blown seal or anything else. I just spin the wheel while I pump grease until I see new grease and job done. It's a great design and I'm very happy with it.
This is why I love ez lube hubs. Just pump and spin. The old way sucked and most of the time with old hubs I would just pull the old hubs off and just pack new grease into the hub thick and out back on. Truth be told as long as the bearings are not every dry your good. Very rare did I have to re pack bearings using marine grease. I would repack every every other year or so, that’s why I used top notch marine grease even on trailer bearings that don’t go into water.
Is there a name for the correct attachment/hose to connect to the hub. Or do you have a link to recommend which pump/hose you used in the video? Thanks for the helpful video!
I know this is an old video but I tried this and I am concerned. In just a few pumps I started seeing new grease come out. It took very little grease to see it. Is that a sign that something may be wrong?
Great video! Everyone do yourself a favor and buy a Milwaukee battery powered grease gun. Project Farm here on RUclips said they were the best. If you already have some other brand of battery tools they sell adapters to interchange the batteries with any other brand. Grease is a lot cheaper than having a bearing failure on the road.
@@CCWSig You clearly don't know anything about powered grease guns. The Milwaukee battery powered grease gun that I own is adjustable for the amount of grease it puts out and the pressure that it uses to dispense. You can go as slow or as fast as you want. I have two trailers with EZ lube axles and have never had a problem.
if you car ramps you can pull it up and grease 2 wheels at a time.. Pull it forward again and other tandem will be on the ramps and grease the front set. My dust caps.. the lip is very sharp.. Wipe with a paper towel but lightly or get sliced.
So what’s gonna happen the next time. U need to grease your bearings u will probably use the same color grease so how do u know when all the old grease is out and the new is in
Dexter says: 1. Never put your jack on the axle. It goes on the frame according to the RV manufacturer's instructions. 2. Always use a hand-operated grease gun...never electric or pneumatic. I've never used more than 1/4 to 1/3 tube on any hand-packed bearing. I'd be reluctant to use more than that...maybe it's blowing out the rear seal. My current Dexter has globs of grease in it when I remove the cap...not sure I'm going to pump that much grease into this axle.
Used to do this, until a RV mechanic warned me about blowing grease past the seals. It might be a low risk, but such a failure is invisible. So, no thanks, I’ll do it the old way. And before you @ me, look for the videos of the blown out seals. Decide for yourself if it’s worth the risk.
I’ve decided on the risk based on multiple trailers owned and thousands of miles traveled, not what someone else tells me to do. Most of the time when people blow out the seals it’s because they’re using pneumatic grease guns which are more likely to blow the seals. Doing it as shown here minimizes the risk, but you do you. 👍
Sept. 5, 2024 My brake drums always have grease in them with this system. I had other problems with both axles and they gave me new axles and they do the same thing.
I have the greese fitting on my boat trailer axle. I find that a great deal of the greese goes in and just oozes out around the carter key hole. Pretty cheasy.
Probably not necessary quite yet. I bought a new trailer around the same time, and it’ll sit most of the winter, so my plan will be to grease them in the spring before it starts getting used more regularly.
If it's brand new you will want to. Dealerships don't always top them off and if it's new to you from a previous owner do it for sure for peace of mind
@creep life if you take the time (about an hour or two) to grease them now you know they are done and can travel with piece of mind. When I did my trailer for the first time I used 2 whole tubes of Lucas red grease. I think the axles from the factory come with minimal grease so knowing they were full of fresh grease was a lot more comforting. Just my $0.02
“Decree vault logo Cap”, what on earth is that? As shown in this video, the rubber cap is removed with a screwdriver, there was nothing covering that as can be seen for the wheel that is not being worked on in the video. If you have some sort of other center cap on your wheels that also covers the mugs nuts, that’s independent of the EZ lube axles, but can generally be removed by using a flat head screwdriver and prying it off. If you have something other than that, please elaborate on “decree vault logo Cap”. Thanks for watching!
Maybe a dumb question but I'm curious, why do you turn the wheel while you pump? The grease is forced out by the new grease. How necessary is that. I have an 08 trailer and never jacked it up and spun the wheel and have 25k miles on it with no problems. Interested to see if it really matters
That’s the Dexter procedure for lubricating these axles. Yes, the new grease forced out the old, but spinning the wheel helps make it easier and lowers the risk of blowing out one of the seals. I think someone just commented here recently that they didn’t know to spin the wheel and blew out the seal.
I didn’t realize you had to spin the wheel while doing it when I did mine a few weeks ago. Hope it didn’t do anything bad by adding grease without moving wheel
It's a little harder for the grease to get where it needs to go if you don't spin it, and you'll run the risk of pushing out the seals. Spinning the wheel helps the grease flow through the bearings, pushing out the old grease that you can see me cleaning off in the video. Thanks for watching!
I did the same without jacking up the trailer, now I'm seeing grease inside the wheel. I assume I need to disassemble the wheel and repack the bearings. Do you think I need a new seal. I just drove about 500 miles on it with it apparently slightly out of place.
You’ll be lifting a while to get a wheel off the ground, especially on a tandom axle trailer like this with equalizers. No harm in lifting at the axles, especially out far at the ends.
Refer to page 57 of this link: www.dexteraxle.com/user_area/content_media/raw/600-8k_complete_service_manual.pdf when you repack non EZ Lube bearings, do you replace just part of the grease? No, you replace all of it. This is no different. A couple of pumps adds a little bit of new grease to a lot of old grease. This video is done per the Dexter procedure.
Not wanting to be a nay sayer but isn't 12 months/12K miles just a little OCD? The grease coming out certainly looks like it has lubricating properties even if the color is dark. I've got a utility trailer that I purchased in 1995 - that is 36 years - that has never had its bearings greased. I do accept that is vastly overdue and I plan on pulling the hub and taking a look see. Also I have vehicles that have gone years, decades, without greasing the bearings and are doing just fine. So my question is are we wasting product or potentially FUBARing something if the rear gasket lets grease soak the brakes. Just putting out this as a contrarian opinion to start a discussion about the "generally suggested advice"?
I’m merely stating the manufacture recommended interval. It’s really up to you. If never greasing them is what someone chooses that’s fine, but no one should be surprised when a bearing catastrophically fails at some point. As far as “vehicles” it really depends on what is is. Most bearings on cars/trucks these days are sealed and not intended to be periodically greased. Personally I grease trailer bearings once a year. Grease isn’t so expensive that I need to skimp on maintenance.
I have Dexter EZ Lubes on our fifth wheel, and am about to do exactly what you showed in your great video. Question: do you ever recommend actually pulling and repacking wheel bearings even with the EZ Lube set up? Thanks!
It definitely can’t hurt to do that. I’ve heard of people doing it to mitigate the risk of causing a seal failure that is sometimes reported with using too much pressure or not spinning the wheel while greasing these through the fitting. If you’re more comfortable manually packing them, I say go for it. Thanks for watching!
StuffYouCanDo2 If the EZ Lube product works as you’ve shown, I probably will just use it and trust that it is doing its job. I’ve seen nothing in Dexter instructions or manuals that says to use the EZ Lube AND then manually pack the bearings. Surely if that was necessary, the manufacturer would instruct owners to do it, right? Am I thinking correctly? Thanks for the video and for the response to my questions!
not needed the way EZ lube system is designed... www.dexteraxle.com/docs/default-source/dexteraxle/product-documentation/flyers/e-z-lube-(lit-239-00).pdf?sfvrsn=c2e61a48_10
@@rickellis922 "The convenient lubrication provisions of the EZ Lube must not replace periodic inspection of the bearings." - (quoted from the Dexter Axles manual).
any guarantee the bearings actually were greased on the needles as needed? The hubs are full which does nothing! Better to do it right to get a good inspection of bearings and brakes if equipped''
I think the guarantee is that this is how these were designed to be greased. It’s literally how Dexter instructs you to do it. If anyone knows it would be them, rather than someone not familiar with the design.
When this hub gets hot it will blow the seal and soak the brake shoes and drum with grease...I have fixed many of them. Take the hub apart and hand pack once every 12-15 thousand miles.
I put thousands of miles on this trailer with no such issue. The path of least resistance isnt the the seal, it’s out the front near the grease fitting.
@@stuffyoucando2 I own a RV Dealership and have worked on trailers since 1975. I have repaired MANY trailers because someone filled the cavity with grease. You WILL blow the seal, soak your brakes and ruin the drums.
@@GrandviewTrailerSale continue doing what you’re doing and I’ll continue doing what I’m doing. As I’ve said so many times in these comments , I’m doing it exactly as Dexter recommends, and if anyone knows their design and the maintenance requirements it’s Dexter instead of you or me. I’ve had no problems with my trailers following their procedure. Judging by the amount of “use a power grease gun” comments I see, I’m willing to bet that most failures are due to user error using power/pneumatic grease guns and/or not following the procedure. Again, do whatever you want, I definitely don’t have to do what you say. I don’t really care how long you’ve been doing it, I’ll base what I do on my own experience.
Not the whole thing, but it still takes quite a bit. You're supposed to pump the grease in until you're seeing new clean great coming out, that's why it takes so much.
You can find required grease information here on page 53: www.dexteraxle.com/docs/default-source/dexteraxle/product-documentation/sprung-axles/light-duty/service-manuals/light-duty-600-8k-(lit-001-00).pdf?sfvrsn=1edb1548_10
Pull the wheel off. Repack the bearings , fill it with grease. Easier job and better job. The way you are doing it you do not know if you are pouring grease out of the seal.
If it takes an entire tube per wheel, this design is INSANE. I have pulled trailers and worked on them my entire life and have never seen an axle that has to have ALL these grease replaced every year. Couple of pumps until you see grease come out and your done. 40 years of this process with no failures EVER until Dexter came along and i burn through a spindle because of no grease. Design failure for sure....
Refer to page 57 of this link: www.dexteraxle.com/user_area/content_media/raw/600-8k_complete_service_manual.pdf when you repack non EZ Lube bearings, do you replace just part of the grease? No, you replace all of it. This is no different. A couple of pumps adds a little bit of new grease to a lot of old grease. This video is done per the Dexter procedure.
I just pulled up the E-Z Lube instructions and it says every 2000 miles or annually instead of 12000 miles. The instructions also gives a list of approved grease, I do not think the instructions for something of this importance should be " I Believe ".
EZ lube axles were developed for the marine industry in order to push any water out after immersion. They found their way in to the general trailer use by people who incorrectly wish to portray them as an alternative to proper maintenance.
Totally Overkill. Pump until the cap is full and move on. The grease is not going to go bad as much as it just gets pushed out of the places it needs to be.
Trailer bearings are a scam. Why can't they use sealed ones like new cars have that can go 200k miles without any service? I know trailers don't get used all the time, but some full timers do use them alot.
Cost and practicality, it doesn’t make sense to use bearings that last 200k miles on a trailer that will never even come close to that. Also, the EZ lube bearings make it easy to flush water out in marine applications as opposed to having to disassemble the bearings. I don’t think trailer bearings are a scam, how many have you actually had to replace? I recently had to replace a sealed wheel bearing on one of our vehicles at 60k miles.
@stuffyoucando2 but there would be absolutely no cost difference to the manufacturer of the trailer. It's just a scam. Like the new garbage diesel engines. The ones in the late 90s went 500k miles, so Ford changed it to garbage rods, turbos, heads, ect.. so they could make money after warranty ran out. We are all being played to take every dime possible from us. Fact.
I would never do this ..........if you take the wheel hub off you will see that when you pump grease in it only greased the inner bearing.........you need to fill the hub to get grease out to the outer bearing ........you're gonna have greasy brakes ..........this may be ok for boat trailers but never do it to your RV ..........your life may depend on it ...........ALWAYS HAND PACK 👍👍👍👍
@@stuffyoucando2I really don’t care …… I want to inspect those bearings every year by myself so I know what I’m pulling down the road……… you can gamble if you want to do good luck with that 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
@@charlesmiller8672 2 months to reply and that’s what you come up with? Of course you assume that because I grease them per the FACTORY procedure that they otherwise must never be inspected, but you’d be wrong. I still have the trailer in this video, which is now 10 years old and still gets used regularly. Just in the last two weeks alone it’s had nearly a thousand miles put on it. Here we are, all these years and miles later and this trailer has never needed a bearing or seal replacement yet. What a gamble this must be huh? So if you consider following factory procedures a gamble, and want to assume that people who do that do nothing else to maintain equipment, well, we all know how the saying goes about assuming…
Think its easer to pull hub and repack by hand 🤣. But i do like knowing i have dexter axles. OTR 48 years nice to check heat on hubs when you stop…. Few pumps if grease nice if one is running warm. Not good to mix grease…. Good video tho…
This IS NOT how to do it! You will blow out the rear seal and coat your break assembly with grease! If there is no movement in tire. A couple Pumps AT MOST! If there is some movement in the tire, REPACK!! 2:08
Four or five pumps!!! You have no room for expansion and will blow out the seal!! Pump WARM grease very very slow or you will also push out the seal!! After a few years of this and you start pushing old grease out, it’s time to remove, clean, inspect, repack and install new seals. Please, please do NOT follow this guy’s instructions!!!!!!!!!!!!
I know it sounds crazy but I have even spoken with the Dexter reps about it. I do trailer repairs and see the seal issues all the time, at least pump warm grease very slowly and wipe out as much as possible to create some extra space in the hub assembly.
@@bryanmontgomery4050 and I’m sure Dexter will listen to you over their engineers. I’m not sure what you think you’re watching, but a hand grease gun does not pump in a large volume of grease with each pump, and you can clearly see me cleaning the grease out as it’s coming out. I’ve owned multiple trailers with these axles and have never had an issue. Many people who do have issues do because of using powered grease guns, which Dexter advises against. There is nothing wrong with doing it as pictured in the video.
They work great if you get the 2 speed Milwaukee......never a problem on low. Can also set for 1-2-3 pumps per trigger pull or on all the time. But spinning the wheel and warm grease really helps a bunch. Do this as dexter says 2 times than i pull it apart. Guys blowing seals out havent done and maintenance in a long time.👍👍👍
Dexterity ezlube axels are a ripoff no matter how slowly or how easy you pump in the grease some always bypasses the axle seal and contaminants the magnet and or brake shoes. Be prepared to preform a brake job.
@@craigrandle9033 I’ve had no issues. Most problems I hear of are a lack of performing the procedure properly. If Dexter is guilty of anything, it’s not taking into consideration that people don’t follow directions. Personally, multiple trailers and thousands of miles has proven to be that the design is perfectly fine.
Install some buddy bearings. Two pumps every six months each axle. If there's grease on the wheel rim you got too much grease in the hub! Back off the greasing...
What? Buddy bearings are the absolute worst thing you can put on a trailer axle. The dexter ez lube axles are far superior and are made specifically to address the “so-called” fix of buddy bearings by not having to repack your bearings manually. A simple google search would enlighten you much.
He pumped way too much grease into that wheel bearing, also you should never jack on the axle itself you can bend the tube These are the kind of people that should not be on RUclips.
And you’re the kind of person who doesn’t follow instructions. This is literally the manufacturer procedure, you have no idea what you’re talking about.
Oh, and I know you know everything and all, but where I’m jacking the axle up from is at the spring which bolts to it. Notice how far outboard the jack is. There is nothing wrong with jacking from this point, which would be putting weight on the axle at the same point as when it’s loaded. Again, you don’t know what you’re talking about. People like you shouldn’t be running your mouths if you don’t know the facts.
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This is great! You should ALWAYS spin the wheel as the new grease is being pumped in!
We refer to this as: Dynamic -vs- Static!
If you DO NOT spin the wheel, the new grease will take the path of least resistance, of which will be between the rollers, allowing much of the old grease to be left behind!
Ultimately, we shoot for a complete exchange of "Old" grease for "New" grease..... and by spinning the wheel, we get as close to that as we can!
Note how he continues until he no longer sees the old discolored grease exiting!
Ive done this exactly like you show for years, no issues 8000km trips every year, yes lots of old grease comes out!! Have lots of paper towels on hand and lots of time on your hands
Yeah, these axles are great. They're so easy to maintain and zero problems. I use a plastic one inch putty knife to scrape the old grease as it comes out while the wheel is spinning - works a charm.
I’m doing a complete brake assembly job on my trailer and saw ex lube on my dust boot… typed in you showed up thanks for sharing!
Thanks for watching!
These axles are great. I have two trailers that have them. Once a year or so I just pump the new grease in and the old comes out. I scrape the old grease off with a small plastic putty knife as I spin the wheel. I've never had any issues with this setup and I am very satisfied with them.
You weren't kidding. It does take a while!
Thank-you for the video. I've been doing it wrong for years. I think the only way I can do this without getting covered with grease is to have my son do it.
I saw one guy fitting in a toilet paper roll to catch the old grease. Great idea. He forgot to spin the wheel and totally fouled up the job. But the toilet paper roll was smart.
Why not take the entire grease cap off, not just the rubber cap and let the old grease fall out into a container or paper towel?
@@gtileo
That would require taking the wheel off. Then the ez, in ez lube axles isn't that easy. This it what is designed to do without removing the wheel.
@@creepyzeek1 that I know but there's just a cap on the hub that can be removed exposing the castle but and the rest of the spindle
Thank you very much, this saved me a lot of money, great job!!!
Thanks. Great video. I recently lubed the bearings using the EZ-Lube system, rotating the tire as I used a manual grease gun. About 350 miles later, I noticed that grease was leaking out one of the four hubs, which I'll be fixing in a few days here. It's possible that the leak was there before I EZ-lubed the bearings (I'm embarrassed to say that I only recently learned the importance of getting under the rig regular to inspect welds, leaks, etc), but just the same, I won't be using the EZ-lube system again.
Where exactly was this leak?
@@stuffyoucando2 I'm seeing new grease at the two small holes at the bottom of the brake assembly (the holes on the back for adjusting the brakes), and old grease coming out between the brake assembly and the drum. I also noticed the truck being pushed very slightly to the left when braking. Only happened once, but I still need to inspect the brakes to see if they were contaminated.
@@Bobrnccrn yes, sounds like they were.
I don't know why everyone is giving you a hard time ? You did it by the book . I think a lot of people don't understand this system .
It seems like those who disagree think they know more than the company who designed it.
This is how I did my tandem axle travel trailer a few years back. I used 2 tubes of grease to fill and purge the cavities of old grease. Once the hub is full it takes a lot less grease the next time. I just did mine last week before our 500 mile trip and used less than a whole tube to do all 4 wheels.
Just my $0.02
Great tutorial, let the haters hate. You've accomplished this task in accordance to manufacturer instructions. Rock on brother! 👍👍
Thanks!
Came across your tutorial as i have dexter axles on my travel trailer. Cross referenced with dexter & you did it by the book. Let these haters project their (lack of) intelligence, their obviously too stubborn or ignorant to realize you're doing it correctly.
I have dexter tandems and single brake on a 20’. From factory one axle had descent grease level and one had very small amount. I always use Lucas red.
I use the Lucas too, it seems to be working well for me. I just picked up another trailer, also with tandem Dexter axles and will be using the same on it too.
Nice video this really helps me out, just got a dual axel pj trailer and I’m figuring all this out.
Glad it helps, thanks for watching!
I just lubed the bearings on our fifth wheel for the first time, using the Dexter EZLube procedure. When I removed the rubber cap, the inside was totally clean and dry. It did seem to take a lot of grease, nearly an entire tube on the first one, and almost that much on the others. Hope it works as it was designed to, and I don’t regret not hand-packing. I will say that I couldn’t get the inside of the hub as “clean” as it was before so hope it was ok to leave some traces of grease behind the rubber dust seal. Thanks for the good video instruction.
It sounds like yours really needed greased! Thanks for watching!
StuffYouCanDo2 I guess it did. The rig is only 9 months old, and this is the first time I’ve checked them/greased them. I’ve read some documents on Dexter’s website and sounds like they really have tested this to be sure it wouldn’t cause issues and also do a good job getting the bearings packed well. Will keep an eye on mine now that I’ve got the first time behind me. Thanks again for the video!
This is not the way to do it, your going to be that guy on the side of the freeway with bad bearings. This is like letting a blind man do your bearings, do you know if it has enough grease, is the real seal blow, are the bearings worn. Its so easy to do it the right way and not the lazy way and guess. Good luck
for @@sundancer3700
Please reconsider your statement.
I'm 78, can not get on the ground nor handle wheels very well. I am not lazy for if I told you the things I did, you would probably not believe. Do you know for a fact the E-Z way is not effective? I don't know but I think the big majority of bearings rolling down the road needed greased years earlier. ave a good day. tim durham sr. the bee man
@@sundancer3700 OK Fester we all know you know ,more than Dexter , how to lube their axles . lol
I tried this method exactly as shown. Spun the wheels while pumping grease. All 4 inner seals blew out. Ended up replacing all brake assemblys, bearings etc. Will repack the correct way from now on.
Sounds to me like your seals were all already on their way out. How old were they?
Did all this. Sadly, after about 15 pumps and old goo squirting out as it should, the frickin Princess Auto gun just stopped working. Tried everything, it just stopped, and the nipple would remained jammed on the wheel insert point. Just my luck. Cheap gun on special. Gonna return it. Your simply explained video was very helpful to get me doing this. Thanks for helping us out here.
Thanks for watching, and sorry about your bad luck with the grease gun!
Best axles I ever had used oil in the wheel bearings. By far my favorite setup so far. Had to replace the sight glass on one of them that probably got damaged in the mountains somewhere but they seemed to be a pretty good design. Can't remember the brand of axles but they were on Titan stock trailer.
I’ve heard of them on semis before, but have never seen them on a regular trailer. Are the axles submersible? That’s what perk to the EZ lubes is that it’s easy to push out grease that’s been contaminated with water.
@@stuffyoucando2 I don't know if you're supposed to submerse them but they've been through a few stream crossings with no issues. Im guessing the same seal that keeps oil in would also keep the water out. It was a standard 8 lug wheel bolt pattern on a torsion type axle setup. I think it was 16 foot trailer.
Interesting, I did a little homework and it seems they are pretty good, though the weak link seems to be the cover which is prone to leaks or breaking.
@@stuffyoucando2 ya that is the only problem I had with mine. One got cloudy one got cracked, but that trailer saw a lot of back country miles, it was a super simple fix though. Maybe if a guy could figure out some sort of metal center cap and just pull the wheel from time to time perhaps that would be the way to go.
I’m not sure how far those stick out, but I used to run chrome center caps on my camper, the kind that snap over the lugs and cover the hub. Maybe a set of those would work and just pull them to check oil level occasionally.
great video, i thought i was doing something wrong, cause my first wheel hub took a full tube, sure enough the other 3 did as well. New trailer, only drove it 100 miles. Heard they come from the factory without much grease in em.
Thanks, yes I’ve heard the same thing about there not being much grease in them when new.
Good video - and one thing I have heard is to use a manual grease gun like you used, otherwise the 'powered' ones like at a garage can have too much pressure and blow the inner seal.. Maybe that's just a rumor, but I also just use a manual gun.. Also check with the axle manual re: the correct type of grease. Best wishes...
Thanks for watching, and I agree on the manual grease gun.
Im blown away by just how much grease you had to pump in there. I have owned many boat trailers with ez lube axles, and never, ever had to use more than 1/8 of a tube to completely purge out the old grease. The volume in the grease chambers is just not that much. It just blows my mind that you could possible fit more than 1/4 tube in there. You sure its not leaking out the rear seal?
No leaks, the other 3 wheels each took about a half a tube. I think if it was leaking I'd have seen that come out from behind the brakes. I've used the trailer since then and have no issues with my brakes. Here's a link to a how-to instruction on greasing them, and they also say they used about 3/4 tube per wheel. www.fiveina5th.com/how-to-lubricate-dexter-ez-lube-axles/
@@stuffyoucando2 Im getting ready to do this on my new trailer trailer in a couple days. I bought several extra tubes just in case. I will post back.
Good luck!
@@stuffyoucando2 1/4 tube per hub is all it took for me, which is what I have always seen on my boat trailers. If you want to do anal retentive level purging, I can see you using 1/3 tub max.
@Roger Baker I know it's old post, but did you spin your wheels while pumping, and only use manual grease gun with slow application?
Regarding how much grease is needed. The original bearings had very little grease, just on the bearings. The first time I greased them using the Ez-lube system, it took a couple tubes (total) to do all 4 wheels. The next time, it was nowhere near as much. Also, as can be seen in this video, it takes a lot of pumping. I have a air power grease gun from Harbor Freight that pumps slow, and I let it cycle (click) 2-3 times, wait 3-5 seconds and keep rotating the wheel and repeat. Never had an issue.
The hub shouldn’t be totally full! New packed bearings only need enough grease for the bearings, that’s all, this isn’t like changing the oil in a car, the old grease is fine. Cars go for 100k miles with just grease in the bearings, no need to explode it with grease!
@@bryanmontgomery4050 Thats kinda what I was thinking! Like this guy is packing SO MUCH GREASE into the hub.. like how much grease is really needed??? I work on aircraft and we only pump in enough grease into bearings for it to come back out the service port (zerg fitting); after that YOU'RE DONE. I get cycling old grease, but if you have sufficient new grease the old will just break down and the new will remain... a lot of pumping and extra waste for what exactly?
Ok this is helpful.... I started this and was like... how much grease do I need to pump in? I haven't done it since I bought it last year, so now I understand... A LOT
Wow, seems quicker and easier to just pull the wheel and repack by hand, and you know it’s actually going where it’s supposed to and not blowing out the seal.
I am in agreement but I am ready to service my bearings for the first time on my new trailer, so I am going to do it the way it was done on this video, which follows the official Dexter video, and see what happens. I think the only thing that makes we want to take the hubs off is I am assured that no grease purged out the inside at the seal, but I am told the seals on these are "double" and generally do not leak unless they are worn. Additionally I think that for trailers with brakes, pulling the hub/drum allows inspection of the brakes.Maybe I will do this every 6 months or so and then pull the drums during my annual "pre-season" maintenance to do a bearing and brake inspection.
Thanks for this video.
Having owned boats and trailers for over 40 years, I'd never heard of EZ lube until I bought this last boat...I made some real rookie mistakes! Takes WAY more grease than I thought...and if you don't spin the wheel, you can say good-bye to a rear grease seal...guess how I know that?! My "issue" is I know the caps are on correctly, but one side keeps throwing the cap, leaving the bearing open...any ideas on why? A dealer gave me a solution to keep them on to get to my fishing spot, but it's not a permanent solution...
My guess on the cap might be you could have dented it in a little when you pried it off originally. You could take a look at it and take a pair of pliers flare it ever so slightly so it fits a little tighter and see if that helps. Otherwise put a little bit of silicone around the edge before putting it on and it’ll help keep it in place but still allow you to pry it off next time.
Mine does the same and it pretty sure it was the cotter pin pushing it out, took off the cap and bent the pin to where it wont move at all and all is good
All you so called mechanics obviously don't understand how the Dexter system works. He is doing it how Dexter recommended
😊😊
nice video. Amen to that SHARP edge!!! Keep fingers OUT
Glad i am not the only one that had lots of grease everywhere lol.
I tightened all the wheels less than 1/8th of a turn or so , enough to take the slight side to side movement out.
I did mine tonight and i pumped 15 pumps of the grease gun. The grease started to move then. I will do it again to put more new in tomorrow.
I believe i did this 2 years ago or last year. I wonder if it makes more sense to me to do it a few pumps every spring and fall.
I am using a White Lithium axle grease
Great video. Thanks for the information.
Thanks for watching!
Trailer King Tires are freaking awesome!!! That's all i use anymore and they are priced great.
I haven’t had any issues with them myself, I also had them on my 29ft travel trailer (it came with them). I’ve since switched to Goodyear Endurance on that though.
China tires?
Just about every trailer tire there is is made in China. The Goodyear Endurance is I believe the only US made trailer tire out there.
@@stuffyoucando2 carlisle
Here is the way I am going to do a hybrid method for my EZ lube axle. I have only repacked mine the standard way so far. Have not attempted the EZ Lube way yet.
I'm going to do a hybrid version that partly uses both methods....use manual grease gun to pump some grease in while spinning the wheel slowly. Maybe 6 pumps. That should adequately renew the grease in the inner bearing, because the spinning wheel will distribute the grease all around in the inner bearing. Now support the outer nose of the hub with my small rolling jack (not necessary, but that will keep the hub from tipping down on the spindle when the outer bearing is removed), remove the metal dust cap, remove the outer wheel bearing, hand-pack it, re-install the bearing and nut retaining devices, and the cap. This way both bearings get greased, and the whole inner hub cavity does not get filled, and I avoid the more work intensive process of removing the inner bearing. Of course, occasionally pull it all down the standard way for compelete re-pack and inspection.
Comments?
Looks like an electric grease gun would come in handy for this application. Great video!
Blows out the seals!!!
I noticed a slight grinding sound when you spun your wheel. Mine made the same sound when I repacked the bearings today, but no wobbles or other behaviors that would indicate trouble. Any idea what that is? Btw, we have 30,000 tow miles on our 2015 Rockwood Roo, including 9,000 plus from Michigan to Alaska and back. I follow the Dexter instructions every spring, and lubed halfway thru our Ak trip. So far, no problems.
If you have brakes on the axle, I would suspect that’s just a slight drag from the brakes which is normal. My trailer has brakes on all 4 wheels.
@@stuffyoucando2 I was told an 1/8" wobble is normal
Great video for showing how to grease the Dexter EZ axles. But the only thing I'm worried about is blowing out the seal. Some people say that can happen. Now I don't know what to do? Is it possible to blow the grease seal out? I don't want that to happen and have grease all over my brakes. What do you think?
The risk for blowing out the seal comes from doing it while NOT turning the wheel or using a powered/pneumatic grease gun. Do it like the video and you should be fine.
I have two trailers with this setup and I've had them for years. I've never had any issue with a blown seal or anything else. I just spin the wheel while I pump grease until I see new grease and job done. It's a great design and I'm very happy with it.
@@razorsharpbt7666 I finally did mine and no problems. I took my time and it worked.
@@garyp9906 Nice!
This is why I love ez lube hubs. Just pump and spin. The old way sucked and most of the time with old hubs I would just pull the old hubs off and just pack new grease into the hub thick and out back on. Truth be told as long as the bearings are not every dry your good. Very rare did I have to re pack bearings using marine grease. I would repack every every other year or so, that’s why I used top notch marine grease even on trailer bearings that don’t go into water.
Is there a name for the correct attachment/hose to connect to the hub. Or do you have a link to recommend which pump/hose you used in the video?
Thanks for the helpful video!
Thanks! The grease gun I’m using in this video is part number W54204 sold at Advance Auto Parts, but any similar grease gun would work.
I know this is an old video but I tried this and I am concerned. In just a few pumps I started seeing new grease come out. It took very little grease to see it. Is that a sign that something may be wrong?
Are you sure it’s new grease? What is telling you that it’s new?
Great video! Everyone do yourself a favor and buy a Milwaukee battery powered grease gun. Project Farm here on RUclips said they were the best. If you already have some other brand of battery tools they sell adapters to interchange the batteries with any other brand. Grease is a lot cheaper than having a bearing failure on the road.
Thanks!
Don't use a powered grease gun on ez lube axels. They put out to much grease to fast and with too much force you can blow the rear seal out.
@@CCWSig You clearly don't know anything about powered grease guns. The Milwaukee battery powered grease gun that I own is adjustable for the amount of grease it puts out and the pressure that it uses to dispense. You can go as slow or as fast as you want. I have two trailers with EZ lube axles and have never had a problem.
if you car ramps you can pull it up and grease 2 wheels at a time.. Pull it forward again and other tandem will be on the ramps and grease the front set. My dust caps.. the lip is very sharp.. Wipe with a paper towel but lightly or get sliced.
This is were my Dewalt battery pump shines
That is what I am going to try. Any advice?
Bad to use can blow out the back seal
I agree with @Lamb Talk, I wouldn't recommend using a powered pump as it increases the change you'll blow out a seal.
Dexter cautions not to use a pneumatic or power grease gun. These types of grease guns will blow out you rear seals.
So what’s gonna happen the next time. U need to grease your bearings u will probably use the same color grease so how do u know when all the old grease is out and the new is in
Used grease will likely be a little darker than new. You’ll be able to tell the difference.
Dexter says:
1. Never put your jack on the axle. It goes on the frame according to the RV manufacturer's instructions.
2. Always use a hand-operated grease gun...never electric or pneumatic.
I've never used more than 1/4 to 1/3 tube on any hand-packed bearing. I'd be reluctant to use more than that...maybe it's blowing out the rear seal. My current Dexter has globs of grease in it when I remove the cap...not sure I'm going to pump that much grease into this axle.
Used to do this, until a RV mechanic warned me about blowing grease past the seals. It might be a low risk, but such a failure is invisible. So, no thanks, I’ll do it the old way.
And before you @ me, look for the videos of the blown out seals. Decide for yourself if it’s worth the risk.
I’ve decided on the risk based on multiple trailers owned and thousands of miles traveled, not what someone else tells me to do. Most of the time when people blow out the seals it’s because they’re using pneumatic grease guns which are more likely to blow the seals. Doing it as shown here minimizes the risk, but you do you. 👍
Sept. 5, 2024
My brake drums always have grease in them with this system. I had other problems with both axles and they gave me new axles and they do the same thing.
Can you pick up both wheels of the axle that you are working on? Or must be just one side up at a time?
You could if you had multiple jacks or jack stands, there’s not really any benefit unless you have more than one person greasing bearings.
@@stuffyoucando2 thankyou
No problem
I have the greese fitting on my boat trailer axle. I find that a great deal of the greese goes in and just oozes out around the carter key hole. Pretty cheasy.
One recommendation I read is always use warm grease. Do it on a warm day and lay grease in the sun etc
@@mrmotofy makes good sense but the greese in the hub is at room temperature.
I bought my trailer in September, must've put I'd say 1000 miles on it. Do I even need to grease it?
Probably not necessary quite yet. I bought a new trailer around the same time, and it’ll sit most of the winter, so my plan will be to grease them in the spring before it starts getting used more regularly.
If it's brand new you will want to. Dealerships don't always top them off and if it's new to you from a previous owner do it for sure for peace of mind
@creep life if you take the time (about an hour or two) to grease them now you know they are done and can travel with piece of mind. When I did my trailer for the first time I used 2 whole tubes of Lucas red grease. I think the axles from the factory come with minimal grease so knowing they were full of fresh grease was a lot more comforting.
Just my $0.02
Are Dexter EZ Lube hubs essentially the same as Super Lube hubs?
Very similar, different manufacturers. I believe they are made by Lippert and their procedure is very similar to the Dexter procedure shown here.
@@stuffyoucando2 thanks very much for the reply!
@@KeithTasker no problem!
I can't believe you can put an entire tube of grease in one wheel. I'd love to pull the drum and see how much grease in inside.
None…
There’s a step to remove the decree vault logo
Cap to get to the rubber plug. How do we do that?
“Decree vault logo Cap”, what on earth is that? As shown in this video, the rubber cap is removed with a screwdriver, there was nothing covering that as can be seen for the wheel that is not being worked on in the video. If you have some sort of other center cap on your wheels that also covers the mugs nuts, that’s independent of the EZ lube axles, but can generally be removed by using a flat head screwdriver and prying it off. If you have something other than that, please elaborate on “decree vault logo Cap”. Thanks for watching!
Maybe a dumb question but I'm curious, why do you turn the wheel while you pump? The grease is forced out by the new grease. How necessary is that. I have an 08 trailer and never jacked it up and spun the wheel and have 25k miles on it with no problems. Interested to see if it really matters
That’s the Dexter procedure for lubricating these axles. Yes, the new grease forced out the old, but spinning the wheel helps make it easier and lowers the risk of blowing out one of the seals. I think someone just commented here recently that they didn’t know to spin the wheel and blew out the seal.
Got you and makes sense, appreciate the very quick response!
Darrell Thompson thanks for watching!
Very good
did it blow out your rear seal?
I’ve had no issues…
I didn’t realize you had to spin the wheel while doing it when I did mine a few weeks ago. Hope it didn’t do anything bad by adding grease without moving wheel
It's a little harder for the grease to get where it needs to go if you don't spin it, and you'll run the risk of pushing out the seals. Spinning the wheel helps the grease flow through the bearings, pushing out the old grease that you can see me cleaning off in the video. Thanks for watching!
I did the same without jacking up the trailer, now I'm seeing grease inside the wheel. I assume I need to disassemble the wheel and repack the bearings. Do you think I need a new seal. I just drove about 500 miles on it with it apparently slightly out of place.
Larry Leuchtmann I would replace the seals if you’re going to get in there.
@@stuffyoucando2 how can you tell if the seals are pushed out?
@@nemloc Grease will sling out everywhere.
I was always told to lift the trailer with a jack from the frame and not the axles.
You’ll be lifting a while to get a wheel off the ground, especially on a tandom axle trailer like this with equalizers. No harm in lifting at the axles, especially out far at the ends.
I never pump that much grease in, I pump until the old grease starts to come out and then I stop.
I did it without spinning the wheel and looked like all the old grease came out ll around it
Doing it without spinning the wheel is asking for trouble, you’ll blow out the seals and end up with grease on your brakes.
sunray rims are hugely popular
Pretty sure the wheels on this trailer are Dexstar wheels.
@@stuffyoucando2 yeah right
dexstarwheel.com/products/spoke/
I really don't think replacing the old grease is necessary. What alot if work ! Just give it a few pumps now and then and you'll be fine.
Refer to page 57 of this link: www.dexteraxle.com/user_area/content_media/raw/600-8k_complete_service_manual.pdf when you repack non EZ Lube bearings, do you replace just part of the grease? No, you replace all of it. This is no different. A couple of pumps adds a little bit of new grease to a lot of old grease. This video is done per the Dexter procedure.
Great video, thanks
Thanks for watching!
Not wanting to be a nay sayer but isn't 12 months/12K miles just a little OCD?
The grease coming out certainly looks like it has lubricating properties even if the color is dark.
I've got a utility trailer that I purchased in 1995 - that is 36 years - that has never had its bearings greased.
I do accept that is vastly overdue and I plan on pulling the hub and taking a look see.
Also I have vehicles that have gone years, decades, without greasing the bearings and are doing just fine.
So my question is are we wasting product or potentially FUBARing something if the rear gasket lets grease soak the brakes.
Just putting out this as a contrarian opinion to start a discussion about the "generally suggested advice"?
I’m merely stating the manufacture recommended interval. It’s really up to you. If never greasing them is what someone chooses that’s fine, but no one should be surprised when a bearing catastrophically fails at some point. As far as “vehicles” it really depends on what is is. Most bearings on cars/trucks these days are sealed and not intended to be periodically greased. Personally I grease trailer bearings once a year. Grease isn’t so expensive that I need to skimp on maintenance.
Holy shit capt neglect.
Because I've successfully neglected my bearings, y'all should too... hahahaha
I have Dexter EZ Lubes on our fifth wheel, and am about to do exactly what you showed in your great video. Question: do you ever recommend actually pulling and repacking wheel bearings even with the EZ Lube set up? Thanks!
It definitely can’t hurt to do that. I’ve heard of people doing it to mitigate the risk of causing a seal failure that is sometimes reported with using too much pressure or not spinning the wheel while greasing these through the fitting. If you’re more comfortable manually packing them, I say go for it. Thanks for watching!
StuffYouCanDo2 If the EZ Lube product works as you’ve shown, I probably will just use it and trust that it is doing its job. I’ve seen nothing in Dexter instructions or manuals that says to use the EZ Lube AND then manually pack the bearings. Surely if that was necessary, the manufacturer would instruct owners to do it, right? Am I thinking correctly? Thanks for the video and for the response to my questions!
not needed the way EZ lube system is designed... www.dexteraxle.com/docs/default-source/dexteraxle/product-documentation/flyers/e-z-lube-(lit-239-00).pdf?sfvrsn=c2e61a48_10
@@rickellis922 "The convenient lubrication provisions of the EZ Lube must not replace periodic inspection of the bearings." - (quoted from the Dexter Axles manual).
any guarantee the bearings actually were greased on the needles as needed? The hubs are full which does nothing! Better to do it right to get a good inspection of bearings and brakes if equipped''
I think the guarantee is that this is how these were designed to be greased. It’s literally how Dexter instructs you to do it. If anyone knows it would be them, rather than someone not familiar with the design.
Thank you
that isn't moly grease is it?
No, it isn’t.
When this hub gets hot it will blow the seal and soak the brake shoes and drum with grease...I have fixed many of them. Take the hub apart and hand pack once every 12-15 thousand miles.
I put thousands of miles on this trailer with no such issue. The path of least resistance isnt the the seal, it’s out the front near the grease fitting.
Listen to this man he knows what he is talking about!!!! If your pumping in a tube of grease, you just greased your brake shoes!!
@@stuffyoucando2 I own a RV Dealership and have worked on trailers since 1975. I have repaired MANY trailers because someone filled the cavity with grease. You WILL blow the seal, soak your brakes and ruin the drums.
@@GrandviewTrailerSale continue doing what you’re doing and I’ll continue doing what I’m doing. As I’ve said so many times in these comments , I’m doing it exactly as Dexter recommends, and if anyone knows their design and the maintenance requirements it’s Dexter instead of you or me. I’ve had no problems with my trailers following their procedure. Judging by the amount of “use a power grease gun” comments I see, I’m willing to bet that most failures are due to user error using power/pneumatic grease guns and/or not following the procedure. Again, do whatever you want, I definitely don’t have to do what you say. I don’t really care how long you’ve been doing it, I’ll base what I do on my own experience.
@@stuffyoucando2 Welp, when you are replacing everything due to the seal blowing, I told you so
Doing the pumping and spinning is the hard part. need a spinner helper
When you spin that wheel it doesn't sound right to me. I would inspect those bearings.
The bearings are fine. You are likely hearing the slight drag of the brakes. This trailer has brakes on all four wheels.
@@stuffyoucando2 I think we are hearing you pumping the grease gun. Thank you for this video.
How many miles should you service grease the hub bearings?
As stated in the video 12 months or 12 thousand miles whichever comes first.
@@stuffyoucando2 At work can't hear the audio just watching the demo. Thanks!
Good Lord- seems like he pumped a whole cartridge of grease into that axle!!! Right hand must be sore!
Not the whole thing, but it still takes quite a bit. You're supposed to pump the grease in until you're seeing new clean great coming out, that's why it takes so much.
Which grease do you use?
You can find required grease information here on page 53: www.dexteraxle.com/docs/default-source/dexteraxle/product-documentation/sprung-axles/light-duty/service-manuals/light-duty-600-8k-(lit-001-00).pdf?sfvrsn=1edb1548_10
for @@stuffyoucando2
That link been removed
@@WallsBeeMan try this one: www.lancecamper.com/docs/manuals/Dexter-axles.pdf
Pull the wheel off. Repack the bearings , fill it with grease. Easier job and better job. The way you are doing it you do not know if you are pouring grease out of the seal.
The way it’s done here is how it’s recommended by the manufacturer…done correctly there are no issues with seals.
If it takes an entire tube per wheel, this design is INSANE. I have pulled trailers and worked on them my entire life and have never seen an axle that has to have ALL these grease replaced every year. Couple of pumps until you see grease come out and your done.
40 years of this process with no failures EVER until Dexter came along and i burn through a spindle because of no grease.
Design failure for sure....
That’s way too much work, I just remove everything including the outer seal and remove the grease and repack. This way I can inspect the brakes too.
I’m not sure how disassembling everything is less work than pumping grease in through a zerk fitting but if that’s what you prefer, go for it.
Why are you wasting all that grease ? Your practically flushing it. All it needs is a couple of pump until you see grease coming from the bearing
Refer to page 57 of this link: www.dexteraxle.com/user_area/content_media/raw/600-8k_complete_service_manual.pdf when you repack non EZ Lube bearings, do you replace just part of the grease? No, you replace all of it. This is no different. A couple of pumps adds a little bit of new grease to a lot of old grease. This video is done per the Dexter procedure.
Ps dont put your finger in the lip area its sharp!!!
I just pulled up the E-Z Lube instructions and it says every 2000 miles or annually instead of 12000 miles. The instructions also gives a list of approved grease, I do not think the instructions for something of this importance should be " I Believe ".
My manual clearly states 12 months or 12,000 miles. Dexter operation maintenance and service manual for 600-8000lb axles.
EZ lube axles were developed for the marine industry in order to push any water out after immersion. They found their way in to the general trailer use by people who incorrectly wish to portray them as an alternative to proper maintenance.
Totally Overkill. Pump until the cap is full and move on. The grease is not going to go bad as much as it just gets pushed out of the places it needs to be.
It might be overkill, but it’s Dexter’s procedure on how to do it.
Trailer bearings are a scam. Why can't they use sealed ones like new cars have that can go 200k miles without any service? I know trailers don't get used all the time, but some full timers do use them alot.
Cost and practicality, it doesn’t make sense to use bearings that last 200k miles on a trailer that will never even come close to that. Also, the EZ lube bearings make it easy to flush water out in marine applications as opposed to having to disassemble the bearings. I don’t think trailer bearings are a scam, how many have you actually had to replace? I recently had to replace a sealed wheel bearing on one of our vehicles at 60k miles.
@stuffyoucando2 but there would be absolutely no cost difference to the manufacturer of the trailer. It's just a scam. Like the new garbage diesel engines. The ones in the late 90s went 500k miles, so Ford changed it to garbage rods, turbos, heads, ect.. so they could make money after warranty ran out. We are all being played to take every dime possible from us. Fact.
You’re entitled to your opinion, but I’m not sure what facts you’re basing it on. Have a good day.
How about just cleaning and repacking the bearings at this point 😳grease would be coming out of the back also ?? No ??
Why would grease come out if the back, that’s not going to happen unless the seals leak. This is the procedure recommended by Dexter.
Used my finger and yes can confirm it is sharp lol
Ouch, should have believed me and learned from my own mistake! Hopefully the rest of the video was helpful.
@@stuffyoucando2 Saw this videp AFTER I cut myself...lol...Nice video
@@cbgbsteve ouch, live and learn right? Thanks for watching!
I would never do this ..........if you take the wheel hub off you will see that when you pump grease in it only greased the inner bearing.........you need to fill the hub to get grease out to the outer bearing ........you're gonna have greasy brakes ..........this may be ok for boat trailers but never do it to your RV ..........your life may depend on it ...........ALWAYS HAND PACK 👍👍👍👍
This is the manufacturer procedure, I’m betting they know more about their bearing design than you do.
Right from Dexter: ruclips.net/video/XT0RKDGgDm8/видео.htmlsi=h8U6VNFDE1YG5Z_3
@@stuffyoucando2I really don’t care …… I want to inspect those bearings every year by myself so I know what I’m pulling down the road……… you can gamble if you want to do good luck with that 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
@@charlesmiller8672 2 months to reply and that’s what you come up with? Of course you assume that because I grease them per the FACTORY procedure that they otherwise must never be inspected, but you’d be wrong. I still have the trailer in this video, which is now 10 years old and still gets used regularly. Just in the last two weeks alone it’s had nearly a thousand miles put on it. Here we are, all these years and miles later and this trailer has never needed a bearing or seal replacement yet. What a gamble this must be huh? So if you consider following factory procedures a gamble, and want to assume that people who do that do nothing else to maintain equipment, well, we all know how the saying goes about assuming…
Think its easer to pull hub and repack by hand 🤣. But i do like knowing i have dexter axles. OTR 48 years nice to check heat on hubs when you stop…. Few pumps if grease nice if one is running warm. Not good to mix grease….
Good video tho…
This IS NOT how to do it! You will blow out the rear seal and coat your break assembly with grease! If there is no movement in tire. A couple Pumps AT MOST! If there is some movement in the tire, REPACK!! 2:08
This is exactly their procedure, it IS how you do it. Don’t believe me? Go read it…
Dexters procedure
DeWalt powered grease gun....
We'll see you on the side of the road with blown seals .
ruclips.net/video/XT0RKDGgDm8/видео.html This is per Dexter.
The video you linked to literally says use a manual grease gun, see 1:15 of that video.
Dexter easy lube my ass. You need a Jack. Not easy.
If you think using a jack is hard you should consider just paying someone to work on your stuff. That sounds more like your kind of easy.
Four or five pumps!!! You have no room for expansion and will blow out the seal!! Pump WARM grease very very slow or you will also push out the seal!! After a few years of this and you start pushing old grease out, it’s time to remove, clean, inspect, repack and install new seals. Please, please do NOT follow this guy’s instructions!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is literally the Dexter procedure, you have no idea what you’re talking about.
I know it sounds crazy but I have even spoken with the Dexter reps about it. I do trailer repairs and see the seal issues all the time, at least pump warm grease very slowly and wipe out as much as possible to create some extra space in the hub assembly.
@@bryanmontgomery4050 and I’m sure Dexter will listen to you over their engineers. I’m not sure what you think you’re watching, but a hand grease gun does not pump in a large volume of grease with each pump, and you can clearly see me cleaning the grease out as it’s coming out. I’ve owned multiple trailers with these axles and have never had an issue. Many people who do have issues do because of using powered grease guns, which Dexter advises against. There is nothing wrong with doing it as pictured in the video.
So what I'm getting from this video is buy a cordless grease gun, and make my life easier and make this quicker
Dexter doesn’t recommend use of a powered grease gun as it can increase the chances of blowing out a seal.
They work great if you get the 2 speed Milwaukee......never a problem on low. Can also set for 1-2-3 pumps per trigger pull or on all the time. But spinning the wheel and warm grease really helps a bunch. Do this as dexter says 2 times than i pull it apart. Guys blowing seals out havent done and maintenance in a long time.👍👍👍
Dexterity ezlube axels are a ripoff no matter how slowly or how easy you pump in the grease some always bypasses the axle seal and contaminants the magnet and or brake shoes. Be prepared to preform a brake job.
Nope
@@craigrandle9033 I’ve had no issues. Most problems I hear of are a lack of performing the procedure properly. If Dexter is guilty of anything, it’s not taking into consideration that people don’t follow directions. Personally, multiple trailers and thousands of miles has proven to be that the design is perfectly fine.
@@craigrandle9033 then don’t. I’ll continue to, no issues here.
Seems excessive.
Buy an electric grease gun
No
@@stuffyoucando2 ok
Install some buddy bearings. Two pumps every six months each axle. If there's grease on the wheel rim you got too much grease in the hub! Back off the greasing...
What? Buddy bearings are the absolute worst thing you can put on a trailer axle. The dexter ez lube axles are far superior and are made specifically to address the “so-called” fix of buddy bearings by not having to repack your bearings manually. A simple google search would enlighten you much.
Geez wear gloves!
Geez mind your own business. If you want to wear gloves, wear them. I don’t most of the time because of the loss of dexterity.
He pumped way too much grease into that wheel bearing, also you should never jack on the axle itself you can bend the tube These are the kind of people that should not be on RUclips.
And you’re the kind of person who doesn’t follow instructions. This is literally the manufacturer procedure, you have no idea what you’re talking about.
Oh, and I know you know everything and all, but where I’m jacking the axle up from is at the spring which bolts to it. Notice how far outboard the jack is. There is nothing wrong with jacking from this point, which would be putting weight on the axle at the same point as when it’s loaded. Again, you don’t know what you’re talking about. People like you shouldn’t be running your mouths if you don’t know the facts.
That's how you get grease all over the brakes shoes. No way I'm using 4 tubes of grease. Lol
Lol…my brakes are dry…lol…