Grease in New Brake Assemblies

jevanb wrote:
I took my very expensive rv to the dealer 3 times for crappy brakes in the first year of ownership. Did the work myself in the end. The dealer and the factory suck

This is exactly the point I'm attempting (perhaps badly) to make about some instances requiring you to have something verified, regardless if new or not. The piece of mind is priceless.

fj12ryder wrote:
Well, a few hours on the phone "dickering" beats the heck out of spending those same few hours removing/repairing/replacing brake drums and such.

You can't be serious?

Having reasonable cause from mounting evidence that your new trailer could experience either poor braking performance or a hub issue; you'd rather ignore that possibility and the possible consequences than spend a couple of hours performing some due diligent maintenance? Really?

To each their own, but I believe you represent the minority of RV'ers, as most I've met would go to any lengths to prevent discovering their brakes are not up to par while descending a 6% grade.

I took my very expensive rv to the dealer 3 times for crappy brakes in the first year of ownership. Did the work myself in the end. The dealer and the factory suck

Well, a few hours on the phone "dickering" beats the heck out of spending those same few hours removing/repairing/replacing brake drums and such.

fj12ryder wrote:

bstark wrote:

jevanb wrote:
After the first year on crappy brakes I pulled the hubs and their was grease everywhere, I replaced with $20 seals instead of the 5 dollar brand that was installed at the factory. My hubs cannot be over serviced..

Disassembly and inspection upon delivery with changeout of the rear seals to better quality double lip spring assisted seals, hand packing of the bearings along with later judicious use of a grease gun on those E-Z-Lube hubs, only after you've warmed your hubs with a few interstate miles to then use a couple of slow strokes only of a hand grease gun that is also room temp warm instead of the gun stored in the bottom cabinet under your rig where it's sat all winter is the protocol that will yield years of reliable brakes and hub service.

Seriously? You expect someone who just paid $50,000 for his 5th wheel, to disassemble his triple axle toyhauler hubs to repair what the factory messed up? I don't think that's going to happen, not voluntarily anyway.

Well then "someone" obviously prefers to spend his time dickering with his insurance company instead of enjoying quality time with those toys he's paid 50k to haul around.

bstark wrote:

jevanb wrote:
After the first year on crappy brakes I pulled the hubs and their was grease everywhere, I replaced with $20 seals instead of the 5 dollar brand that was installed at the factory. My hubs cannot be over serviced..

Disassembly and inspection upon delivery with changeout of the rear seals to better quality double lip spring assisted seals, hand packing of the bearings along with later judicious use of a grease gun on those E-Z-Lube hubs, only after you've warmed your hubs with a few interstate miles to then use a couple of slow strokes only of a hand grease gun that is also room temp warm instead of the gun stored in the bottom cabinet under your rig where it's sat all winter is the protocol that will yield years of reliable brakes and hub service.

Seriously? You expect someone who just paid $50,000 for his 5th wheel, to disassemble his triple axle toyhauler hubs to repair what the factory messed up? I don't think that's going to happen, not voluntarily anyway.

My main concern was that newer trailer owners or first timers would not understand the reasons and are at risk for accidents/death. Since this is not the consumer doing the work, those who manufacture the axles are the ones who need to have their feet in the fire.

jevanb wrote:
After the first year on crappy brakes I pulled the hubs and their was grease everywhere, I replaced with $20 seals instead of the 5 dollar brand that was installed at the factory. My hubs cannot be over serviced..

This is the single biggest cause of this with axle manufactures cutting costs wherever they can as does every other manufacture.

There are better "double lip", spring reinforced seal-sets available for installation AND there are better quality wheelbearing lubes available that have a higher melt point but the axles manufactures will revert to using the cheaper products every single time.

They will also not train their people to properly "pack" wheel bearings during the build process but simple allow them to pressure feed those hubs after they are completely assembled with a pneumatic grease gun that serves to fill the hub cavity with cold grease that forces it's way out past the rear seal before your new hub has even made one revolution in travel.

In short: your brakes were "sabotaged" before they even left the factory by some kid paid minimum wage during the final assembly process at Lippert or Dexter before the axles were band strapped, palleted together and shipped off to some warehouse for re-distribution.

This whole debacle gets further compounded by 'well meaning' but errant dealer staff again attempting to pressure pump more cold grease into cold hubs as a PDI step.

Disassembly and inspection upon delivery with changeout of the rear seals to better quality double lip spring assisted seals, hand packing of the bearings along with later judicious use of a grease gun on those E-Z-Lube hubs, only after you've warmed your hubs with a few interstate miles to then use a couple of slow strokes only of a hand grease gun that is also room temp warm instead of the gun stored in the bottom cabinet under your rig where it's sat all winter is the protocol that will yield years of reliable brakes and hub service.

After the first year on crappy brakes I pulled the hubs and their was grease everywhere, I replaced with $20 seals instead of the 5 dollar brand that was installed at the factory. My hubs cannot be over serviced..

Gonzo42 wrote:
Might be bad seals, if they are a separate part from the bearings. Alternatively, if they are in the rear, possibly the third member is overheating due to overload or insufficient gear oil, causing pressure within to force grease outward.

The OP is talking about trailer seals/brakes, not a powered vehicle so there isn't a third member (differential).