Lets talk about Bearing Buddies

I can understand that, but what point are you trying to make? EZ-Lube, fer it or agin it?

Bearings 101.

30% grease fill in bearing assembly to allow proper heat dissipation and give the grease some where to expand to as it gets hot going down the road. If the cavity is full of grease and it then gets hotter it will expand and go out the rear seal if it has no where else to go!!! Why do you think that the new front bearing hubs are factory filled and sealed on new vehicles? NASCAR has even gone to this as they have showed increased speeds with less failure with the proper amount of grease.

This is from 25 years of maintenance and bearing schooling from the manufacturer of the bearings.

Those of you who are using the EZ lube system will never know if you have grease blown past your seals unless you pull your drums and check them. I would pull them at least once a year and check them out to be safe. If you are worried about checking them and putting them back together let a good shop do it.JMHO

MFL wrote:

popeyemth wrote:
I for one was not aware till I read the PDF that one is supposed to rotate the wheel as the grease is changed. Perhaps others with poor experiences were unaware of this requirement .

I mentioned earlier about following instructions for using E-Z lube. I think some owners don't receive the info, and don't search for it.

There is much misunderstanding,such as over greasing, blown seals, etc. The old grease is pushed out the front, it comes out right around your grease gun tip, as you pump. If you over grease, the new will flow out the front. This is why it is most important to use the double lip, spring tentioned seals, specified for the E-Z lube system. I also use the recommended grease, and use the same each time.

I agree the hand pack is best, when done by someone that knows what they are doing. The RV shop likely won't have their top tech greasing bearings. I know there are many qualified people on this forum, and some not so much. I would have to wonder, if 10 average joes, packed their own bearings/replaced seals, how many would have done it correctly? Upon reassembly, did they all torque the nut just right, before backing off, and finger tight? Did they all replace the seals, with no damage, and used the right ones?

Just sayin, whatever the method, if things aren't done properly, problems will arise.

Correct use of the E-Z lube system is better than not greasing at all, and I think the reason for many trailers having them on from the factory.

Happy New Year to all,
Jerry

Francesca Knowles......... and there you have it (quoted above)..;)

~

SlickWillie wrote:


I'd bet they used an air powered grease gun at the dealer.

No kidding...that's exactly what My Dearly Beloved Husband used on my Bearing Buddies just before I left on a solo trip.
(Hubby's Motto: "if a little is good, a lot is WAY better!")

Ten days later I came home, having spent most of the trip without any brakes at all on the trailer. On the bright side, I did get to meet a whole bunch of really interesting helpful guys who 'splained to me what had happened.

And on the REALLY bright side, my Husband was the one that had to tear down/replace all the brake components ruined by the excess grease. :B

Outcome:
Nobody but ME and my mini grease gun now shoots the grease into those puppies!

azjeffh wrote:

trbill2003 wrote:
I thought EZ lube was great until my rear seals blew out. I did not notice until one day I had no brakes. The shoes and hubs were filled with grease. I needed to buy new assemblies they were so saturated. I too was careful and would grease sparingly as per instructions. I now do not run with EZ lubes, I just repack every 5- 8000 kms depending on where we are.

Long story short, I experienced the same issue. Thankfully the dealer who caused it replaced all of my brake assys a year later at no charge to me.

I'd bet they used an air powered grease gun at the dealer.

trbill2003 wrote:
I thought EZ lube was great until my rear seals blew out. I did not notice until one day I had no brakes. The shoes and hubs were filled with grease. I needed to buy new assemblies they were so saturated. I too was careful and would grease sparingly as per instructions. I now do not run with EZ lubes, I just repack every 5- 8000 kms depending on where we are.

Long story short, I experienced the same issue. Thankfully the dealer who caused it replaced all of my brake assys a year later at no charge to me.

I thought EZ lube was great until my rear seals blew out. I did not notice until one day I had no brakes. The shoes and hubs were filled with grease. I needed to buy new assemblies they were so saturated. I too was careful and would grease sparingly as per instructions. I now do not run with EZ lubes, I just repack every 5- 8000 kms depending on where we are.

fj12ryder wrote:
Yes, I know about the air system and how it interacts with the brakes on a semi. My point was that you don't see disc brakes on a semi trailer, but they seem to be able to lock up their brakes at will. So why can't something be done to drum trailer brakes to make them work as strongly as semi-trailer brakes?

The issue is not that drum brakes don't work. They obviously do - when there's an engine-powered air pump, large reservoir tank for air storage, heavy-duty pneumatic brakes on each wheel, etc, available. Not only do camping trailers not have a power source for the air pump, all the components in an air-brake system weigh a lot more than would be workable for a camping trailer. It just wouldn't be practical.

But, semi-tractor-trailer trucks aside, US manufacturers of non-air-brake-equipped vehicles switched from drums to discs some 40 years ago - ex: your family car. Why? Because, without a pneumatic system available, discs are more reliable, perform better, etc. The argument that conventionally activated drum brakes are superior to disc brakes just can't be made.

In my own case, once I saw the mayhem that existed in three out of four essentially-new "EZ Lube" wheels with electric brakes, repairing them and leaving myself vulnerable to the same situation again just wasn't an option. To me, reliable brakes are of critical importance, and the inevitable white-knuckle panic stop is NOT the time to be wondering if the brakes will rise to the occasion.

fj12ryder wrote:
That may be stretching things a bit.

Unless you can show that there is an overwhelming number of failures, that in fact the failures outnumber the non-failures, your assertion that "Easy lube zerts on a spindle, are an incident waiting to happen" is also an opinion.

Personally I'm reserving judgement for a few more years/miles. I'll have about 10,000 miles this spring so I'm going to check brakes, so we'll see how things look at that time.

That's kind of how I felt... until the grease seals failed... poor braking along with a real mess... one time was enough for me...