Bearing Grease Intervals
On our 27-5L Fox fifth wheel, I do my own bearing packing. I use top quality synthetic grease and thoroughly clean and pack bearings every two years. That adds up to once every 6000 miles. Rig is ...
Forum Discussion
FWIW, I did ask Dexter tech support some years back why I should get the service done every year even if I had not gone 12K miles yet.
The answer was that the brakes could get rusted from condensation while parked from how they are air cooled. That's where I got the idea using the trailer more often was better.
That brake inspection requires the hubs to come off, and that ties in with their recommended timing for the annual grease job. They insist that this be done by hand so when the parts are cleaned you can do a visual inspection for spalling and such, before you put the new grease on. Using the EZ lube feature does not let you do that visual inspection. Or look at the magnets for shape, and their wires.
IMO that means there is no reason to have the EZ lube at all, since why in heck would you want to lube more often than Dexter says is needed? Turns out it came from the boat trailer world and has become a sales bragging thing for RVs. Oh well.
That was/is their story and I would like to follow that advice for timing except it costs about $400 here to get it done, so I skip the timing and cross my fingers until I get it done again.
On which grease to use, their booklet I got with the 2003 trailer had a list of approved greases and the specs, including that the viscosity index must be 80 or higher.
The garage I use wanted to use one of those listed, Pennzoil 707L but being paranoid , I looked it up and it was VI of 67. Again I asked Dexter about that and was told, after a thank-you, that it was a mistake to list that grease and it would be de-listed. A more recent list shows Pennzoil "Synthetic Red Grease" and for Valvoline, "Multi-purpose GM" and "Durablend"
That later list is no longer new either, so can't say what their latest is. The booklet was/is on-line somewhere.
( I do check my trailer brakes after every hitch-up using the manual slider on the brake control so I know I have brakes, and I also do the pull test on the breakaway switch at least once a year. It is good to see that 12 amps showing on the Trimetric, and how the trailer will not roll when the truck tries to. I figure that means at least there is no grease all over the brakes even if I have gone past the inspection schedule time)
The answer was that the brakes could get rusted from condensation while parked from how they are air cooled. That's where I got the idea using the trailer more often was better.
That brake inspection requires the hubs to come off, and that ties in with their recommended timing for the annual grease job. They insist that this be done by hand so when the parts are cleaned you can do a visual inspection for spalling and such, before you put the new grease on. Using the EZ lube feature does not let you do that visual inspection. Or look at the magnets for shape, and their wires.
IMO that means there is no reason to have the EZ lube at all, since why in heck would you want to lube more often than Dexter says is needed? Turns out it came from the boat trailer world and has become a sales bragging thing for RVs. Oh well.
That was/is their story and I would like to follow that advice for timing except it costs about $400 here to get it done, so I skip the timing and cross my fingers until I get it done again.
On which grease to use, their booklet I got with the 2003 trailer had a list of approved greases and the specs, including that the viscosity index must be 80 or higher.
The garage I use wanted to use one of those listed, Pennzoil 707L but being paranoid , I looked it up and it was VI of 67. Again I asked Dexter about that and was told, after a thank-you, that it was a mistake to list that grease and it would be de-listed. A more recent list shows Pennzoil "Synthetic Red Grease" and for Valvoline, "Multi-purpose GM" and "Durablend"
That later list is no longer new either, so can't say what their latest is. The booklet was/is on-line somewhere.
( I do check my trailer brakes after every hitch-up using the manual slider on the brake control so I know I have brakes, and I also do the pull test on the breakaway switch at least once a year. It is good to see that 12 amps showing on the Trimetric, and how the trailer will not roll when the truck tries to. I figure that means at least there is no grease all over the brakes even if I have gone past the inspection schedule time)
