Greaseable Wheel Bearings?

If you have Ez lube, knock off the dust cap and grease away. The excess grease will (should) come out from along side the bearing. If it does/'t, STOP. the grease may be hardened in the bearing and going out into the rear seal and onto the brakes. If everything is going as planned, continue and wipe up the excess grease from around the bearing, replace the dust shield and give it a few more pumps. Bearing Buddys are totally differant as they are designed to apply pressure to the grease in which turn pushes against the seals and keeps the water out. And if you do blow a seal, usually boat, or most trailers do not have brakes so other than a greasy wheel, no damage is done. BTW, if you have ez lube, turn the wheel as you grease.

Thanks! Got lots of great info there!

If the grease zerk is on the dust cap only, it is designed to fill the entire hub w/ grease. This method is usually used on boat trailers, using the theory that if its full of grease, there is no room for water. It works quite well when brakes are not involved. It can work well even w/ brakes, but extra care and common sense must be used.

WNYBob wrote:
I just bought a new axel for a utility trailer That came with EZ-Lube fitting. The paperwork stated to use caution not to overfill as you could blow past the seal and damage the brakes. But there is no way to gauge how much greas is in or how much you are adding. Safe way is to do it by hand!

When greasing a true EZ-Lube jack up each wheel and rotate it as you are pumping in grease. The old and excess grease well come through the outer bearing into the dust cap, just clean the excess grease out of dust cap and you are done. Also when it's jacked up it's the time to check the bearing end play.

Denny

If it is actually EZ-Lube hub you can't overfill it. As you pump grease in the zerk the new grease will push the old grease out the front, if all goes well. Excessive pressure, however, can make a real mess of things.

I just bought a new axel for a utility trailer That came with EZ-Lube fitting. The paperwork stated to use caution not to overfill as you could blow past the seal and damage the brakes. But there is no way to gauge how much greas is in or how much you are adding. Safe way is to do it by hand!

Great on boat trailers that get submerged under water. Terrible idea for rv type trailers. You will destroy your brakes using this method if not done properly and sparingly. RV Trailer bearings don't need constant attention like boat trailers anyway! How often do you pack the wheel bearings on your tow vehicle? What's the difference??

I had a Sunnybrook trailer with Dexter EZ-Lube axles. The first time I tried pumping grease into the bearings to lube and purge the old grease out, everything worked as advertised. The next time I tried it, the inner seal failed and I pumped quite a bit of grease into the brake lining area. (Regular old hand pump, not high pressure air powered grease gun). Replaced the grease seals and reverted to tried and true wheel bearing packing practices. No more grease inside the hub area to clean out.

If you google your brand of axles you can find numerous youtube videos demonstrating the way the ez lube method works and the proper way to add grease.

I think you'll find that most on the forums prefer to pack by hand removing the hubs and inspecting the bearings, but It don't hurt to add a few pumps in between.

Dexter has an EZ-Lube hub that has a channel from the grease zerk to the rear bearing and then back to the front bearing. Whether it is better than not having any zerks is a topic that gets brought up now and again. Whether you have an EZ-Lube hub is anybody's guess.