Add grease zerk to axle or not?

JJBIRISH wrote:

scottykrug wrote:
Just finished repacking all the hubs and noticed that there was a threaded hole at the end of the spindle and a small hole just inside the lip for the inner seal. I presume this is one of those easy lube fixtures (my axles just didn't come fully set up with that option). I will still pull them apart to service them, but is there any benefit to add the zerk to add grease? I removed the craptastic plastic grease caps (two cracked and one let water in) and replaced them with oversized old school metal ones so there will be plenty of room inside the cap. I am thinking against it, but would like to see if there is any benefit from those who have this feature.

The answer to your question is, it depends… if you are going to do annual pull apart service anyway, they would be of little benefit to you… if you do add the fitting you need to make sure the drum has the right double lip seal installed in it…

If you are not good at following a regular maintenance schedule or choose to use more extended maintenance schedules, as many do, they can be a great benefit to you…
Like most things there is a proper procedure to follow to reduce risk… not following the procedure will raise the risk more than doing nothing…

A little about risk, they come in many forms… when it comes to axle bearing failure it is often mentioned that the bearings were recently serviced, either by the owner or a service center…
I have known of people that have reused old seals that looked good yet, and I have known of a few times that new seals have been damaged during their installation or reassembly and times they have been adjusted incorrectly… all have their own risk…

There are some risk from not servicing and some risk of servicing… one of the biggest risk today is poor quality bearings and seals mostly imported that are being sold…
Another thing to remember, there are many axles that go un-serviced for a very long time and never have a bearing failure… many autos reach the junkyard with OE bearings still in them, never serviced and trailer axles used on multiple trailers never serviced…
One more thing, you never know what someone else did, and I would prefer using my EZ lube feature to letting someone I don’t know service my brakes and axles any time… and yes that is a real benefit to having them…

This should be a sticky. :)

You hit on every one of my points I have tried to make for years.

Most people don't understand that the parts you get from Kragen or where ever are usually NOT the same quality as OEM. And sometimes not even close. Even some newer OEM parts are junk.

I have an old trailer with made in the USA Timkin bearings in it. I check about once every 7 years or so. Only packed them once in the 27 year life of the trailer. Even then it didn't really need it.

My point is, I think a lot of times people cause more problems then they solve.