EZ Lube question

I do mine according to the Dexter manual in regards to pumping grease in while turning the wheel until old grease comes out and new shows up. The way they are designed compared to a bearing buddy is much better. Grease no doubt gets to the interior bearings since there is a wole drilled in the spindle. I look at pumping new grease as "preventive maintenance." If it was dangerous or didn't work I can assure you they would not recommend this. With today's sue happy world they wouldn't mention this.

This is not a substitute for manually packing and inspection though when the time comes.

martinto wrote:
2011 4 wheel TT with about 6000 miles road miles. Dealer service suggested I just rotate each wheel and add a few pumps of red lithium grease through the zerk fittingnas I turn. I've seen the you tube videos that show a full grease injection pushing out the old grease. I had the bearings repacked at about 2000 road miles. I welcome a sharing of experiences from others.

Dexter's axle / brakes maintenance schedule at: - click here -

For my many boat, utility and RV trailers, I "minimum" remove hubs, do full brake inspections, repack wheel grease "every year" (every spring - after winter damp season). If I tow my trailers, I use their estimated miles traveled as full maintenance task trigger as well. As a DIY task, it only takes 20 minutes to pull each hub and do a full complete inner drum inspection with re-lube. Very easy task.

Note: When one blindly pumps in grease, where does the old grease go? Does its inner pressure blow inner seal and one is now pumping the old grease into its inner brake drum cavity? The only way to safely grease the hubs is to remove it - and do it properly. When while removing the brake hub, do full brake inspection / cleaning as well.

Do it properly or not at all...

I've been cheating - repacking the bearings every other year, and greasing them in between. I use Valvoline red GM-spec grease, it's approved by Dexter and I can get it in the tub and grease gun cartridges.

There are numerous advantages to removal and hand packing; primarily inspection of the bearing and race conditions, correct castle nut torque, as well as brake conditions.

Finally, removal of the tires allows for inspection of the inside of the each tire for defects or problems, which cannot be easily seen from the outside of each tire.

Ok,, well I had mine serviced by Camping World last year, this year I used the zerk fitting and pumped in Marine wheel bearing grease,,, drove about 200 miles and was worried about mixed greases,, pulled the dust caps and it all looks black and plenty of grease.... ??? Red or green?? does it make a difference?
I pulled the dust caps when CW packed them and they used Orange colored grease.

I have always hand packed. I would wipe all the old grease off down to spotless metal. The bearings would get a wash in camping stove/lamp fuel and then a rinse. Then once all was spotless I’d repack with new seals. My new TT has the new zerk fittings. I haven’t repacked yet since it’s only been out about 8 times maybe 1000 miles total. I may just clean and hand pack for peace of mind. I’d love to hear some more opinions here since I have the same inquire. I wonder how bearings look after 10 years of zerk pumping and how clean and un pitted they are vs cleaning and hand packing?

I used Lucas red and tacky. I jacked up one side and through the zerk fitting pumped in about 50 pumps until red grease was forced out and the old was also. I spun my wheel as I put in the grease to keep the grease moving and not blow out the rear seal. It worked just fine. All four done in about 20 minutes. I hope that helps..
Some will disdain this method and would rather hand pack each bearing which is fine but much more messy and time consuming.