My TT axles have the EZ lube spindles with the grease fitting on the end. It's time for me to repack the bearings. Is it safe to hand pump new grease through the fitting while slowly turning the wheel, or do I need to remove, clean, and repack the bearings by hand? If so, what's the purpose of the grease fitting on the spindle? I bought my camper brand new a little over a year ago. Thanks.

My take: every one says to repack the bearings by hand but, I have had two trailers (each one seven years), with the easy lube bearings. I did it once a year using a grease gun. I would jack the wheel and as I was pumping the grease, I would turn the wheel. Once I saw the old grease coming out, and saw the new stuff right behind it I would stop. I never had a problem and put thousands of miles on both trailers. On the second one, I had them repacked by a shop in it's sixth year, and the mechanic said that the bearings were in good shape.Jack l

plasticmaster wrote:My TT axles have the EZ lube spindles with the grease fitting on the end. It's time for me to repack the bearings. Is it safe to hand pump new grease through the fitting while slowly turning the wheel, or do I need to remove, clean, and repack the bearings by hand? If so, what's the purpose of the grease fitting on the spindle? I bought my camper brand new a little over a year ago. Thanks.IMHO, the bearing grease fittings are a waste of money, useless in actually properly greasing your bearings, and in fact, could cause a major problem inside the brake drum should the grease get pushed out past the seal. The "bearing buddy" type of bearing greaser is more designed for trailers that do not have braking systems and are subject to being submerged in water (i.e. boat or jetski trailers). When the trailer is run into the water, water can seep in past the wheel seal and get into the bearing area. This will cause rusting and possible bearing failure. These greasing systems were designed to allow the owner to inject grease into the bearings and hub to possibly flush out the water. If there is no air space inside the bearing/hub area then no water can get inside.On a travel trailer, you do not have the problem with water intrusion (or if you do, you need to stop parking your trailer in a lake, stream or river). They put these greasing systems on travel trailers because basically (and by mo means am I accusing you of this) people are lazy and don't want to have to either take the trailer in for service or spend the couple of hours needed to do bearing maintenance. They are told to just pump a few shots of grease into the grease zerk, and away you go. Problem, the grease does not fill the cavity inside the hub, so only the outer bearing gets some of the grease. The inner bearing gets little or nothing. Another problem to look at is that some think that if a few squirts of grease are good, then a LOT of them should be great! Eventually, you will reach the point where the entire cavity is full of grease. Then the grease has no place to go. As it doesn't compress (at least not under the pressures you are subjecting it to) it has to go someplace. Out the back through the space between the Spindle and the grease seal is the weak link.Once the grease gets past the seal, it is now inside the brake drum. And as that grease gets slung around the inside of the drum, it makes your brakes ineffective and possibly cause a fire due to the grease getting too hot from the friction inside.So, after that dissertation on greasing your bearings...Short answer, pull the bearings, clean and inspect them, regrease with good grease, and put them back together. Your peace of mind in knowing that everything is good to go will take one less worry off your mind as you are heading down the road.

Although we have the same option on our axles I still do them the old fashion way, I feel better that I had a chance to see the wear and tear for myself. Good news is that if they are properly done, wheel bearing service will last several years before a full cleaning and repacking is required. Nothing wrong with doing it yearly but with top notch, high-temp grease I find it isn't required annually for our heavily used TT. They are rarely exposed to harsh elements where we RV most. Every Spring after de-winterizing our rig I take all wheels off and inspect brakes and bearings, I'm on our 4th camping season since the last wheel bearing service and all still looks great. Although I never tried, I would believe the Easy lube option works for many but there have been a plethora of reports where seals were blown out allowing grease to reach brakes. It's good that your are checking bearings as sometimes they leave factory improperly greased.

Really bad advice from Bager The easy lube system is a good system It uses a double lip seal on the axle shaft to prevent grease from entering the brake area. When you grease through the zerk the grease goes through the center of spindle and out a small hole just beyond the inner bearing and before the seal. As you slowly grease and turn wheel the grease is forced through the innner and outer bearing and you will see it coming back at you around the spindle , zerk area then stop . The key thing here is pump slowly and turn the wheel also when pumping . The first time it may require a half tube of grease or more .

Really good advice, badger. The problem with your response is that the subject is not about the Bearing Buddy system, it is about the useless grease fitting installed in the spindle.

EZ lube spindle and bearing repack question | Good Sam Community

azrving
Explorer
Jul 14, 2017
Lynnmor

But but they did the safety inspection! Our tax dollars at work. State of Michigan requires a 65% score to pass mechanic certification tests.
mike-s
Explorer
Jul 14, 2017
RinconVTR wrote:
Grand Design 5th wheels in particular of which I've followed for an extended period of time as I am a Grand Design owner, show no signs of any blow out occurring. Not a single one.
Of course not. E-Z Lube is a Dexter thing. LCI has their SuperLube system, and issues to go with it, especially apparent on Grand Designs:
RV Daily Report wrote:
Lippert Components today addressed reports of leaking axles resulting in grease contamination of brake pads and rotors... The issue surfaced a few weeks ago on a Grand Design owners forum where an unofficial poll revealed that 74 percent of the 164 owners responding to the survey were reporting their axle seals had failed and they had grease on their brakes.

Emily Stahley (LCI) wrote:
...what we started to notice is the amount of grease that was going in to the journal was excessive. The machine we use/used was operated by an individual (not all the same individual) and that individual may have been heavier on the pedal allowing too much grease to be pumped in to the cavity where the bearings sit...The grease has not changed nor have the seals.
So, the problem with grease on the brakes is because the hubs were too full of grease. They don't use their SuperLube system to fill them, but say the solution is some expensive machinery to put grease in the hub without "overfilling." Nothing else is changed - same seals, same grease (well, they are wiping off the inside end of the hub before putting it on the spindle).

Guess what? The very first time you use their SuperLube system, you're completely filling the hub with grease - fuller than what any machine which packs some in before installing the hub on the spindle could do. So, they're addressing a problem by leaving some air in the hub, and leaving customers to deal with greasy brakes after they displace that air by filling the hubs the first time using their SuperLube system. Which, of course, they'll blame on "you're doing it wrong."
azrving
Explorer
Jul 14, 2017
Rinconvtr
There you go. They may be building in a problem right out the door. Most may make it through warranty. Some never use the easy lube. Some never go many miles. Some may get greased properly but the closest exit for the grease is past the seal.
Lynnmor
Explorer
Jul 14, 2017
I always add grease between the seal lips and inside the shell of the seal to keep the surface lubricated.

That damage to the seal is exactly what often happens during a mandatory Pennsylvania State inspection. They just bang the seal against the spindle end as they rush thru the job. Often, they don't even remove the wheel from the hub to save time.
RinconVTR
Explorer
Jul 14, 2017
rjxj wrote:
In the second video they didn't apply grease to the seal lips. Unless they are applying it manually before the assembly is installed they are not doing it correctly. The seal cant ride on the hub dry. We are dealing with inexpensive run of the mill double lip seals that need lubricant. After being in a manufacturing engineering environment it looks like a typical spot that a recall would develop. Down the line the next guy who knows zero about any of this stuff would probably use an assisted jig/lift to pick up and install the drum on the axle. Is he lubing it? It sure isn't ready to be installed in the video.

Paragraph two

Your comment is my theory for most of the leaky seals from LCI - not lubricating the seal (lips) as required by seal manufactures.

I replaced the seals on my Grand Design (a model not known to have leaky seals) and all 4 were bone dry.

See below. (The grease that is shown on the seal shown spread on the seal upon hub removal. And notice one lip edge has slight damage as well.)

And the second image shows what the hub and zerks looked like the week I took delivery of the unit. Pretty clean in there, clean zerk, clean axle, no excess grease to speak of, and lots of air space.
azrving
Explorer
Jul 14, 2017
In the second video they didn't apply grease to the seal lips. Unless they are applying it manually before the assembly is installed they are not doing it correctly. The seal cant ride on the hub dry. We are dealing with inexpensive run of the mill double lip seals that need lubricant. After being in a manufacturing engineering environment it looks like a typical spot that a recall would develop. Down the line the next guy who knows zero about any of this stuff would probably use an assisted jig/lift to pick up and install the drum on the axle. Is he lubing it? It sure isn't ready to be installed in the video.

Paragraph two
RinconVTR
Explorer
Jul 14, 2017
mike-s wrote:
RinconVTR wrote:
My own pics from the last seal replacement;

Look at all that grease flying out at high pressure...
No, the grease goes in under pressure. You don't understand the concepts of viscosity, constriction, and pressure gradients.

Any 4 year old knows you have to squeeze the ketchup bottle to get it to come out through the nozzle, and you have to squeeze harder if there's old, dried up stuff in the way.

You also ignore the empirical fact that many with EZ-Lube have experienced grease in their brakes due to it getting past the seals, even straight from the factory.

Good example. That 4 year old controls the flow, does he not? Heck, just pick up the bottle upside down and you'll squeeze a ton all over. Squeeze super hard and fast, yeah some pressure will build inside the bottle...just like it would inside the grease gun. (The GREASE GUN. Not the HUB!)

Watch this;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s34pBejcQn0

And what you'll find regarding "blown seals" are not blown out at all. They are leaking/failed seals.

Grand Design 5th wheels in particular of which I've followed for an extended period of time as I am a Grand Design owner, show no signs of any blow out occurring. Not a single one.

And AGAIN...LCI is very clear on the matter...the EZlube zerks are not used in production. They use an entirely different method to pack grease into the bearing, one of which is now fully automated.

Watch this;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyiApuNIaBY
mike-s
Explorer
Jul 14, 2017
RinconVTR wrote:
My own pics from the last seal replacement;

Look at all that grease flying out at high pressure...
No, the grease goes in under pressure. You don't understand the concepts of viscosity, constriction, and pressure gradients.

Any 4 year old knows you have to squeeze the ketchup bottle to get it to come out through the nozzle, and you have to squeeze harder if there's old, dried up stuff in the way.

You also ignore the empirical fact that many with EZ-Lube have experienced grease in their brakes due to it getting past the seals, even straight from the factory.

Blown seals in EZ-Lube hubs.
GrandpaKip
Explorer II
Jul 14, 2017
Sooo....gone now from not realizing equine death to playground insults.
Isn't internet anonymity great?
azrving
Explorer
Jul 14, 2017
mike-s wrote:
rjxj wrote:
The grease has RESISTANCE to flow
Why bother? It's obvious rjxj doesn't understand even grade school science. Or maybe he's just trolling - it's hard to believe someone who can write is that ignorant.

Right or wrong we are all just giving our opinions and knowledge after working or being trained at places like Vickers, sunstrand, GE, Hyster and John Deere. It sounds like you may have some sort of childhood developmental issues or anger issues. Consult with your family physician and get recommendations for mental health care providers or if unable to afford that care contact you county health center. Good luck to you.