Bearings and bad decisions......

[PNW_Steve]

A cautionary tale of wheel bearing tragedy....

Learn from my bad decision.... I was doing my pre-trip walk around this morning as we prepared to get back on the road. I noticed a missing wheel bearing cap. I looked it over and did not see any evidence of bearing grease escaping so I decided to wait until we reach our destination tonight to address it.

Now I am sitting on the side of the road waiting for the tow truck. That will be $375-$500. Probably looking at a $1000 repair bill.

Shame on me........

[time2roll]

cummins2014 wrote:
There is no grease in the cavity when I am done.

I think this is best unless you need to keep the water out when launching the trailer and the axle is submerged.

[cummins2014]

Sport45 wrote:

laknox wrote:
I used them yearly on my old Komfort. No issues whatsoever. No grease leaking past the seals and, when I =did= replace the bearings, mechanic said I could have used the old ones, no problem. IIRC, they =were= Timkens as OEM, but I went ahead and replaced them anyway.

Lyle

I never suggest replacing good bearings. When you do, you are subjecting yourself to an “infant mortality” type failure. Good bearings will keep on being good until they are overloaded or allowed to run dry. Even the best new bearing has some small chance of a manufacturing defect that could lead to early failure.

Mine are nearly 12 years old, and I repacked them this spring, they looked great, and I am thinking they are surely China bearings in there, and they will remain in there. I have no intentions of changing them .

Headed for a summer long trip to Alaska in 2020, I will take along an extra set or two, grease etc, just in case it will be a long trip with a lot of miles .

I towed this summer in nearly 100 degrees, the TPMS showed the tires were running pretty cool ,not a lot of increase in temperature when warmed up, nothing to worry about. The sun side naturally was running a few degrees warmer. The hubs were barely warm. The bearing are running like they should ,and have been, as said, for nearly 12 years now.

[Lynnmor]

cummins2014 wrote:
I am guessing after you have used up four tubes of grease, then the next time around its just a few pumps ,and out comes the old grease.

Not really, the old grease from the inner bearing will advance towards the outer bearing, so old grease is in line unless you flush the whole mess.

[cummins2014]

Lynnmor wrote:

cummins2014 wrote:


I am just too old school I guess. Done it for years, hand packing my bearings.

I just may try it , jack a wheel up ,and spin it ,and see for myself if that old grease comes out the front where its supposed too, have always been a little skeptical . In all honesty I should have read the dexter manual on doing it, and would of at least known where the old grease is coming out .

Keep on hand packing, or be prepared to pump in a LOT of grease. To properly grease the outer bearing with fresh grease you would need to pump till grease fills the void, then pump till grease appears, then pump till all the old grease from the rear bearing is pushed out thru the outer bearing and you see fresh grease.

After all that, how do you inspect your brakes for wear, failing parts and grease contamination? Removing the hub with that mess of grease will be a chore. In my opinion, these grease fittings are for those that will not do proper inspection and maintenance.

Well thats settled. I watched the Dexter video, and a few pumps, and out came the old grease. I am thinking there was a whole lot going in that was not showed. I did watch a youtube on it, and this guy pumped a lot of grease before anything appeared. I think he mentioned it took nearly a tube of grease for one wheel, yikes I use less then that for all four. I am guessing after you have used up four tubes of grease, then the next time around its just a few pumps ,and out comes the old grease.

There is no grease in the cavity when I am done. I put a little around the spindle ,pack the bearings, and button it up. The biggest thing is jacking it up ,and removing the tire. I will continue old school 🙂 Thanks

[Lynnmor]

cummins2014 wrote:


I am just too old school I guess. Done it for years, hand packing my bearings.

I just may try it , jack a wheel up ,and spin it ,and see for myself if that old grease comes out the front where its supposed too, have always been a little skeptical . In all honesty I should have read the dexter manual on doing it, and would of at least known where the old grease is coming out .

Keep on hand packing, or be prepared to pump in a LOT of grease. To properly grease the outer bearing with fresh grease you would need to pump till grease fills the void, then pump till grease appears, then pump till all the old grease from the rear bearing is pushed out thru the outer bearing and you see fresh grease.

After all that, how do you inspect your brakes for wear, failing parts and grease contamination? Removing the hub with that mess of grease will be a chore. In my opinion, these grease fittings are for those that will not do proper inspection and maintenance.

[cummins2014]

fj12ryder wrote:
The grease comes out the front cap around where you putting in new grease. Obviously if you're not seeing any grease coming out there's a problem. Works great, I've used it a couple times over the 10 years we've had our toyhauler and have had no issues. The bearings looked good when I pulled them last year.

Thanks . Have always wondered ,because the old grease is supposed to get pushed out of the bearings ,and the new going in .That old grease has to go somewhere.

I am just too old school I guess. Done it for years, hand packing my bearings.

I just may try it , jack a wheel up ,and spin it ,and see for myself if that old grease comes out the front where its supposed too, have always been a little skeptical . In all honesty I should have read the dexter manual on doing it, and would of at least known where the old grease is coming out . Thanks again for being gentle on me for not reading the manual . 🙂

[Sport45]

laknox wrote:
I used them yearly on my old Komfort. No issues whatsoever. No grease leaking past the seals and, when I =did= replace the bearings, mechanic said I could have used the old ones, no problem. IIRC, they =were= Timkens as OEM, but I went ahead and replaced them anyway.

Lyle

I never suggest replacing good bearings. When you do, you are subjecting yourself to an “infant mortality” type failure. Good bearings will keep on being good until they are overloaded or allowed to run dry. Even the best new bearing has some small chance of a manufacturing defect that could lead to early failure.

[fj12ryder]

The grease comes out the front cap around where you putting in new grease. Obviously if you're not seeing any grease coming out there's a problem. Works great, I've used it a couple times over the 10 years we've had our toyhauler and have had no issues. The bearings looked good when I pulled them last year.

[cummins2014]

laknox wrote:

Lynnmor wrote:

laknox wrote:
I hate the fact that my KZ has Never-Lubes, which means I'd have to change the entire axle if hate rv I wanted to go to EZ Lubes, or so I've been told.

Lyle

I hate that my axles have the useless grease fittings, I will never use them.

I used them yearly on my old Komfort. No issues whatsoever. No grease leaking past the seals and, when I =did= replace the bearings, mechanic said I could have used the old ones, no problem. IIRC, they =were= Timkens as OEM, but I went ahead and replaced them anyway.

Lyle

I have always wondered after time, where does all that grease that keeps getting pumped in there go. There is only so much room in there. I would think after a certain amount of time ,and grease, it has to start getting pushed back thru the seals ????. Although I do have them, I pull out the bearings ,check the brakes ,and adjust ,and repack.. Definitely no issues so far doing that after 12 years with the present fifth wheel , and original bearings.

[laknox]

Lynnmor wrote:

laknox wrote:
I hate the fact that my KZ has Never-Lubes, which means I'd have to change the entire axle if hate rv I wanted to go to EZ Lubes, or so I've been told.

Lyle

I hate that my axles have the useless grease fittings, I will never use them.

I used them yearly on my old Komfort. No issues whatsoever. No grease leaking past the seals and, when I =did= replace the bearings, mechanic said I could have used the old ones, no problem. IIRC, they =were= Timkens as OEM, but I went ahead and replaced them anyway.

Lyle

[Cummins12V98]

"I hate that my axles have the useless grease fittings, I will never use them."

Please explain why?

4 years full-time I have not even looked at my bearings. Raise one side of RV spin and pump grease til fresh comes out. I also do the push pull test.

Used properly they are a great way to go.

Saying that I will be changing out to OilBath soon.

[Lynnmor]

laknox wrote:
I hate the fact that my KZ has Never-Lubes, which means I'd have to change the entire axle if hate rv I wanted to go to EZ Lubes, or so I've been told.

Lyle

I hate that my axles have the useless grease fittings, I will never use them.

[Cummins12V98]

fj12ryder wrote:
So you're saying your bearing packing job was good for only two low mileage years? I think you're wise to leave it to someone else to do now.

OUCH, that even hurt me. 😉

[laknox]

FWIW, my old Komfort had < 10k total miles on it when I had the bearings and brakes checked a couple years before I sold it. I went ahead and replaced all the bearings, races and seals, even though there was almost no noticeable wear. Used US-made Timkens. I never repacked them in the first 13 years, though I shot fresh grease in yearly and checked for any movement while they were jacked up. My "guy" said I could easily have just replaced the seals and called it good. For the price, it wasn't worth taking the chance. I hate the fact that my KZ has Never-Lubes, which means I'd have to change the entire axle if I wanted to go to EZ Lubes, or so I've been told.

Lyle