Dexter Axles -- Common & Reliable?

Racklefratz wrote:

MPI_Mallard wrote:


I thought the same thing until one went bad after 20.000 odd miles and four years,i check em' every time I pull now and replace them every four years.

Nevrlube is a trade name for a product-nothing more, and not to be taken literally. ALL trailer running gear requires regular maintenance.

As I see your a new member I'll assume your new to fifth wheel trailers as well. The 50 mm Nev-R-Lube® Cartridge Bearing is a TYPE of a bearing sold by Dexter which is made by Timken, which is a SEALED bearing cartridge(meant to be maintenance free hence the moniker Nev-R-Lube)that Dexter guarantees for 100.000 miles or 5 years. These types of bearing cartridges have been widely used in truck, vans and cars such as Jeeps for years. According to a friend who is in the bearing supply business the bearings Dexter uses/sells were originally made in France to a very high standard but now is mass-produced in China and we can draw our own conclusions on that!

As far as "regular maintenance" goes the only way to tell if a Nev-R-Lube is going to fail is to remove the tire and do a visual check which is something I doubt most fiver owners do before a road trip, however before I take a long trip like my trip to Florida and back I do a visual before leaving to check spin and mostly grease leaks from the seal, but these bearings can fail at any time and when mine did it wrecked everything from the spindle out at a considerable cost, frankly I would never own another trailer with those bearings on them again and due to the age of my fiver it's not cost efficient to replace the whole kit n' kabootle so I'm stuck with Dexter,,,,for now.

Red Green:
If life gives you lemons, throw 'em into
a quart of vodka.