Which axles do I have?

[drillagent]

Bought a used 2012 Montana 3750FL this past year. We've only camped in it a couple of times. Including a four day pass for Thanksgiving. (The last time I have that many people in the trailer at one time)

So, during the off season I'm making plans to do some preventive maintenance before our last family vacation to Yellowstone. (2300 mile round trip). Since I don't know the last time the bearings were greased or the brakes checked (I'm running at max gain on the brake controller) I thought it would be a good idea to have a professional look it over. So here's the issue.

I have a stack of about 30 manuals for various items in the trailer. The owner's manual says "check the manual that came with the trailer." I found a Dexter Axle manual, but it covers three different bearing configurations: Standard, E-Z Lube, and Nev-R-Lube.
Short of pulling a tire off, how do I find out which bearing configuration I have? I've checked the website and it's no help.

Is it a good idea to have these things checked, or am I just worrying for nothing? It would save me a lot of money if I don't have to lube the bearings. Thanks for any help.

P.S. I must have the bug, because I'm going nuts not being able to go camping. I spend most of the day on this or other forums/blogs looking for camping info/ideas/new items. Every time we try a new recipe for dinner, we make a list of what would be good to cook in the trailer. I come up with excuses to visit the trailer in storage. Wish I had a generator so I could stay in it. Glad I got that off my chest.

[Slownsy]

LR stands for load rating G or H is the rating of the tire. Dexter also supplies disk brakes. Good luck.
Frank.

[C-Bears]

You probably have EZ-lube would be my guess. If you go to the Montana Owners Forum (MOC) you will get the info you need.

I am doing my own bearings. Just have to get the wheels off the ground, keep spinning the wheel, and slowly pump a lot of new grease in.

Be sure to test your brake controller setting on a gravel road prior to thinking you need to spend some money there. When I first got my new unit I had mine set on 9.5 because I just didn't feel like I was getting enough braking out of the trailer. First CG with gravel roads I played around with it and could easily lock them up. Now I have it set on 8 with plenty of brake.

[Cummins12V98]

drillagent wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:

Me Again wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:
Before wasting any money on what you have now bite the bullet and have Kodiak Disk brakes installed with greaseable bearings.

You WILL thank me!!!

And think about a tire upgrade to LRG(if not already installed) or LRH 17.5"! Chris

That too!

Wanted to get him hooked on the brakes before spending any more of his money.;)

Ok, you've got me going on the disk brakes. I had thought of that before, but didn't know how or where to go. Watched a few videos, so I think up a little more up to speed. But you're going to have to explain what LRG or LRH 17.5" are. As far as tires, I'm planning on upgrading to Sailun S637 size 235/85R/16.

The tires mentioned so far seem to be doing well in the real world. Me personally I will stick to GY for my RV tires. They will take care of you if you have a tire blow and have damages.

I have had one set E two G's and one H GY tires all with many thousands of miles and not even a flat.

You will really love the disks and a G tire!

[Shrek51]

As an old brake mechanic, the EZ Lubes are fine but you still need to be careful of blowing out the rear seal. They also must be removed and cleaned once a year to ensure no metal flecks or burnt grease.

[drillagent]

Cummins12V98 wrote:

Me Again wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:
Before wasting any money on what you have now bite the bullet and have Kodiak Disk brakes installed with greaseable bearings.

You WILL thank me!!!

And think about a tire upgrade to LRG(if not already installed) or LRH 17.5"! Chris

That too!

Wanted to get him hooked on the brakes before spending any more of his money.;)

Ok, you've got me going on the disk brakes. I had thought of that before, but didn't know how or where to go. Watched a few videos, so I think up a little more up to speed. But you're going to have to explain what LRG or LRH 17.5" are. As far as tires, I'm planning on upgrading to Sailun S637 size 235/85R/16.

[Cummins12V98]

Me Again wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:
Before wasting any money on what you have now bite the bullet and have Kodiak Disk brakes installed with greaseable bearings.

You WILL thank me!!!

And think about a tire upgrade to LRG(if not already installed) or LRH 17.5"! Chris

That too!

Wanted to get him hooked on the brakes before spending any more of his money.;)

[Bob_Olallawa]

fred42 wrote:
Dexter Axle, which my understanding was to remain separate from Lippert, is very good about documentation. You can go under the trailer and get the big number (Preconfig #) off the axle and then call Dexter.


They will email you a document like this that is very helpful when buying spare parts. I make sure I travel with this document.

This post gets you all the information on your axles.

[Mile_High]

I believe you have Dexter 7K axles - might be derated to 6,800 or so because of the ST tires.

[Me_Again]

Cummins12V98 wrote:
Before wasting any money on what you have now bite the bullet and have Kodiak Disk brakes installed with greaseable bearings.

You WILL thank me!!!

And think about a tire upgrade to LRG(if not already installed) or LRH 17.5"! Chris

[Cummins12V98]

Before wasting any money on what you have now bite the bullet and have Kodiak Disk brakes installed with greaseable bearings.

You WILL thank me!!!

[fred42]

Dexter Axle, which my understanding was to remain separate from Lippert, is very good about documentation. You can go under the trailer and get the big number (Preconfig #) off the axle and then call Dexter.


They will email you a document like this that is very helpful when buying spare parts. I make sure I travel with this document.

[path1]

Lots of youtube vids available. If your lucky you might have a sticker with all the info. That is if you can read it. My sticker was right on top of axle(facing toward underneath of rv) and in middle of axle tube, but it was useless because it was marred up from road debris and dirt etc.

X 2 on above posts and once you pull hub you should be able to tell everything you have by taking bearing to a trailer shop (not necessarily an auto part store). They have books to cross reference bearing number to find out the axle you have.

And yes, brakes and bearings are kind-of important.

Might not hurt (the first time into them) to have an expert look at them to find out why your at "max gain" to be sure everything is OK.

Like others I also carry a spare bearing just in case I need to in middle of nowhere. Some carry a spare hub because some have to be pressed on and off by machine that might not be available when you need it.

I was at tire shop couple weeks ago (picking up wives car) and asked about re-packing bearings and they wanted $47.00 a hub. I'm sure that price was if nothing was wrong, just re-pack bearings. And not sure how good of job they will do for that price.

Have your elec brakes looked at. Seems high to me to be at "max gain". You might need just brake adjustment or something else that could be serious. Last place you want to be in doubt on anything with your RV is your brakes IMO.

[Irelands_child]

Most likely they are Eze-Lubes. If you have a hole in the wheel dust cap and can see a rubber plug and covering a zerk fitting that's what they are. Nevr-Lubes and standard bearing arrangements have a solid cap, no rubber plug. Nevr-lubes sound like a good idea, but after 'experiencing' them on my last 5er, will NEVER own another with them. That trailer ended up with new Eze-Lube axles and our new 5er (Montana) has Eze-Lubes

If indeed you have the Eze-lube bearings, you will still have to disassemble, clean, inspect relube every couple years. Dexter says 12000/12 months which is a CYA statement. Just be smart about your maintenance intervals. Also, don't expect to pump grease into that cavity ad nauseum. Over filling and using too much pressure (use a hand pump grease gun) can rupture the grease seal.

[Dog_Folks]

rattleNsmoke wrote:
That's perty easy. Remove the wheel and look at the bearing dust cap. If it's the conventional type you can remove with a mallet, it's Standard. If the cap has a grease fitting, it's an EZ-Lube and if the cap doesn't look removable and is VERY large it's a Nev-R- Lube. I had the last type on The Beast and swapped the axles out for EZ-Lubes. I like being able to inspect and re-pack them annually. Take the time to do the axle maintenance (If you can). It's a very good habit. Good luck!
Mike

The above is very accurate except with EZ Lube you do not need to remove the wheel as stated. The hub cap, maybe, but not the wheel.

On our EZ Lube axles there is a black rubber cap center on the wheel. If you take that off the will be a grease fitting. No need to remove the wheel.