I do not do my own grease jobs, so all I know is from the Dexter Manual and my chosen Rv mechanic.
First you need the right grease with the proper viscosity index. Not all greases are equal!
Second, wash the bearings first to inspect them for any damage(spalling), before re-greasing them.
Yes you need to do this by hand with the hubs off, because at the same time interval (12K or 1 year) the grease job needs doing, you need to check your brakes (magnets etc) and this needs the hubs off.
Yes the zerks have no purpose known to man. Seems to be a sales gimmick. Ignore them! (they are for boat trailers as mentioned above) You don't need to grease them more often than Dexter says, and Dexter says when you do need to, you don't use the zerks.
Yes, even if you don't do 12k per year, you still need to check the brakes because the air cooling holes let moisture in that can rust things, trailers that never move are in more trouble than those which get lots of road time) which in turn means take the hubs off, which means grease by hand etc etc. By the book. But--
Many people, including me, "get away" with not doing them every year with low miles per year. You have no way of knowing, so it is fingers crossed every year you go "over" the one year in the manual.
Another biggie, is that by getting mine done at the shop, they found the holes for the bolts in the equalizers were getting worn bigger (as happens even at less than 10k miles on them) and I needed new bolts and equalizers etc, for big bucks. But at least they found it before anything bad happened.
If I were a shade tree mechanic, I would save money for sure, but also I would do all the routines stated in the Dexter manual ON TIME since the money problem with that would not be a factor.
1. 1991 Oakland 28DB Class C
on Ford E350-460-7.5 Gas EFI
Photo in Profile
2. 1991 Bighorn 9.5ft Truck Camper on 2003 Chev 2500HD 6.0 Gas
See Profile for Electronic set-ups for 1. and 2.
