ScottG wrote:
JJBIRISH wrote:
ScottG wrote:
JJBIRISH wrote:
It looks normal… the weep hole is behind the rubber plug… the grease is supposed to come out the weep hole that is it purpose… the grease is feed from the back bearing to the front bearing then out the weep hole…
There is no reason what so ever to worry about EZ lube axles getting grease on the brakes if the grease is correctly applied…
People will feed you a lot of BS about this, but the only way for the grease to get to the brakes is threw a bad seal, or someone not properly greasing the EZ lube bearings and ruining a good seal…
With a used trailer the problem is you don’t know how it was done, or if the right grease was used…
You also don’t know the condition of the brake shoes, drums and the magnets, therefore it’s a good idea to check them… for the time being if there is no abnormal play in the bearings replace the rubber plug and go camping…
So anyone with different experience and opinion than you is spouting BS? Or lying?
What an arrogant and rude thing to say. With such an attitude it would be hard for anyone to take you or your advice seriously.
What I am saying is the only way for the grease to get to the brakes is through a bad seal, or someone not properly greasing the EZ lube bearings and ruining a good seal…
for someone to say it is normal to have grease on the brakes because you use the EZ lube feature IMHO is pure BS…
And therein lies the rub. It's not "BS" when someone has different experience from you. (Or as I suspect in this case, just a lot more experience)
There's no rocket science to using the poorly designed EZ lubes - they fail because it's easier to push grease past a rubber seal than it is to push it though the tiny spaces of the bearings and the 1/8" X 3" long connecting hole between them - especially when they're already packed with grease.
And that is not "BS" - it's a differing opinion.
“I can (and do) make the statement because I and others I know "properly used" them and had a 75% failure rate. And in my own case it was with a new trailer and correct seals.”
“I've seen a 50% failure rate where grease ended up on the brakes - and this was after they were lubed exactly per the instructions”
Sure our opinions differ but I’m not talking about opinions… I have no idea what experience you have nor do you have any idea what mine is, but I have been RVing most of my life, have bought, built and sold many trailers in my life and have about 18 years of full time RVing… my Hornet has 9 years of full time use where I have used the EZ lube, my sons have both RV and equipment trailers with EZ lube, my grandsons 4 wheeler race trailer has EZ lube type axles and I know plenty of RVers with them that have had no failures cause by the use of the EZ lube… again I am not talking about our different experience...
Also I never addressed you, your opinion or your experience… you just jumped on my post to make a issue of it because we have been through this before…
I have found no evidence to support your 75% or 50% claims or anything even coming close to it… states having annual safety inspections would have a field day doing brake repairs if there was anything behind the assertion…
as I stated in another thread, if you have any evidence of your claims they should be offered to the NHTSA because it would be a true safety defect that would deserve a recall… but in all the years since they have been available there has been no recalls, no investigations or even complaints been made…
Aside from that… No company would open themselves up to the product liability of producing a product that knowingly causes a major safety defect…
the idea behind the EZ lube is twofold… submersion for boaters…
Like the TPMS are designed for those that wouldn’t normally check their tire air pressure, the EZ lube allows for those that wouldn’t normally maintain their bearings anyway, but it also gives others a way to lubricate the bearings between normal maintenance periods…
Snip:
The EZ Lube bearing system was designed for two things. One was to allow
boat trailer owners a way to add some grease after immersion in water and
the other for other trailer owners to add grease without tearing everything
down in between the required yearly inspection and repack. I was service
manager for Dexter before the EZ Lube was developed and what I found is that
most trailer owners do not perform the required axle maintenance. By having
EZ Lube the owner now has a way to get grease to the bearings that he
normally would let go dry. The EZ Lube has helped many owners avoid bearing
failures by giving them an easy way to add grease. Should they still
teardown the axle and inspect and re-grease the bearings _ absolutely. We
recommend this in our service manual. Will every owner do this? 26 years in
the business tells me that most won't. I have attached the section from our
service manual that addresses EZ Lube and our maintenance schedule.
Rick Kapsa | Product Manager
Dexter Axle - Company Headquarters
Snip:
