Bearing temperature

On my trip home yesterday the hubs were around 115 degrees and the tires were 140 degrees using a Harbor Freight infrared thermometer.

The actual temperature isn't extremely important. The thing to watch for is uniformity. If one hub or tire is substantially higher than the others it is indicative of a possible problem.

After catastrophic failure of 2 EZ lube bearings, I've renamed them EZ lose axles. Hand packing only, for me. Best of luck to you!

Be very careful using the EZ lube. It is very easy to get grease on the brake shoes and ruin the brakes. I hand pack mine only. In fact my trailer came from the factory with too much grease in the hubs and it had gotten past three of the four seals and onto the brake shoes of one wheel. Dexter did replace all of my brakes under warranty.

I have worked on vehicles for over 50 years, and contrary what you think, wheel bearings do not consume grease. You may get slight leakage do to a seal going bad, but have never seen that cause a bearing to go dry. More brakes have probably been ruined by over greasing, when excess grease has no where to go but inside the brake drum

Lots of good comments here!
I will never again use the EZ lubes. They're a great idea but fail in actual use (yes, I know how to use them and I don't wan't to hear it).

When your brakes are weak, grabby or you suddenly have a much hotter wheel, you'll know you've gotten grease on the shoes.

I feel mine. They will be warmer on the sunny-side, but not too hot to touch. Have a smooth trip. I've had EZ-Lubes on several trailers over 20 years and never had a bearing or brake problem.

Greased the bearings using the EZ lube on the TT this weekend. Will be taking a long trip next weekend and ill be keeping an eye on the temps. What temperature should a normally operating bearing be running?

Check all hubs and they should be 'sort of' around the same temps. If one is substantially hotter or cooler something is amiss. Temps will also depend on how much braking you have been doing. If you check after a long downgrade with braking the temps will be higher. The best thing to do is to check every so often and if one hub starts to read substantially higher or lower it is a clue to a possible developing issue.

I use EZ lube and be slow and careful when injecting grease in and also slowly turn the wheel when doing it. My Dexter axle manual says to repack the bearings once a year so I don't necessarily get the EZ lube benefits.

My bearings run around 120 degrees or less. It is common for one side to run hotter in the sun than the other side of the trailer. Most trips they seem to run around 105 or so. If you see temps up above 150 then you might want to take a look at them and see if the grease is getting old or a brake is dragging or something.

I use an infra red thermometer to check them at fuel stops.

I agree the most important thing is all bearings run about the same temperature. If one is much hotter than the others there may be a problem. I just checked mine last week with an infrared gun after running 100 miles. They were about 100-105 F when the ambient was about 80 F. I also agree you do not ever need to add grease. Grease is not consumed and if it has been compromised by driving through a lot of water or the trailer as not been used for a long time then repack the bearings and check the brakes.

I have a temp function in my TPMS (internal tire sensors) and I see the tires running at 115-125 depending on ambient temps outside, so assume the bearings are about the same temps. Headed oiut this weekend and will bring the infrared thermometer and shoot the hubs.