Al-Ko Bearing maintenance

Sea2Summit

Apparently my 2013 T@B has Al-Ko bearings and hubs, with a grease fitting. When "freshening up" the grease, prior to a big trip, can I expect the grease to come out the front like you would a Dexter EZ Lube bearing, or should I just give it a few pumps and call it good. I'll be removing/inspecting and repacking the bearings after this season. Thanks! 

ScottG

I have AL-KO axles on my 2015, and from what I can tell the hubs and associated parts are virtually identical to the Dexter version. (Dexter now owns AL-KO.)

In either case, you want to pump until the grease (ideally new grease) comes out the front--that tells you the system is sufficiently full with grease.

Note that if the EZ-Lube system has never been used, it may take quite a bit of grease to fill the passages enough to start pushing grease out the front. Be patient--as long as you are not forcing things (and risking rear seal damage) the grease will come!

Horigan

I would also recommend jacking the wheel up and turning it while SLOWLY pumping in the grease.  This reduces the risk of blowing out your rear seal.

tabiphile

A couple things to consider;
If the rig is new to you and if you do not know the service history you should strongly consider pulling the wheels to inspect and hand pack the bearings, inspect the spindles and the brake components. If everything is "OK" this should take you no more than an hour per wheel and probably less. While you are closing things up you can prefill the the hubs with grease so that you don't need to push a whole tube of grease through when you use the alemites at a later date. If you find bearing issues or spindle damage the process becomes more complicated. There have been many posts on this site about how to do this, the tools you need etc.
If you choose to use the grease gun approach and follow @ScottG's advice you should add a couple steps to his recommendation. You should carefully and properly elevate the wheels (one at a time and using the correct jacking locations and jack stands) so that they are clear of the ground and able to turn. You should slowly turn the wheel as you pump the grease (slowly and carefully) into the hubs. The turning of the wheel helps to distribute the grease in the hub.
Finally, what grease will you use? If you do not know what the hubs were previously serviced with you should not guess and mix carrier types. Mixing carriers can results in grease failure and bearing, spindle and hub damage. If you are uncertain, you should consider removing the hubs and bearings and repacking with the correct grease, a lithium based high temp bearing grease.
If you know what was used previously, carry on with the grease gun as has been suggested.