Bearing Maintenance

lapowers57

I bought my T@B one year ago and put 3,280 miles on it.  I took it in to have the hubs repacked and the mechanic found that I had a bad seal that had to be replaced.  The moral of the story is don't ignore your hubs.  I plan to have them repacked each spring and more often if we do any major road trips.

Question, how long should the seals typically last?  What factors might impact how long the last?  I assumed that is is mileage but is there anything else?

Dalehelman

What year is your T@B? Does it have the grease fitting in center of the hub?

KBaggins1

We found out the other day that our 2014 T@B has bearing buddies on it.The giveaway was that the centre cap on the wheels had a removable disc on it to access the grease fitting of the bearing buddy. I pumped in some grease on each side and should be good for the season. Works for our boat, and it weighs 1000 lbs more than the T@B. Most trailer bearings have notoriously cheap seals on them.

ericnliz

The trick is not to put too much in. If it starts squishin' out, STOP!

KBaggins1

Just thought I would add that when wheel bearings start to wear out, they get noisy. They start to give off a low whistling noise that will develop in to a howl.

ericnliz

@KBaggins1, Yup, and don't EVEN think it's a bird whistlin' at 'ya, or a wolf howlin' back, it's definitely NOT a nature call!  

Michigan_Mike

Nothing worse than having a bearing failure out 2000 miles away from home.   

lapowers57

I have a 2016 T@B purchased in May of 2018.  Now I will have to check for the bearing buddies.  I also have this on my boat trailer.  

Verna

As quoted from @irvingj earlier this year concerning the fact that is is NOT a good idea to have Bearing Buddies on a T@B:

"Ditto Verna!  As mentioned, Bearing Buddies work well to keep moisture out... but are really designed for bearings that may get dunked in water. The issue with a "dry" bearing trailer -- like the T@B-- is that the spring pressure exerted by the bearing buddy may pop the inner axle seal and allow grease to enter the brake shoe area.

OK, terrible description, but that's the issue: pushing grease in with a grease gun through a grease fitting on a bearing buddy type of thing can easily overpower the inner axle grease seal and allow the brakes to become grease-soaked and ineffective. Not good."

To find the entire thread discussing the Bearing Buddies, please perform a search for Bearing Buddies, as that is how I found this quote from @irvingj.

KBaggins1

Our T@B came from the factory with bearing buddies. It is a 2014 and we got it new. I have no idea if every T@B made has them but I am thinking most probably do. They are not hard to get rid of, they usually just pull out. Then you can fit in the right size bearing cap and no more buddies.

Sharon_is_SAM

Verna, are the bearing buddies standard now?

irvingj

Verna, thanks for the quote. BTDT describes my experience, taking care of numerous vehicles owned by others while employed as an automotive mechanic, not to mention my own '72 Chevy K5 Blazer that I had for 30+ years and 250+ thousand miles. (Don't ask me about the amount of gasoline that thing consumed!   )

Bearings are important, certainly. Keeping them clean and lubricated is a definite plus, beginning with cleaning out all the old grease and re-filling with fresh. Yeah, I grew up doing that by hand (literally!).... 

In our T@Bs, it usually amounts to a brief "refresh" of the grease, unless you opt to start new. Be advised also: there are some incompatibility issues with different wheel bearing  greases; best to clean out totally if you're planning to put in a different grease and/or don't know what type of grease was initially installed.

I'm surprised that new T@Bs are coming with spring-loaded "bearing buddies." Positive pressure on the bearings should not be necessary (unless you want to see if your T@B floats!), and there's always the danger that the inner grease seal will let go and allow grease into the brake shoe area if new grease is pumped in with too much pressure. IMO, THAT is the real issue.

RollingBnB

Those are not bearing buddies, just external grease fittings to allow some grease be added to the hub.

mikesnewjourney

Looking at a 2007 T@B and was informed that the bearings are sealed and did not need maintained.  I am wondering if this is a fact or do they need some maintenance?  Sealed bearings to me, they get lubed by the differential.  Am I thinking right?  Thank you for your time,  Mike

Michigan_Mike

The EZ lube system incorporated by Dexter Axle Company and used on the AL-KO axles on the T@B units is handy, but an inspection of the bearings should be performed every 12 months or 12,000 miles (as recommended by the factory and manufacturer) and via a certified technician/mechanic, etc.  

https://youtu.be/XT0RKDGgDm8?t=69
I agree with Verna and Irvingj above that squirting too much grease into bearings is an issue and that too much grease could cause a seal to fail and allow grease into the brake drum area and mixing different lubricating bearing grease is never a good idea.  I experienced a bearing failure out in Arizona about 5 years ago that damaged an axle spline,  that required me to change out an axle assembly on a 5-wide Little Guy in a campground.  This created a lot of uncertainty and anxiety for me at the time and thank God that Little Guy networked with one of their distributors, Tom's Camperland in Phoenix who removed an axle assembly from one of their new 5-wide trailers, handed it off to me and we were able to replace it at my camp site.  

I am an advocate for proper wheel bearing maintenance & inspecting wheel bearings, and if you are unfamiliar with it you should hand this chore off to a qualified technician/mechanic and let a qualified individual perform this procedure to ensure that things are done correctly and to help eliminate issues when you are out in remote areas, far away from home and broke down along some deserted stretch of highway.  Wheel bearings are the heart of an axle and I cannot emphasize enough the importance of proper maintenance and inspecting them as recommended by the factory/manufacturer.  
 
Here is Dexter's bearing maintenance video and keep in mind when watching it that this is a video produced by the manufacturer, there is more to it than what meets the eye (been there and done it) and that the task of performing bearing maintenance and inspection is a bit more involved and tedious than what the video actually portrays.   The information contained in the video below is spot on and accurate and when the bearing repacking/inspection procedure is performed as shown in the video it is effective and does work.  

https://youtu.be/GnH-h3W9XvI?t=42

irvingj

Wow, thanks for the trip down memory lane! Can't recall how many times I've performed that operation. Good stuff; nicely done videos. (Of course, now we have those cute latex or nitrile gloves.... )

Good info, Mike. And you're absolutely right, a damaged bearing/axle can get real expensive real fast.

sdenhof

I have a 2018 tab 400 bought new and have put around 8000 miles. Getting ready for a trip of another 4000. What exactly should be done? Just grease them?

sdenhof

@ Michigan_Mike I watched your video mike so will have that done

MuttonChops

sdenhof said:

I have a 2018 tab 400 bought new and have put around 8000 miles. Getting ready for a trip of another 4000. What exactly should be done? Just grease them?

Believe standard is to grease every 12,000 miles or once a year.

It is easy to do.

See:

https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/comment/115135#Comment_115135

N7SHG_Ham

@sdenhof if it were mine, I would remove hubs, clean old grease out, repack, replace inner seals, of course also inspect and adjust brakes while in there. This is easy to do, messy but only requires basic hand tools. If you can't do it, not horribly expensive to have it done, any trailer shop can do it and very good insurance against a failure on road. The bearings, brakes and tires are about the only things that will strand you on road and often the most overlooked until a failure at the worst time.

Mouseketab

mikesnewjourney said:

Looking at a 2007 T@B and was informed that the bearings are sealed and did not need maintained.  I am wondering if this is a fact or do they need some maintenance?  Sealed bearings to me, they get lubed by the differential.  Am I thinking right?  Thank you for your time,  Mike

Yes, on a 2007, the bearings are sealed. Unless the previous owner can prove they've been changed recently, I would get them changed immediately. (I'm on my third set on my 2007). nuCamp stocks the sealed bearings and brake shoes for the Al-Ko frames. Contact any T@B dealer and have them drop ship you a set of each and keep them in your tow vehicle. The sealed bearings are not hard to replace, you just need to have them pressed in and out. My dad and myself replaced them each time, but did take the hubs to a shop for the pressing.

ScottG

I've had this discussion bookmarked for some time, but have yet to perform any maintenance on my six-year-old bearings other than refreshing the grease using the EZ-Lube at the start of each season.

Recently I manually repacked the bearings on my small utility and boat trailers. Messy, sure--but otherwise a very easy job.

For those of you who have done bearing maintenance on simple trailers as well as the T@B, how much more challenging was the T@B given its EZ-Lube innards and electric drum brakes? 

tabiphile

Scott...you are long overdue to service those bearings. If you were able to take care of the bearings on your utility and boat trailers then you are certainly capable of doing them on your T@B. The EZ Lube is just clearance and a Zerk fitting. That has no bearing (sorry) on the job. The brakes do add a bit of complexity to the the job but it should be something you can handle. What you will need to do is tighten the brake adjuster wheel (use a brake adjuster tool, not a screw driver) so that you can pull the drum clear of the brake shoes. Clean, inspect, replace as necessary. Use lot's of brake cleaner and clean rags. Clean the electric brake at the same time. Once the bearings are packed you put it all back together and adjust the bearing pre-load and then the brakes, It's an easy job. If you do not have the golden touch, a torque wrench should be used to tighten the castellated spindle not so that you do not damage the bearings either by overloading or underloading them. There is another thread that covers these steps in very complete detail.

ScottG

Thanks for the tips (and the pun), @tabiphile. I do like living dangerously--I won't tell you when you when those other two trailers I mentioned were last serviced.  :-/

I'll look for that other discussion, too. I know the topic has come up a few times but I happened to have this one bookmarked. 

tabiphile

@ScottG...too funny...
Here are a few old links that might have some helpful information.https://tabforum.nucamprv.com/#/discussion/comment/133133
https://tabforum.nucamprv.com/#/discussion/comment/142472

Since you have really stretched things you should pay particular care to a few things that you might not worry about if the PM was done on schedule.
After you clean off the axle shafts looks very carefully to see if there is any burnishing or scoring. If there is you should be sure that you replace the bearings and races. That's with very light burnishing...if it is pronounced you should probably put it all back together and take it to a trailer shop....for axles. Hopefully not!
If you have been using the Zerk fitting to push grease into the axles look at the rear seal and look for any signs of grease intruding into the hub. You'll be replacing the rear seal either way but grease in the hub can mean that the brakes are toast.

The brakes must be due for an inspection and adjustment. Make sure that the insides of the drum clean up and does not have wear grooves/damage. If they do, brake drum.....and shoes. If that all looks good then simply adjust them after you reinstall the bearings, hub and drum. 
Keep track of the type of grease you are using...and perhaps keep an extra tube or tub for future repacks or if you want to give em a spritz with the Dexter Zerks. Grease types should never be mixed...the carriers can fail. If the carriers fails...yuck. the grease will ooze out like soup.

irvingj

Ditto what tabiphile said -- it didn't used to be an issue, but it is nowadays :
(this from my post some time ago)

Be advised also: there are some incompatibility issues with different wheel bearing  greases; best to clean out totally if you're planning to put in a different grease and/or don't know what type of grease was initially installed.

Better safe than sorry!

ScottG

Thanks for the links, @tabiphile. I also watched the above video from Dexter on the process. Definately looks to be within my pay grade, and I may even undertake it in a couple weeks once the T@B is put up for the season.  

I do have a question about the brake adjustment you mentioned. (I am familiar with the adjustor and have adjusted the brakes as needed.) When you say "tighten the brake adjustor" am I correct that I am actually backing the brakes shoes off of the drum? The video didn't mention this specifically, but it makes sense since tight brakes look like they would impede removal of the drum.

@irvingj, I've used the EZ-Lube zerk to add grease that matches the specifications given in the Dexter axle manual, So assuming they follow their own instructions compatibility should be okay. Regardless, if I'm going to take everything apart I'll likely do a total cleanout anyway. Thanks for the reminder.

When I eventually dig into this, I'll post what I find--good news or bad!  ;-)

irvingj

Sounds like you're all set. When tabiphile said "tighten," I'm sure what was meant was to screw the adjuster (a threaded rod inside a threaded tube) INWARD.

That will shorten the length of the adjuster and pull the shoes inward (closer together), allowing the normal lip that forms on the outer edge of the drums to clear the shoes when pulling them off.

ScottG

Yep, I actually just found the answer to that in @tabiphile's detailed description in one of the discussions linked to above! Makes sense.  :-)

tabiphile

Scott, sorry about that. I meant what I meant, not what I said... Thanks @irvingj for the translation. With brakes I always think in terms of pulling them in towards the hub as tightening but that's really counterintuitive since you actually tighten them to adjust them by pushing them outward towards the inside of the drum..., opening them up. Based upon your experience with trailer brakes you will not have any problems with this...should be a (messy) piece of cake. Be sure to clean off the electric brake and the inside face of the drum while you are there.

ScottG

Looks like I have the same axle as the one described here by @leenscottfl. I also have a cross-listed parts reference from Dexter (which now owns AL-KO).

It seems you can order parts direct from Dexter, but there are also numerous companies that make compatible parts (such as those available from eTrailer).

My inclination is to stick with Dexter, but for those who have done this, does it really matter?