Photos of wheel bearing lubrication with grease gun and zerk on Dexter axle using scissor jack

jimcenname · February 24

Below are photos of my T@B 400 lifted with the scissor jack from my Nissan Frontier when I greased the wheel bearings. Notice when I started the grease was a dark color, dirty. nuCamp repacked these bearing 20 months ago while replacing my brakes. In another photo the fresh red Mobile One synthetic grease pushes out of the bearing indicating I've pumped enough fresh grease through the bearing. I spin the wheel while pumping the grease into the fitting.

Citruscountytab400 · February 24

I would never trust grease fittings for my yearly greasing. By removing the wheel and replacing the rear main seal, you can clean all the old grease out and inspect the bearings. The biggest issue people have on the road is a rear main seal leaking grease or letting go ($7.22 part) and destroying the bearings. I do like using the red grease, but for the 45 min per side it takes to lift and remove the wheel/remove the drum and bearings - it's worth not being stranded for days with a $1000 bill.

On another note: you can also inspect and clean the drum brakes when you grease the bearings, so it really is a win win to do it correctly.

qhumberd · February 24

This is similar to my experience @jimcenname and thanks for the photos. The EZ Lube does what it is designed to do, which is flush the grease in the inner and outer bearings. In my 2019, I have done a full service with inspection and repacking every other year, and EZ lube as you show on alternate years. I do adjust the breaks each year to make sure they are equal.

This works for me as we do not get anywhere near the 12K miles yearly on the axles. And my last inspect a few months back of the bearings and axle basically look identical to the new replacements that I have in case of problems.

Please note that this is not EXACTLY what the Dexter service manual recommends, so each needs to do what they feel most comfortable doing.

jimcenname · February 24

Just to be sure I did it correctly:

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5021717/uploads/editor/6g/h1klkqqfeax7.jpeg

jimcenname · February 24

qhumberd said:

This is similar to my experience @jimcenname and thanks for the photos. The EZ Lube does what it is designed to do, which is flush the grease in the inner and outer bearings. In my 2019, I have done a full service with inspection and repacking every other year, and EZ lube as you show on alternate years. I do adjust the breaks each year to make sure they are equal.

This works for me as we do not get anywhere near the 12K miles yearly on the axles. And my last inspect a few months back of the bearings and axle basically look identical to the new replacements that I have in case of problems.

Please note that this is not EXACTLY what the Dexter service manual recommends, so each needs to do what they feel most comfortable doing.

@qhumberd. What change do you think I should make to improve the process? Thanks for your feedback.

qhumberd · February 24

@jimcenname Your pics look spot on. I am sure some could question the stability and safety of the single lift point, and I use a small jack stand as a second point of stability. Having said that you don’t have a lot of space on the lift point for each axle.

My other thought while you have the wheel up and able to rotate is to adjust the brakes. For that you have to get behind the hub and identify the opening for the star wheel adjuster. There are quite a few threads on this already but I use a brake spoon tool, rotate UP on the star wheel till the hub won’t turn, then rotate DOWN until you feel a slight drag on the hub. That has always worked for me but as I have to reach behind the wheel I make sure the lift point is safe. Hence my first point.

Then on alternate years I pull the hub and inspect and clean and repack the bearings, and finish with brake adjustment.
As I mentioned, I feel comfortable doing this since I never exceed a few thousand miles per year on the trailer.

Best wishes

Cherokee · February 24

I attempted to do this once, but ran out of grease before the grease coming out was clean. I got more lube, but I pulled the drum, cleaned and hand packed the bearings using far less grease then before . I replaced the seals and inspected & adjusted the brakes after placing the drums back on - sometimes, it's better to get your hands dirty

pthomas745 · February 25

For those of us without the tools and skills to take a wheel hub apart and put it back together properly, using the EZ-Lube process is much easier. It does take skills and some simple tools, of course. If you do have the skills and tools to completely "hand pack" the bearings, great.

The worst possible option is not doing your bearings at all, hesitating because you can't sort out which is the "right" way.

Jim is also a full timer...using the EzLube may be the most convenient way for him to get this work done himself and stay out on the road.

Jay_and_Kat · February 25

Last spring we did the EZ-Lube for our bearings and it was a pretty smooth process. We used a jack we'd bought for use with our Jeep, suitable for "soft" surfaces which was JUST barely short enough to fit under the lift point. This year, we're going to EZ-Lube in the spring and then this fall schedule a visit to a local small trailer shop for a full bearing check and lube.

As for getting our jack under the camper, we're going to roll both sides up on some leveling blocks first to get a bit more clearance. The jack we use is a combination bottle jack / ratcheting jack stand, so it's kind of the best of both worlds (Powerbuilt Unijack, 6000lb version)

Cherokee · February 26

Jay_and_Kat said:

Last spring we did the EZ-Lube for our bearings and it was a pretty smooth process. We used a jack we'd bought for use with our Jeep, suitable for "soft" surfaces which was JUST barely short enough to fit under the lift point. This year, we're going to EZ-Lube in the spring and then this fall schedule a visit to a local small trailer shop for a full bearing check and lube.

As for getting our jack under the camper, we're going to roll both sides up on some leveling blocks first to get a bit more clearance. The jack we use is a combination bottle jack / ratcheting jack stand, so it's kind of the best of both worlds (Powerbuilt Unijack, 6000lb version)

Indeed, if you don't mind using a lot of grease EZ-Lube in spring and Full bearing service in the Fall sounds like a good comprise. We have a bottle jack we carry with our Jeep and Jack-stands in the garage but your UniJack is a great idea!

subkron · February 26

I wonder if the 4000lb version would work wrt to lift height? The max lift height is reduced from 21"max on the 6k weight to 18-3/8", but It is lighter by ~7.5lbs plus you can save a few bucks. 4000lbs is more than adequate for any T@B.

Jay_and_Kat · February 26

@subkron quite likely you could, we bought the larger jack so we could have it for our Jeep for when we hit some of the orv trails in case we need to swap out a tire.

manyman297 · February 27

I’m in the middle of doing my biennial (yes, I know) repack. Found some slight wear/discoloration on the inside of the bearings so I went ahead and bought some Timken bearing and race replacements. Probably overkill but now I have spares just in case. Better safe than stuck on the side of the road.

EZ lube would be amazing if my paranoia would allow me to use and trust it. But if I hadn’t removed the hub and seen the wear on the bearings maybe that could’ve led to a disaster.

I like what @qhumberd does with every other year full repacks. Makes sense.

tabiphile · February 27

manyman297 said:
I’m in the middle of doing my biennial repack. Found some slight wear/discoloration on the inside of the bearings so I went ahead and bought some Timken bearing and race replacements.
EZ lube would be amazing if my paranoia would allow me to use and trust it. But if I hadn’t removed the hub and seen the wear on the bearings maybe that could’ve led to a disaster.

This is exactly why relying on the EZ Lube is not the best way to maintain the bearings. By opening up the hub, you can not only see if there is wear or damage to the bearings and spindles, you can also sort the damage out. When someone shows me images of dirty grease getting pushed out by clean grease and tries to suggest that this is evidence of this system working, I know better. That discolored grease is carrying evidence of wear. That coloration is caused by tiny bits of metal that are the hallmark of wear.
Yes, a pump of fresh grease at the start of a trip is a good use of EZ Lube, but to maintain the bearings, pull the hub. Repack properly. Inspect the brakes and adjust them. Look at the spindles and make sure they are "ok". Retorque the castellated nut properly to make sure that the bearings are properly pre-loaded. The entire service can be done in under an hour. Is an hour a year too much effort on a rig that otherwise needs next to no maintenance?
and....it's been hashed around here for years, but scissor jacks are dangerous. Using one w/o jack stands is too. Bottle jacks are also tippy. These specially configured jacks are not as safe as any lightweight floor jack, a jack that is low profile, stabile and capable..

manyman297 · February 28

@tabiphile Yeah, I’ve yet to utilize the ez lube zerk out of paranoia. I feel much better just repacking and inspecting everything. And like you said, it doesn’t take that long.

I had some definite wear on the bearings as the grease within the rollers was black. And I only have around 5k miles on them since the last repack.

Blueespy · March 2

Every other service I replace the seals/bearings. Between I just to a lube as you do. I do it yearly around Oct/Nov. We easily put 12k on our t@b 400 a year. I also carry an IR heat gun where during stops I check the hub temperatures. Looking not only for consistency between the two hubs but monitoring how hot they've gotten.

SLJ · March 4

EZ Lube axles are basically for boat trailers that go in the water frequently. It's too easy to pop a rear seal off using the EZ Lube fitting. On a camper nothing beats an off axle cleaning, inspection, and repack.

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Photos of wheel bearing lubrication with grease gun and zerk on Dexter axle using scissor jack

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2019 T@B400 Boondock Lite "Todd"

2019 T@B400 Boondock Lite "Todd"