Wheel bearings throwing grease - Page 2

RockyMtnRay · 05-21-2004, 07:20 AM

Quote:

When you pump new grease into EZ-Lube, the old grease collects under the little sheet metal end cap (see the sketch).

Err, um, what sketch? ???

**Bill** · 05-21-2004, 11:54 AM

Thanks, Ray. Dunno what happened to it, but I edited and re-attached, and it's there now.

Bill

RockyMtnRay · 05-21-2004, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Thanks, Ray. Dunno what happened to it, but I edited and re-attached, and it's there now.

Bill

Ahhh...much better, now I can see what you were referring to. This is a job I need to do tomorrow. Before I go through the potential complications of removing/replacing the end caps I'm going to try removing most of the old grease under the end caps with some Q-Tips. No slicing and dicing of the fingers that way, yet I may be able to remove the bulk of the grease. We shall see, we shall see.

05-21-2004, 08:54 PM

OK, Bill, I just gotta know. Does anyone really pull their hubs and check the bearings? I mean if they make cars and truck where that never has to be done, why is it needed on trailers? Sure seems like a lot of work, and study to find out how to do it, and mess for something that was done away with by the auto industry 40+ years ago.
???

**Bill** · 05-22-2004, 07:49 AM

Ray wrote:

Quote:

Before I go through the potential complications of removing/replacing the end caps I'm going to try removing most of the old grease under the end caps with some Q-Tips.

I THINK you can lever the end cap off with a screwdriver inserted behind the little ridge against the hub - you can see the ridge in the sketch. And when you are done, tunk it back on with a hammer and a piece of board, as Mike D mentioned. The important thing would be to avoid deforming the cap. Let us know how the Q-tip idea works out.

And Windbreaker wrote:

Quote:

Does anyone really pull their hubs and check the bearings? Sure seems like a lot of work ... for something that was done away with by the auto industry 40+ years ago.

I don't know how many people do it - I know I personally have not been very good about it. It's a personal choice, and of course if you fail to do it and a bearing seizes up, you have chosen to bear the consequences. These include replacement of the bearing and hub, maybe the entire axle, and probably a tire. Not to mention the inconvenience (it will never happen while your TM is sitting in your yard, but will happen 200 miles from nowhere at night in the rain). And of course Dexter Axle is off the hook.

Your real question is why do we have to do it on a TM if we don't have to do it on a car? I suspect that's a rhetorical question, and you know the answer - cost. For my part, I will continue to change the grease before every cross-country trip, and be grateful that it's easy to do on an EZ-Lube. You may remember what was involved in repacking bearings on a "standard" hub, back in the day. It was really a messy, time-consuming, pain in the neck.

Bill

**MikeD** · 05-22-2004, 10:16 AM

The Reliable Sure Lube is similar. It looks like a regular wheel bearing cap with a zerk fitting in the end, and it seems that they are just press-fit onto the taper of the wheel hube. When you pump grease into the zerk, it fills the inside of the cap and then under pressure flows through the axle. So normally the cap is full of grease, and it's not surprising that some leaks out at the seam between the cap and the wheel hub. See the attached picture.

I tightened up my caps by gently tapping on them, and I'll see if there is any improvement when we go on our next trip this weekend. I'll let you know. The leakage just may be a consequence of the design.

I've seen the issue of yearly removal of the wheel and repacking the bearing discussed on other boards. My sense is that most people believe it should be done yearly, but many just add grease though the E-Z Lube of Sure Lube zerk fitting and have run normally for years and years. It's sure tempting to skip this and just add grease every couple of months.

Another reason given for removing the wheel is to perform a yearly brake inspection for wear and any damage. How are others dealing with brake maintenance - besides periodic brake adjustment ? Do it yourself or dealer. I've seen a few reports of brake contamination with grease thrown from the inside of the axle (confirming Bill's report from Dexter). I'm not sure how much I would notice poor brake performance in normal driving, and would hate to find out in an emergency situation.

MikeD

**MikeD** · 05-26-2004, 06:13 PM

Bill,

I just got back from a short trip after "adjusting" my Sure Lube wheel cap (by gently tapping around the rim of the cap with a hammer and a 2 x 4 - so as to not damage the zerk fitting). Round trip was about 120 miles and no leakage from that wheel. YMMV.

After looking at the design of the Sure Lube, it looks as if the cap is completely full of grease after filling. I'm guessing that "snugging up the cap" is a short term fix. I won't be surprised if I see a re-appearance of the grease swirls. I'm curious to see if the appearance of grease is accompanied by the cap coming loose again.

MikeD

p.s. -- I do remember dirty, greasy wheels on my old Rambler in the 60's. I always thought that black wheels and hub caps were "invented" to cover the mess. ;D

RockyMtnRay · 06-14-2004, 08:38 PM

Quote:

The important thing would be to avoid deforming the cap. Let us know how the Q-tip idea works out.

A little follow up here. I greased my bearings before my last trip...took an incredible amount of grease before I saw clean grease flowing through the bearings (like about 12 oz of grease per wheel) so suspect I was losing a lot around the zerk fitting with the cheapie grease gun I bought. But anyway, once I did finally see clean grease coming out of the bearing, I used 3 or 4 Q-tips per wheel to scoop out the excess grease (pulled out enough that I could readily see the bearing nut). Then took a 500 mile trip. Nary a spec of grease got slung out onto the wheel. Q-tips have many uses. ;D

**Bill** · 06-15-2004, 08:37 AM

Thanks, Ray. That's what I (and I suspect many others) needed to know. As of today, a box of Q-tips goes in my travel box, along with the rubber gloves, power cord adapter, spring bar lifter, hitch coupler keeper/clip, hitch ball grease, spring bar oil . . . (Need a bigger box!)

Bill

**B_and_D** · 06-30-2006, 09:12 PM

I just finished greasing the wheel bearings, this was my second time. We have had one wheel with constant grease streaks on it for the whole time we've had the TM. This time, I took off the grease cap on the wheel that was throwing the grease. What I noticed was that the grease cap on the wheel that throws the grease was banged in ever so slightly (I didn't pull it off the first time, so it wasn't me...) in one spot and that one flat spot was allowing the grease to escape onto the outer wheel. I could see grease protruding from it before I took it off. I didn't pull off the other grease cap but left it on; it was on there pretty good and seeming to do its job properly (no grease escaping) but it made it harder to clean out the excess grease.

I will have to go buy a new one on Monday. Luckily there is a supplier in Salinas that stocks a lot of Dexter parts.

I've learned how to better use the grease gun (cheapie mini-cartridge gun). I kept pulling the plunger back out, and twisting it in, over and over, and it seemed to help pump the grease into the fitting much better (great directions came with it, not). When I finally took it off after doing this over and over, and getting no further resistance, the gun was actually empty of grease. No cut fingers this time, still quite a bit of a mess, but it was contained.