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Old 11-29-2010, 08:22 PM   #1
Clwpaddler
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Default All I wanted to do was change the wheels!

I have been studing the posts on the forum in regards to upgrading the tires on my 2001 TM3023 from 14" to 15". Thanks to everyone who has posted in the past about this endeavour. Last Wednesday I stopped by my local metal dealer and purchased two 12" pieces of 2.5X2.5 square tubing with a 3/16ths wall thickness. Four grade eight bolts, washers and lock washers from the local bolt and screw distributor complete the parts for the trailer lift. I also ordered three wheels with a 2600 carrying capacity as well as 3 Maxxum 8008 tires load range D. This entire project was jumpstarted by the fact that after our first trip with the new to us TM3023 I found tread seperation on both 14" Carlisle tires when I got home.

Saturday I installed the lift with no problems at all (1.5 hours start to finish). I decided to grease the bearings since I had no idea when it was done by the previous owner. The right side went fine, with fresh grease replacing the old grease through the EZ Lube axle setup. The left was not so fine with alot of pumping and no grease showing. Off comes the hub and low and behold, the rear grease seal is shot and all my expensive grease is in the brakes.

Off to my local AutoZone and they have the bearings and grease seals for my Dexter axle. If you have to take it apart might as well replace everything with new.

Left side goes together like a charm. Now it's time for the right side and when I pull the right drum, off falls the primary brake shoe lining. Yep completely separated from the brake shoe. This is not how I saw this operation go in my mind. Now here I sit with two hubs ready to go with new bearings and grease seals. The tires and wheels are intransit and should arrive on Wednesday. Now its wait on the brakes parts before I can button this project up.

None of this has been difficult if you have a basic knowledge of wheels and brakes and basic tools. The most frustrating part is the ongoing problems that continue to pop up as I try to get the trailer back on its wheels and put away.

I gues it's better to find this out in the driveway than on the road.

Thanks to all who have gone this route before. Those of us who are new to this travel trailer get to learn from those who have delt with these problems in the past.

Woody
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Old 11-29-2010, 08:40 PM   #2
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Off comes the hub and low and behold, the rear grease seal is shot and all my expensive grease is in the brakes.
That is why I do not use the EZ Lube hubs.....I remove the hubs and clean, inspect, and regrease the bearings every other year. No other greasing in between. I know alot of folks use them, but it only takes once and then you all of a sudden have an unplanned brake job -- that is, if you realized what happened before you need to use your brakes. I use our TM every 1-2 months, however, so if you use your TM less frequently, that may not be a good approach.

Woody - I hope you know you can get those entire brake assemblies, complete with shoes, backing plate, and magnet all assembled, for ~$40 or so. They are a piece of cake to install. Remove the old ones by taking off 4 bolts, put the new ones on, and connect the wires. That's it. If those magnets have never been replaced, now's a good time to do them while you have everything apart.

Dave
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Old 11-29-2010, 09:36 PM   #3
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Hey Woody.........good job. Actually that grease seal failure was a blessing. Like you said, "it's better to find this out in the driveway than on the road".

Complete brake assemblies is the way to go.

I see that you used the 2.5" bars for the lift kit. I sure hope that you didn't drill the holes in the middle of the bars. There isn't much clearance for the torsion axle swing arms.

I think that you will be very happy that you did this mod. It makes a big difference going in and out of driveways and the clearance for you dump valves makes that job so much easier. It sure is nice having the confidence driving down the road knowing that you are less likely to have a blow-out.

There sure are quite a few of us that are using the Maxxis tires now. It will be interesting to see how well they do.

Thanks for sharing your experience.
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Old 11-30-2010, 04:45 PM   #4
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Originally Posted by ShrimpBurrito View Post
That is why I do not use the EZ Lube hubs.....I remove the hubs and clean, inspect, and regrease the bearings every other year. No other greasing in between. I know alot of folks use them, but it only takes once and then you all of a sudden have an unplanned brake job -- that is, if you realized what happened before you need to use your brakes. I use our TM every 1-2 months, however, so if you use your TM less frequently, that may not be a good approach.

Woody - I hope you know you can get those entire brake assemblies, complete with shoes, backing plate, and magnet all assembled, for ~$40 or so. They are a piece of cake to install. Remove the old ones by taking off 4 bolts, put the new ones on, and connect the wires. That's it. If those magnets have never been replaced, now's a good time to do them while you have everything apart.

Dave
spend most of our time saltwater fishing in the Gulf of Mexico on Fl west coast...never had a bearing or grease seal failure with the ez-lubes. The other boat we use is for flats fishing and doesnt have the ez-lubes. Did have a seal/bearing failure within one year, weld splatter where the seal rides. We had taken it back to the dealer for the 20 hour inspection and when I mentioned the excessive grease on the wheel, the seal that later failed, they said that was normal. I pull the bearing every year and repack by hand including the ez-lube. I also get the double lip/spring seals.
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Old 11-30-2010, 07:57 PM   #5
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Default All I wanted to do was change the wheels!

Thanks Dave, I did order the complete brake set-up and now I have some spare parts for on the road repairs. I don't think the EZ-Lube bearings have anything to do with the seal failure. If you are vigilant with your maintiance, the EZ Lube bears are really a very good way to go, new clean grease much more often than once a year.

Wayne, I did place the spacers on the frame and made sure that the side facing the backing plate was flush with the attachment plate on the frame and marked the hole locations prior to drilling. Easy mod with the info from the forum.

Scrubjaysnest, I was born in Safety Harbor on the west coast and have fished for all those years and I agree, rear seal failure has always been a problem on my boat trailers due to the bearing buddy pressure build up which forces the grease under pressure to the rear rather than out the front as the EZ Lube hubs do.

Thanks to all for great advise.

Woody
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Old 12-01-2010, 07:21 AM   #6
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Originally Posted by Clwpaddler View Post

Scrubjaysnest, I was born in Safety Harbor on the west coast and have fished for all those years and I agree, rear seal failure has always been a problem on my boat trailers due to the bearing buddy pressure build up which forces the grease under pressure to the rear rather than out the front as the EZ Lube hubs do.

Thanks to all for great advise.

Woody
Ah, I think I know where the Clw comes from then.
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Old 12-01-2010, 10:25 AM   #7
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Originally Posted by Clwpaddler View Post
Thanks Dave, I did order the complete brake set-up and now I have some spare parts for on the road repairs. I don't think the EZ-Lube bearings have anything to do with the seal failure. If you are vigilant with your maintiance, the EZ Lube bears are really a very good way to go, new clean grease much more often than once a year.

Wayne, I did place the spacers on the frame and made sure that the side facing the backing plate was flush with the attachment plate on the frame and marked the hole locations prior to drilling. Easy mod with the info from the forum.

Scrubjaysnest, I was born in Safety Harbor on the west coast and have fished for all those years and I agree, rear seal failure has always been a problem on my boat trailers due to the bearing buddy pressure build up which forces the grease under pressure to the rear rather than out the front as the EZ Lube hubs do.

Thanks to all for great advise.

Woody
You are correct about too much grease pushing the seals out. Too much grease can also cause your bearings to over-heat.

This is worth a read:
http://www.toyotaoffroad.com/Article...ng_Failure.htm
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