EZ-Lube or Bearing Buddy?
06-22-2012, 09:49 PM
#31
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06-25-2012, 11:08 AM
#32
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The Bearing Buddies and the Airtight's work on the same principle, that of pressurizing the hub so that water is not sucked into the hub past the seal as described earlier in this thread. Either should be a great system and the only time when grease should be on the wheel is if either is over pressurized. Remember that the only time they need to be pressurized (lube for BB or air for Airtight) is at the ramp right before submersion.
I am now running the EZ lube system and so far so good even without the pressurization. I will admit to a certain paranoia about the lack of pressurization and may put the Airtight system on for that reason alone.
One note on the EZ lube system (my particular experience is with Tie Down Engineering hubs) is that the seal insertion depth is critical to keeping the grease in the hub and off the wheel, brakes etc. Seat the face of the seal even with the lip of the hub and no deeper. It is my experience that you generally seat the seal to the depth of the chamfer on the hub (provided to make it easy to start the bearing race and seal into the hub bore). If you do that on these hubs the seal is too deep and it will leak. Again, do not overfill. Leave a little air space in the cap behind the rubber plug for thermal expansion of the grease.
Dan
I am now running the EZ lube system and so far so good even without the pressurization. I will admit to a certain paranoia about the lack of pressurization and may put the Airtight system on for that reason alone.
One note on the EZ lube system (my particular experience is with Tie Down Engineering hubs) is that the seal insertion depth is critical to keeping the grease in the hub and off the wheel, brakes etc. Seat the face of the seal even with the lip of the hub and no deeper. It is my experience that you generally seat the seal to the depth of the chamfer on the hub (provided to make it easy to start the bearing race and seal into the hub bore). If you do that on these hubs the seal is too deep and it will leak. Again, do not overfill. Leave a little air space in the cap behind the rubber plug for thermal expansion of the grease.
Dan
06-25-2012, 10:10 PM
#33
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I have the easy seal and now two years in a row I`ve greased them and the grease is all over the brakes again. what a mess.. gonna try to replace the rear seals again I guess..
My experience has not been good .\
EDIT: just took apart one side and yeah.. buy stock in paper towels and brake cleaner, the brakes were coated with grease
My experience has not been good .\
EDIT: just took apart one side and yeah.. buy stock in paper towels and brake cleaner, the brakes were coated with grease
Last edited by ICDEDPPL; 06-26-2012 at 10:43 AM.
09-17-2014, 02:04 PM
#34
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Location: Rolla/LOTO MO
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09-17-2014, 08:44 PM
#35
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If you pump the grease in to fast you can push the seal out. When possible I like to jack the wheel off the ground and rotate as the grease is going in, or have someone slowly drive the trailer forward as you are pumping the grease in.
09-17-2014, 08:55 PM
#36
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I just repacked and replaced my ez-lube axle seals..
I did pump grease in on one axle before I took it apart to see how effective the ez-lube system is on getting all the old grease out. I was impressed! You have to jack up the tire and spin it while pumping the new grease in as the directions say. I took it apart after I got clean grease only to come out the hub. It took a full tube of grease but it got every speck of old grease out... The system does work if you follow the directions and make sure that you start off with warmed up axles. Take it out and beat on the brakes before you start pumping the new grease in. It will flow better and you will have a lot less chance of blowing out a seal.
I did pump grease in on one axle before I took it apart to see how effective the ez-lube system is on getting all the old grease out. I was impressed! You have to jack up the tire and spin it while pumping the new grease in as the directions say. I took it apart after I got clean grease only to come out the hub. It took a full tube of grease but it got every speck of old grease out... The system does work if you follow the directions and make sure that you start off with warmed up axles. Take it out and beat on the brakes before you start pumping the new grease in. It will flow better and you will have a lot less chance of blowing out a seal.
09-18-2014, 03:39 AM
#38
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NONE of this works!
IF you grease your trailer axles thinking your helping all your doing is blowing the rear seals out. Doesn't matter if you have EZ lube and the grease travels through the spindle to the back...pushes up against the REAR SEAL as its forced back to the front. Or if you have bearing buddies forcing from the front to the back.
Now the air tight look interesting to me but there's no way it's perfect. You have to understand these trailer parts are machined to crap specs. Look at the running gear of a trailer its about as high tech as a riding lawn mower! Seriously these trailers carry the weight of a pickup and the axles and suspension are a joke when compared!
Worst part is once you lose a bearing your spindle and hub are never the same.
Solution
Completely take apart clean, inspect, new seals minimum, replace whats needed, and HAND pack with fresh grease! This should be done every year BEFORE you have a problem. Stop touching them and just completely repack them. Its pretty inexpensive to have done actually. And is the only true way to know your stuffs ready to roll.
IF you grease your trailer axles thinking your helping all your doing is blowing the rear seals out. Doesn't matter if you have EZ lube and the grease travels through the spindle to the back...pushes up against the REAR SEAL as its forced back to the front. Or if you have bearing buddies forcing from the front to the back.
Now the air tight look interesting to me but there's no way it's perfect. You have to understand these trailer parts are machined to crap specs. Look at the running gear of a trailer its about as high tech as a riding lawn mower! Seriously these trailers carry the weight of a pickup and the axles and suspension are a joke when compared!
Worst part is once you lose a bearing your spindle and hub are never the same.
Solution
Completely take apart clean, inspect, new seals minimum, replace whats needed, and HAND pack with fresh grease! This should be done every year BEFORE you have a problem. Stop touching them and just completely repack them. Its pretty inexpensive to have done actually. And is the only true way to know your stuffs ready to roll.
09-18-2014, 03:43 AM
#39
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iTrader: (5)
I just repacked and replaced my ez-lube axle seals..
I did pump grease in on one axle before I took it apart to see how effective the ez-lube system is on getting all the old grease out. I was impressed! You have to jack up the tire and spin it while pumping the new grease in as the directions say. I took it apart after I got clean grease only to come out the hub. It took a full tube of grease but it got every speck of old grease out... The system does work if you follow the directions and make sure that you start off with warmed up axles. Take it out and beat on the brakes before you start pumping the new grease in. It will flow better and you will have a lot less chance of blowing out a seal.
I did pump grease in on one axle before I took it apart to see how effective the ez-lube system is on getting all the old grease out. I was impressed! You have to jack up the tire and spin it while pumping the new grease in as the directions say. I took it apart after I got clean grease only to come out the hub. It took a full tube of grease but it got every speck of old grease out... The system does work if you follow the directions and make sure that you start off with warmed up axles. Take it out and beat on the brakes before you start pumping the new grease in. It will flow better and you will have a lot less chance of blowing out a seal.
This is the only way that it MIGHT work IF the rear seals hold. But what a pain! Especially on other trailers besides boat that need greasing in colder weather. You have to beat on the trailer, warm the tubes of grease up so it flows, jack each wheel up one at a time and spin them...and still chance blowing out the rear seal.
I hate trailer axles! Lol!
