Trailer Bearings
 

Hi guys,

I have a triple axle trailer with grease fittings behind the rubber plugs in the dust cap. They are Dexter hub/drum assemblies.

I was going to remove all the hub assemblies and clean and repack the bearings. People tell me all I need to do is pump in new grease until the old grease is displaced. Is this true?

If so, the only gain is being able to inspect them.

Thoughts?

You can fill them till they pop too. If your going to do any real towing take them apart and pack them. Just my .02

Thanks J. I already have the seals and new rubber plugs since mine are all dried out so I will just take it apart after I get it to Chips to get the boat off.

I'm trailering to Tawas for the races and then Boyne in July so makes sense to just do it right.

I have the same set up. I have had them completely apart once when I replaced all the brake plates and rear seals. Every year, I just pump fresh grease in until it pushes out all the old stuff. I do use an IR temp gun and check the hub temps at every fuel stop while trailering. Never had an issue.

x2

with easy-lube spindles (I have 5 easy lube axles) just don't pump grease in too fast or you can push out or around the rear seal.
I use an IR gun also

I did all new bearings, races, seals, and ruber caps. i also flushed the grease out of the spindles, and use dall new GREEEN grease. I packed bearings, but then needed to fill the cavity between the two, so I did the slow motion pumping and it did come out the front, but go SLOW, you can pop the rear seal out.

Recently I got to replace the brakes on a farm trailer which has Dexter EZ lube spindles. The rear seal had failed, and the amount of grease that was all over the brakes and inside the drum was amazing. There was no way the brake could have worked on that wheel due to how well lubed it was.

i would think if you dont have a problem then new grease will be fine. But if its a new trailer to you, then its probably worth while to pull the hub, check the bearings, and replace the seal and pack some grease into them. If your not going into saltwater then I would think you could probably go 3-4 years in between totally tearing them apart.

Had my trailer restored about five years ago and checking all of my bearings now. Which grease and bearing brand do you guys recommend?

I've been religious about keeping my bearings lubed with the bearing buddies, but I want to make sure they're in good shape.

Just went through the process on my triple axle Eagle. New timkens, races and seals. Switched to Scheaffer 229 grease and the hubs have never been cooler! I had no problems before, but the wheels would be pretty warm to touch, since change they are cool, checked with a fluke IR and was 68-72 degrees. Thought something was wrong but all were consistent. Good luck.