axel's

[Sam Shields]

Let me share a sad story of a person who should know better. Last summer we took our grand daughter (age 10) to Stone Mountain. Had a wonderfull time. We left on a Friday morning for home and about 5 miles from the camp ground on interstate near Atlanta we had a major bearing falure. We pulled of at a safe place to stop. The door side front axel was smoking and the bearings were gawn. I had to remove the tire and limp off the interstal on 3 wheels. after several hours at a self service I finely got the hub off had to cut the nut with a hammer and chisal. The spindel was runed. I limpted to a rv dealer we were recomended by the rv park. Because I found out there were no axeles to fit my trailer in Georga, Louisiana, Texas, Ohio, these were the areas I had known people to call in the rv business. I took my trailer to Pico RV in the Atlana area, they were very helpfull. We left for home with out our beloved Hi-Lo. About a week later the dealer called and advised the axel on my trailer was no longer made by Dexter axel and would require a retuling of there assambly line to make it for me. I ok'ed the repair at a cost of over $1000.00's for parts. It took about 4 more weeks to get the axel, they repaired it and I drove back about 650 miles to get the trailer. Moral of the story, If I had not forgot to pack my bearings before I left on a long trip I would have saved my self a lot for trubble and time and money. As it would taken about 1 hour and $4.00 to have packed the bearings. and I am a service manager retired after 35 years of experance. DO AS I SAY NOT AS I DO or as I did.
Sam

 

[Neal and Bev]

Sam, I'm so sorry to hear about the un-pleasant events on your trip last summer. it's going to give me nightmares now because I've been a bad boy.

Yesterday I put new tires on our Hi-Lo, I had planned to pack the wheel bearings while I had them off. We had a new neighbor move in next door while I was working so I "had" to visit a bit with them.

Our neighbor behind us was in their yard watching workers put a new roof on their house, so I "had" to visit with them for a bit.

Well.. by the time I did the other chores I had planned, the day was gone and I had to get the tires on the Hi-Lo and get it out of the car port before DW got home from work so she would have a place to park.. and.. I didn't pack the wheel bearings.

Well needless to say I won't be taking any long trips in the "Spirit of Adventure" until I get the wheel bearings packed. For anyone that is wondering, the owners manual says that the wheel (axle) bearings should be packed every 6000 miles or every 12 months.

Thanks for the tip Sam

Neal

 

[RichR]

I make it a habit to have the wheel bearings taken care of when the annual state inspection is done. Otherwise I would forget to do it, or put it off.

 

[MagnaFazer]

Are there any manuals or FAQ's on how to DIY the bearing repacking? I recently purchased a 1994 21FL Hi-Lo and will soon make a trip from SW Florida to Louisiana in the early/middle part of April. I'd really like to do this before the trip.

Nevermind... found it!

http://www.hilotrailerforum.com/att...xter-operation-maintenance-service-manual.pdf

 

[johnpeace]

I have a 1988 Funchaser...it's pretty old and in pretty worn out condition.

Where the axels protrude through the wheel hubs there are rubber caps on the ends of teh axels. Under these caps are grease fittings with new, black, shiny grease oozing out from around them. It looks like the hubs/axles got a fresh injection of grease recently.

Is that sufficient for my older model or is there some further preventive maintenance required?

 

[Neal and Bev]

johnpeace

Sounds like you have the Dexter E-Z Lube system, or something simular, I've always wondered about these. They sound great, but I don't have any experience with them myself. I only piped in on this because I would like to encourage somone that has experience with these to share it with us.

Neal

 

[JMDoering]

Regarding grease caps with grease fittings. Newer ones do a better job of preventing the higher grease pressures and subsequent seal damage that can result from over greasing, but if an inexperienced mechanic pumps a pile of grease in them, its still possible to damage the seals. Excess grease leaking through the inner seal could eventually glop and fall into onto the rotating wheel and get flung out, possibly contaminating the brake pads. The basic problem is that they are easy to add grease to, so they tend to be over greased. Also, lubricants like grease have two functions: not only do they cool the bearing by reducing friction, but they also carry away bearing wear material. That's why old grease looks so dirty, its holding a lot of wear crud. This crud, over time, will act as an abrasive and work to wear down the bearing and races.. eventually resulting in bearing failure. Repacking a bearing puts fresh grease in there and removes all that abrasive crud. Adding grease to the bearing via a grease caps with grease fitting, does not get rid of the crud unless some of the old grease happens to get pushed through the seals. My suggestion is to stick with the plain old grease caps your Hi-Lo came with and have the bearings repacked, if your using it a lot, at least annually.

Incidentally, grease caps with fittings do work well on boat trailers, where there is a good possibility of getting water into the wheel bearings and even washing some of the grease out.

Jim

 

[RichR]

My Hi-Lo dealer does not like the E-Z Lube type axles for the same reasons as stated above. They can do more harm than good if not properly maintained. Don't think that pumping more grease into the hub will take the place of repacking the bearings, it doesn't.

 

[Gord-HILO]

I had the EZ-lube type bearings on our Aliner (preceded the HiLo), and they worked great for the 8 years or so we had the trailer, with lots of road miles. The design of the one we had, encouraged pumping grease in. Excess came out a port in the back of the hub (which was plugged with excess silicone when we got the trailer!), and once you saw new grease you were done. I never had the hubs apart.
I know not all these types are like that though.

 

[sayhonkmon]

Cost of bearing grease job?

What does the dealer charge for a lube job?

 

[Neal and Bev]

sayhonkmon

We did our own, but i did ask a dealer here in Nashville, just out of curiosity. They quoted us $275, included bearing pack, seals and brake adjustment.

Neal

 

[Sam Shields]

Most dealers will charge about 2hrs labor and about $10.00 for seals and about $5.00 for supplies witch includes the grease. This is for a double axel trailer, a single axel would be about half.
Sam

 

[JMDoering]

Sam is right on the labor charge... about two hours in my experience. In our area (inland Pacific Northwest), the RV dealer I generally go to charges $105 per hour for labor. Any competent mechanic can repack a wheel bearing, so when I have our car mechanic do the job it costs about $70 per hour. Best price of all is to follow Neal's lead and do them yourself! Its not much more difficult than setting up camp, and the price of the tools is much less than the labor cost! Jim

 

[RCREYES]

Can anyone tell me what size of grease caps are used? I've only seen 2.441" and 1.98". I would like to give them a try on my next trip and see how they work. I promise to report back and let everybody know how they worked.