Never Lube Bearings

[MMeilicke]

Jan 2005 I installed disk brakes on my 5th wheel which came with never lube bearings. In March 2009 all four bearings turned up bad. Mileage traveled was around 40 to 45,000. The problem was failures in the plastic seals. These bearings have been used by the two major brakes suppliers that I know of. All four of my bearings were replaced under warranty. I am told that the vendor who supplied the bearing corrected the problem around two and half years ago. So if you see any grease leaking on the inside of the tire rims or around the hub or if you can hear unusual noises coming out of the wheels, and your bearing are over two and half years of age, you might want to have your bearings checked out.

 

[HBarlow]

Hmmmm. Thanks for the tip. Are they Dexter products? I usually have confidence in Dexter but anyone can make a mistake.

My HitchHiker is two years old this week and has been pulled approximately 20k miles. It has optional big brakes and sealed wheel bearings. Next time I prepare for a trip I'll look at the backside of the wheels for evidence of leaking bearing grease.

 

[MMeilicke]

Actually, the supplier of the brakes really is not important as, I suspect, any supplier would use what they thought were good bearings. The point is only be aware of this potential problem.

 

[Ron Bissett]

why lube sealed bearings?

Hmmmm. Thanks for the tip. Are they Dexter products? I usually have confidence in Dexter but anyone can make a mistake.



My HitchHiker is two years old this week and has been pulled approximately 20k miles. It has optional big brakes and sealed wheel bearings. Next time I prepare for a trip I'll look at the backside of the wheels for evidence of leaking bearing grease.

I haver saw a rig with sealed bearings to me sealed bearings mean no lube for the life of the bearings. Why would the axle come with never lube axle if sealed bearings are used. ? Ron

 

[HBarlow]

I haver saw a rig with sealed bearings to me sealed bearings mean no lube for the life of the bearings. Why would the axle come with never lube axle if sealed bearings are used. ? Ron

I don't understand your question.

The axles have no need for lube and no means of being lubricated. The Dexter bearings I am familar with are sealed and need no lube. They come with a five year guarantee and I guess their expected service life is around five years. The marketing name for them is "Nev-R-Lube. "

I haven't heard of any problems with Dexter sealed bearings but don't assume they are perfect. My guess is it is possible to have a bad one.

 

[Ron Bissett]

Well I am taken back on this ,Never lube is the name of a axle line from Dexter that incorporates a system of lube with a zerk and pumping grease is suposed to lube the outer and inner bearing Regular bearings are used with this set up. I have used and seen plenty of sealed bearings but never saw them used on a trailer . If a seal on the bearing leaked the bearing would burn out but little or no grease would pass the seal . This sealed bearing is fine if brake check is done at least yearly Sorry for any confusion I may have caused. Ron.

 

[HBarlow]

Ron,

I think you are confusing this product with a similar one which had a hole drilled in the outer portion of each axle and a zerk installed and used standard wheel bearings. It was designed to allow lubing of the bearings (and brake shoes, brake drums) with a grease gun forcing grease through the axle center and into the cavities where the bearings ride (and beyond the seals into the brakes. ) I can't remember what that feature was named but it was something similar to but different than Nev-R-Lube.

The system the OP was commenting about and I was replying about is a newer, better system which uses factory packed sealed bearings that literally do not require any additional lube, supposedly for the duration of the warranty period of five years.

 

[GAmes]

Harvey, those are called EZ Lube.

 

[HBarlow]

Harvey, those are called EZ Lube.

Thanks Gary, that's it. I knew it was a simple little name but my feeble aging brain couldn't locate it among all the dust and cobwebs.