grease bearing

[ringneck]

what would be the best wheel bearing grease?.can you mix the grease,bought use 5th wheel and it has easy lube axles.i use napa wheel bearing grease and dont know if i should mix the grease or just change them all.and may be a better grease out their.the grease that is on the 5th is dark black,and hard to get off your hands.i dont know if it can from the artic fox factory with it.

 

[JR]

If it were mine and I didn't know the history I'd have some new seals on hand and pull the hub's, clean and manually repack. Most people grossly over grease those easy lube axles and you end up with grease all over the brake shoes (assuming it has drum brakes)
This also gives you the opportunity to check everything over - brake components, bearings, seals, etc.

 

[GAmes]

I bought a brand new North Wood trailer with EZ lube axles and three of them had grease in the brake drums from the factory. There have been many discussions about pumping grease rather than hand packing. Mixing grease is not a good idea, they are not all compatible.
https://www.turbodieselregister.com/threads/ez-lube-hubs.255364/

 

[Dan_69GTX]

What others have said. and.... Can you mix grease? Yes and no! Depends on the base type of grease. Incompatible greases typically form a liquid.
See here for the compatibility matrix.
https://www.machinerylubrication.com/Read/1865/grease-compatibility

So would I just grease it not knowing what is in there?!? NEVER!

Make sure you get wheel bearing grease with a grade (viscosity) of NLGI 2. Most autoparts stores only stock this grade of grease, but most likely have different base types available. If you go to a farm store they may (should) stock many grades of grease and not all are the extreme pressure grease for wheel bearings. Grease ranges are 000, 00, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. I typically have 000 - 2 in the shop.

 

[Cummins12V98]

With a new to me set of bearings on a trailer I completely dis assemble, clean and add new seals and hand pack with AMZ/OIL Red grease. Never have had a bearing issue.

 

[B.G. Smith]

I use Valvoline, it is red and a light grease. Over the years I have found the bearings run cooler and last longer with lighter grease. bg

 

[Ozymandias]

I use Redline for all my grease applications.
https://www.redlineoil.com/cv-2-grease

Got one with my Carli Balljoints and found it a perfect all use grease.

 

[DavidC]

I use Royal Purple for all bearings and steering/ball joints. Been using for at least 15 years

 

[jgillott]

If it were mine and I didn't know the history I'd have some new seals on hand and pull the hub's, clean and manually repack. Most people grossly over grease those easy lube axles and you end up with grease all over the brake shoes (assuming it has drum brakes)
This also gives you the opportunity to check everything over - brake components, bearings, seals, etc.

You can understand why people over grease these bearings. Look at the instructions on the side of my cargo trailer for the Dexter axles.

"Apply grease until new grease comes out around the spindle nut". I can imagine some unknowing owner just pumping grease until it is coming out everywhere.

 

[GAmes]

In order to have grease coming out around the spindle nut the entire hub has to be full of grease. So "over" greasing is part of the process. A really stupid system for trailers with drum brakes.

 

[JR]

What year is your rig J? My 2003 Forest River 5er has 5500 lb Easy Lubes and I have not seen that sticker. That's not to say it wasn't there originally as I bought it used. What horrible advice from the manufacturer!

 

[GAmes]

My 2016 Fox Mountain doesn't have that sticker either. I bought it new.

 

[jgillott]

What year is your rig J? My 2003 Forest River 5er has 5500 lb Easy Lubes and I have not seen that sticker. That's not to say it wasn't there originally as I bought it used. What horrible advice from the manufacturer!

It's a 2010. Purchased it new.

 

[ringneck]

thanks everyone,pulling hubs in two weeks to wet now.it is a 2015 32/5 artic fox,i like it better than my cameo.so i will stick with napa bearing grease.

 

[Sidewayzz1969]

Royal purple

 

[capt fast]

what would be the best wheel bearing grease?.can you mix the grease,bought use 5th wheel and it has easy lube axles.i use napa wheel bearing grease and dont know if i should mix the grease or just change them all.and may be a better grease out their.the grease that is on the 5th is dark black,and hard to get off your hands.i dont know if it can from the artic fox factory with it.

NLGI No. 2, Lithium base grease is what Dexter specs. brand names don't mean much as long as it meets NLGI specs. lots of folks are just putting in whats handy. there is sodium based greases used in electric motor bearings which looks the same but mixing sodium and lithium based greases would be like lubing a bearing with gravel. read the labels. synthetic grease is ok so long as it meets the spec and you remove all other greases from the bearings. Avoiding mixing lubricants no matter what the marketers say is a wise move. it is not their bearings at risk. that's fifty years of industrial maintenance talking at you. but like all the free advice you get online it is worth what you paid for it...

 

[jacknife]

Just take them off and repack by hand . inspect bearings and races also the spindles . Just forget about the stupid zert. i always wonder if they are packed right and the seals are tight why would you need to add grease. Where does the old grease go besides out the rear seal and on the brakes. it sure doesn't evaporate !

 

[NIsaacs]

Just take them off and repack by hand . inspect bearings and races also the spindles . Just forget about the stupid zert. i always wonder if they are packed right and the seals are tight why would you need to add grease. Where does the old grease go besides out the rear seal and on the brakes. it sure doesn't evaporate !

I agree, they will go 50k miles easy. I only repack my front wheels on my 4x2 Dodge when it needs brakes, that might be 80-100k miles.

 

[EDankievitch]

I've had these E-Z lube axles on a few boat trailers with fair results. I'm also running disk brakes. as long as the wheel bearings were installed and torqued properly... Most call for when installing new bearings packing the bearings with grease installing them. Spin the hub while torqueing the hub nut to 40 foot lbs then back off 1/8 turn or until you can bend the tab washer or install the cotter pin. there should be little to no play in the bearing. A few years back there was a very good article in a heavy duty truck mag that showed the number one reason for wheel bearing and seal failure was the bearings were loose. The bearing being loose would pound the races and destroy them in short order. Think about the pre load on your pinion gear shaft on your rear end. if the shaft is not held true the gear would be destroyed in no time.
Good quality seals are a must. On the boat trailers we'll grease them through the rubber cap until you see some old grease come out. When they are full of grease water can't get in when you splash the trailer.
Last thought spend the extra money on good quality bearings I got a deal 2 years ago when servicing my personal trailer... not such a good deal as the races cracked with just under 3000 miles on them I lost a wheel when it failed. No water No rust it had good clean quality synthetic marine I think Valvoline or Mobile... I checked the rest of the hubs and found all the races had cracks ether starting or all the way through across the race. Bad Chinese junk. So much for a goo deal.... Timken or SKF only from now on.

 

[JR]

ED, Is the hub nut even finger loose after 1/8 turn?
On standard hubs and EZ Lubes Dexter says loosen after initial torque of 50 ft lbs (without moving the hub) then tighten by hand and back off to the first castellation spot to get the cotter key through. NeverLube is different.
I could definitely see more bearing failures due to looseness than over tightening, people equate over tightening to overheating but don't think about the consequences of being loose.
I know there are alot of different methods to get to the same general set point but I have always followed Dexters recommendation to the T, down to the 50 ft lb torque while spinning the hub. Lots of people just set initial preload by feel and don't have any problems, that's ok too. One of many things I'm just anal about .