Wheel bearings - grease?

[bellis]

We bought our Imagine 2400BH last summer. We went camping on several trips and one bigger trip. Trying to prepare for this year, do I need to grease the wheel bearings? I don't have my wheel in front of me....if I need to do this, what is involved? Do I need to take the wheel off to access and apply the grease? Is there a grease fitting?

About how many miles before this should be done?

[Jkwilson]

Repacking bearings is a little more involved than “applying grease”. You disassemble the hub, remove the bearings, inspect the bearings, races and brakes, clean the bearings, repack them, replace the seal and put things back together. Then you adjust the brakes.

[bellis]

Repacking bearings is a little more involved than “applying grease”. You disassemble the hub, remove the bearings, inspect the bearings, races and brakes, clean the bearings, repack them, replace the seal and put things back together. Then you adjust the brakes.

That sounds like a job I definitely do not want to do. I assume this repacking is not needed after 1 season of camping. But, how would I know? After one season of camping do I need to apply grease?

[Cate&Rob]

bellis

Wheel bearing grease does not go away by itself (and does not need to be re-applied) . . . unless there is a problem with a bearing or the seal. Trailer wheel bearings are very old (1950s at best) technology . . . so, they require 1950s vintage service. The main reasons for repacking the bearings by hand are the things that go with this. Visual inspection of the bearings, visual inspection of the brakes and replacement of the seal that keeps bearing grease from reaching the brakes. Most trailer axle manufacturers recommend doing this once per year or every 12,000 miles. The maintenance manual that came with your Imagine should define the specific service expectations for your axles.

Rob

[ncitro]

That sounds like a job I definitely do not want to do. I assume this repacking is not needed after 1 season of camping. But, how would I know? After one season of camping do I need to apply grease?

I do mine once a year, which usually works out to 15-20,000 miles. That said, since yours have never been checked I would do the first repack and inspection early rather than late. Once you know they are good you can decide if you want to push it or not, but if it was me I would want to get a look at the bearings and know there is no unusual wear.

[Schiefswret]

We bought our Imagine 2400BH last summer. We went camping on several trips and one bigger trip. Trying to prepare for this year, do I need to grease the wheel bearings? I don't my my wheel in front of me....if I need to do this, what is involved? Do I need to take the wheel off to access and apply the grease? Is there a grease fitting?

About how many miles before this should be done?

I watched my local Mobile Tech, RVIA Certified (+18 yrs experience) repack mine so I could understand the procedure. The procedure was very much as Rob (Cate and Rob) described. He said he has done easily a thousand wheel bearing repacks. It took him about 20 minutes each as he knew what he was coming to my house for in advance, has a high capacity air compressor mounted in his service truck and carries tons of tools, shop supplies, extra parts, etc. He told me I was over due and he recommends every 7000 miles or 12 months whichever comes first, if I want to play it safe. My original grease had turned from bright red to dark grey and he said I was lucky that he didn’t find any signs of overheating or metallic particles in the grease or between the bearings. Since his charges are a little less than many other mobiles in my area I’m ok with the recommended frequency. I’ve used him four times now with total satisfaction and his reviews are consistently spectacular. That’s my .02. Good luck.

[Lonestar]

Schiefswret, 20 minutes per wheel is absolutely amazing! It takes me about 1 1/2 hours on each wheel. But I'm old and slow.

I've always serviced my bearing at about the 18 month mark, with maybe 6K miles on them. I can honestly say I've never found any of my bearings that needed grease or looked dirty. But.............you can never be too careful.

[Jlawles2]

If you are setup with all the right tools I can see 20 min a hub. It usually takes me longer than that to get the freaking seal started and set. I'm a bit out of practice, but at one time I could pack a bearing by hand no fancy tool in about 2 minutes. So with all the tools pulled out, it would have to become an assembly line. Do both on one side at a time (I have 2 jacks). It would probably take me loner to clean the bearings now days since I don't have access to the cleaning and disposal stuff like I did years ago.

I've done the through hub fitting to ensure the bearings were full (axle failure will do that to you). I was amazed that the new axles were packed the way they were. By the time I got home, 2 flats min play in all 4 hubs. NOT IMPRESSED. Not certain if it was the Chinese bearings, or the load on the axles (yes I weighed the unit and yes it was under). Every time I pulled it, when I got home, it was jack up and reset the bearing play. Always finger tight and back off till the clip grabbed. Not impressed with the new nut retainers by Dexter or the sloppy load washer between the nut and the bearing (there was at least 1 flat of play in the washer on the D spindle).

I have pictures that will make you sick. Temp checked the hubs at every stop on the way out, all read the same. Day 2 - 65 miles in and we were down for the count.

[Guest]

For the seal install, cut a piece of 2x4 about 6 inches long. Set the seal in the hub and lay the 2x4 on top (large side up/down) and with a hard blow from a hammer at the center of the 2x4, drive the seal in.

Jim

[Scott'n'Wendy]

For the seal install, cut a piece of 2x4 about 6 inches long. Set the seal in the hub and lay the 2x4 on top (large side up/down) and with a hard blow from a hammer at the center of the 2x4, drive the seal in.

Jim

Similar to this, I cut an old baseball bat (that was headed for the firewood pile) down to about a 5" piece. Great seal driver.

[bellis]

Well - we probably put 1,308.5 miles or so on it last year. We got it last summer.....so it's also not been a full year yet. I may have my dad and father-n-law look at with me (they both have grease guns) and my father-n-law just did his Forest River Nobo after a year (he said they were known for being dry). I doubt I will be able to tell without removing the wheel, but will give it a look and am probably going to wait until next year. Again, not at a year and no where near the above mileage.

Thanks all!

[Cate&Rob]

For the seal install, cut a piece of 2x4 about 6 inches long. Set the seal in the hub and lay the 2x4 on top (large side up/down) and with a hard blow from a hammer at the center of the 2x4, drive the seal in.

Jim

Before you hit the flat 2x4 hard to insert the seal . . . go around the seal with light taps (using the end of the piece of 2x4) to make sure that it is evenly started into the seal recess in the hub. One hard blow on a crooked seal will destroy the seal (ask me how I know this . . . many years ago in my "learning" process )

BTW . . .the seal recess is deeper than the height of the seal. This is on purpose. Normal seal position is flush with the back surface of the hub, but if this means that the seal lips are running in wear grooves on the spindle, the seal can be set deeper in this recess so that the lips run on a fresh surface of the spindle.

Rob

[Guest]

Before you hit the flat 2x4 hard to insert the seal . . . go around the seal with light taps (using the end of the piece of 2x4) to make sure that it is evenly started into the seal recess in the hub. One hard blow on a crooked seal will destroy the seal (ask me how I know this . . . many years ago in my "learning" process )

BTW . . .the seal recess is deeper than the height of the seal. This is on purpose. Normal seal position is flush with the back surface of the hub, but if this means that the seal lips are running in wear grooves on the spindle, the seal can be set deeper in this recess so that the lips run on a fresh surface of the spindle.

Rob

Whatever folks are comfortable with is best. I level the board and seal and with one smack, the seal is in. I've never messed one up, but I did do this for a living many years ago, on much larger scale hubs. Had seal drivers for use on heavy trucks.

Jim

[christnoll]

What am I missing here. The manufacture says that you are supposed to repack annually without pulling the hub or bearings? I assume most of this discussion is old school and the EZ-Lube is a newer design? https://youtu.be/XT0RKDGgDm8

[ncitro]

What am I missing here. The manufacture says that you are supposed to repack annually without pulling the hub or bearings? I assume most of this discussion is old school and the EZ-Lube is a newer design? https://youtu.be/XT0RKDGgDm8

Mine are Lippert not Dexter but I think the same recommendations apply. Disregard the zerk on the axle, those are really meant for when the axle is used on a boat trailer. Annually you want to pull the bearing assembly apart and repack it by hand. That way you can inspect the bearing and race for abnormal wear or discoloration before reassembling it.