Dexter Nev-R-Lube™ verses Dexter EZ Lube axles - discussion pro/con?

[Guest]

Here are additional pdf's from Dexter on the Nev-R-Lube.

Notice the specifications on wheel offset.

Jim

[Yoda]

Yoda
If you are seriously considering the nev'r'lube axles, maybe check and see if they are the same design as back in the mid 2000's. I think Glendale used them up till 2009?

Here is a picture of some disassembled nev'r'lube cartridges. According to the guy who took the pic, 18000km on the bearings before he replaced them.

Edit Those bearings are numerous years old but low mileage. They didn't get that way over one season, just not a lot of miles per season. Those were taken off a Titanium fifth wheel last year.

Scott for 12000 miles thy seem to be OK. Was this a replacement due to issues or normal maintenance do to age? The plastic retainers show no heat damage or wear, but two show possible heat on the outside or the cartridge, but that could be corrosion/rust discoloration from the hub - hard to tell. The race in the top of the picture looks Ok too. Am I not seeing something I should. While being a Civil engineer, me and mechanical stuff don't get along at times. I don't see any anti-seize compound that Dexter recommends for an install.

I really appreciate the information your bringing here.

Thanks

Keith

[Jlawles2]

interesting that they say the 50 mm can have an offset of up to 0.5" (12mm-13mm) at 7k and 0.19" (5mm) at 8k.
BUT the 35mm and 42mm require 0 offset.

You had 10mm offset wheels on what bearings and what load?

[Scott'n'Wendy]

Scott for 12000 miles thy seem to be OK. Was this a replacement due to issues or normal maintenance do to age?

Keith

He replaced them due to age. They did not fail him. Pat said there seemed to be some kind of abrasive in the bearing because it was not really smooth, but he also said he thought they would have made it another year. They weren't that bad in his opinion.

[Scott'n'Wendy]

interesting that they say the 50 mm can have an offset of up to 0.5" (12mm-13mm) at 7k and 0.19" (5mm) at 8k.
BUT the 35mm and 42mm require 0 offset.

You had 10mm offset wheels on what bearings and what load?

My nev'r'lubes were 42mm cartridges. 10mm offset wheels. 8800 pound dry weight fifth wheel. (2006 Titanium 25E30DS)
To tell you the truth, I don't remember discussions about 50mm cartridges. They may be newer? Or maybe they had them only on the big 38-40 footers and I didn't follow that discussion.

[Scott'n'Wendy]

Scott for 12000 miles thy seem to be OK.
Keith

Remember though. Taking that cartridge apart was an autopsy type operation. He doesn't get to reuse them. Their next stop is the bin. I'm not sure if pressing them off the hub ruins them, but disassembling the cartridge certainly does. To me, 18000 km is not long service.

PS I see your recent trip through our great, though expensive, country has you easily converting km to miles..lol

[Scott'n'Wendy]

Scott,

See attached by Trailer Life in regard to your experience.

Jim

Ha...yes Jim I received that back in 2010. I sent in my statement of claim for the axles replacement and actually was reimbursed almost the complete cost of my axle swap. The money showed up quite a while later - like 2 or 3 years if I remember right. With Glendale being liquidated I figured I'd be lucky to get $50 out of it.

You must be quite an accomplished internet searcher. I'm surprised you found that.

[Guest]

Ha...yes Jim I received that back in 2010. I sent in my statement of claim for the axles replacement and actually was reimbursed almost the complete cost of my axle swap. The money showed up quite a while later - like 2 or 3 years if I remember right. With Glendale being liquidated I figured I'd be lucky to get $50 out of it.

You must be quite an accomplished internet searcher. I'm surprised you found that.

Scott,

I get around. LOL. After searching and your valuable feedback on the importance of wheel offset, I could go either way with the Nev-R-Lube or EZ Lube hubs. Since I go three seasons on my EZ Lube bearings at around 3K miles total, service would be more often where the Nev-R-Lub bearings could be ran a minimum of 5 years so this option looks attractive. If we are ever able to travel the country, the Nev-R-Lube bearings look even better since I would keep the 5 year interval but would have additional miles on the rig. I wonder if Dexters 5 year/100K mile warranty would also cover the axle should their bearings fail and damage the spindle? Keep in mind the 5 year warranty is if Dexter installs the bearings. Do they have a dealer network?
I believe to check the bearings with the specifications from Dexter could provide additional information if a problem is on the horizon. Jacking up a rig is easy to do with a bottle jack axle adaptor. Also using disc brakes would reduce or eliminate the risk of overheating which would take out a seal.

The design of the Nev-R-Lube is not an issue with the much larger outer bearing as compared to our EZ Lube bearing. Dexter should have done their homework in understanding the radial and thrust loading for each axle category and rim offset is obviously a critical requirement.

So that's my perspective where I am not buying new axles and would never do this if I needed axles and had to buy new rims so I'm stuck with the EZ Lube bearings.

Jim

[Jlawles2]

I know it's easier to MFG the tapers such that the inner is smaller, However in this instance I would thing a straight roller bearing or a ball bearing would be a better application. Tapered bearings need to have known tolerance. Being able to inspect ensures that the tolerance can be maintained. Putting those tapered in a sealed cartridge just means it has to be PERFECT the first time. I think all major auto mfg went through a learning curve with the new cartridge style front hubs.

[d2reid]

In 2010 my 41' Cedar Creek found a pothole in Oklahoma bending the spindle. I had mega problems with the LCI axle system on that unit. So I stopped in Southwest Wheel in San Antonio, TX. I really wanted to get to MorRyde but couldln't. I got an axle upgrade, 17.5 H rated hubs and tires. Their engineer talked me into Never Lube bearings. I was hesitant because they had been getting bad reviews and had failures. He assured me that their problems had been fixed and they would be the better choice for me as I am maintenance challenged.

I haul heavy, and many miles. After two years I stopped back by and they inspected the six wheels, four bearings were seeping a little. They got replaced under warranty. No problems with them for the next 5 years, and no maintenance. Still good when I got my Momentum in 2017.

On my new Momentum I would squirt a little grease in every once in a while, but decided to do the Performance Brake upgradein 2019. No bearing problems, just wanted better brakes. They installed the Kodiak hubs. EZlube? not sure of the brand but they have a zirk so I would squirt some grease in there from time to time. February of 2020 I cooked a bearing in California. Limped into a truck/trailer facility and had all of the bearings replaced and repacked. 6 wheels, 4 of them got Timken bearings and 2 got some other brand. They have been running cool since.

Sitting still this summer I pulled the wheels. Since I was not having any issues I decided not to pull the hubs as the chances of me getting all 6 put back together correctly is not very good. I did tighten one about a quarter of a turn as it was finger loose and sloppy. Then I squirted grease into them and wiped the old grease off until new grease started coming out. I know this is not the correct way to repack bearings. If I make it Washington to Florida this fall without bearing issues I will pat myself on the back, if not, mo money....

Given my tendencies and experiences if given the option I would go with the sealed bearings. All bearings require some type of maintenance. But with the sealed bearings I had less maintenance. After adding the grease my wife made me throw away the clothes I was wearing.

[Guest]

I know it's easier to MFG the tapers such that the inner is smaller, However in this instance I would thing a straight roller bearing or a ball bearing would be a better application. Tapered bearings need to have known tolerance. Being able to inspect ensures that the tolerance can be maintained. Putting those tapered in a sealed cartridge just means it has to be PERFECT the first time. I think all major auto mfg went through a learning curve with the new cartridge style front hubs.

Joseph,

Most of the auto hubs use ball bearings. The contact point is small and they will deform under severe impact. The roller bearings have far more contact to the race and would survive heavy impact loading. All bearings need tolerance so they can be lubricated.

Jim

[Guest]

In 2010 my 41' Cedar Creek found a pothole in Oklahoma bending the spindle. I had mega problems with the LCI axle system on that unit. So I stopped in Southwest Wheel in San Antonio, TX. I really wanted to get to MorRyde but couldln't. I got an axle upgrade, 17.5 H rated hubs and tires. Their engineer talked me into Never Lube bearings. I was hesitant because they had been getting bad reviews and had failures. He assured me that their problems had been fixed and they would be the better choice for me as I am maintenance challenged.

I haul heavy, and many miles. After two years I stopped back by and they inspected the six wheels, four bearings were seeping a little. They got replaced under warranty. No problems with them for the next 5 years, and no maintenance. Still good when I got my Momentum in 2017.

On my new Momentum I would squirt a little grease in every once in a while, but decided to do the Performance Brake upgradein 2019. No bearing problems, just wanted better brakes. They installed the Kodiak hubs. EZlube? not sure of the brand but they have a zirk so I would squirt some grease in there from time to time. February of 2020 I cooked a bearing in California. Limped into a truck/trailer facility and had all of the bearings replaced and repacked. 6 wheels, 4 of them got Timken bearings and 2 got some other brand. They have been running cool since.

Sitting still this summer I pulled the wheels. Since I was not having any issues I decided not to pull the hubs as the chances of me getting all 6 put back together correctly is not very good. I did tighten one about a quarter of a turn as it was finger loose and sloppy. Then I squirted grease into them and wiped the old grease off until new grease started coming out. I know this is not the correct way to repack bearings. If I make it Washington to Florida this fall without bearing issues I will pat myself on the back, if not, mo money....

Given my tendencies and experiences if given the option I would go with the sealed bearings. All bearings require some type of maintenance. But with the sealed bearings I had less maintenance. After adding the grease my wife made me throw away the clothes I was wearing.

I'm hard on clothes too. LOL. We use a lot of the Tide Rescue pre-treatment where it seems if there is something oily or dirty near by, my clothes will find it. Dexter claims a very small film of oil from the Nev-R-Lube bearings is ok.
Folks will tell you not to pump grease into the EZ Lube bearings but honestly in a marine application, they should be able to handle this as long as its with a hand held gun and pumped in slowly.
Something important about the sloppy or loose bearing nut. The bearing is adjusted by torqueing the nut to 50 ft-lbs and without rotating the wheel, loosen completely and hand tighten with no tools until snug. If you cannot line up with the slot on the axle, the nut is to be loosened to the first available slot. As a result, the nut could be loose and sloppy. The tolerances tighten up with use and heat.
Your probably ok with tightening to the next slot by hand only but its important to provide you with the proper method in setting the bearing up.

So we have a positive on the Nev-R-Lube bearings.

Jim

[Jlawles2]

Per the Dexter manual, to properly use the EZ-Lube, wheel must be off the ground, hand pump slowly as Jim mentioned, and tire should be rotated while pumping. It can be a 3 handed operation.

https://www.dexteraxle.com/user_area...ice_manual.pdf page 57 at the bottom.

Also on page 59 there is a nice cut away of the NeverLube system..

Should be noted that "APPROVED" grease is listed on page 53 (edited to add this note)

[Guest]

Good call Joseph on providing the manual,

Grease is also important to be NLGI 2 which is a lithium complex grease. Should you mix them? Ideally no.

Without a huge debate, the manual lists approved lubricants and I follow the manuals.

Jim

[Yoda]

Remember though. Taking that cartridge apart was an autopsy type operation. He doesn't get to reuse them. Their next stop is the bin. I'm not sure if pressing them off the hub ruins them, but disassembling the cartridge certainly does. To me, 18000 km is not long service.

PS I see your recent trip through our great, though expensive, country has you easily converting km to miles..lol

Nope I had to find a converter program. Luckily the truck can easily be switched over between the two. The tough one to get used to was liters per kilometer for fuel mileage