How do I know when I've got enough grease in my two 3500lb axles on my heavy duty 7x20 utility trailer? I've got fitting right on the end of the spindles with a dust cover. This is my first trailer so I don't know. I've got one spindle that seems to be full b/c it won't take any grease (or is the fitting jammed up) the other three take grease like there's no end in site.
thanks Jamie

 

pull the cap off.... or put a new grease fitting in. you should be able to go thousands of miles with out worry.(i have)

 

You will probably get better info but the one that won't take any grease is probably plugged or rusted shut. The fitting will need to be replaced.

The other three will continue to take grease until you stop as the excess grease just blows out the back side of the hub. If you were to check the back side of the hub you would find a big glob of grease either there or on the tire and ground below the axle.

 

Replace the stuck grease zerk and Keep putting grease to it...
It will push out through the outside bearing when it is full... Grease is cheap so don't worry about how much it takes... It may not have been greased in a long time....
As for spooging out the back.... It will come out the front before it goes goes out the back.... And if it does go out the back first... replace the seal that holds in the inner bearing.
Oilguy

 

From what I've found in personal use it's best to remove the caps, pull the wheel and drum and pack the bearing by hand. Some/most brake drum styles have a seal at the inner most part of drum's hub, where it slides on the spindle. The excess grease can push through that seal and foul the brakes at the magnets, shoes and drum surface.

Also there's no way to know if the bearing is actually getting grease. No way to know if it's rusted, pitted, burned, broken, fractured rollers, worn out, or if there's a galled spindle, fractured hub, worn shoes, broken brake springs & parts etc. etc. A few lazy licks with a grease gun on a Zerk fitting can cost you way more in time, money and grief than it's worth in 'saved' effort. There were some very negative posts regarding the similar 'Bearing Buddy' easy lube sytems on another forum with many tales of misery and disasters.

I just greased mine by hand and found a bad magnet retainer and 3 broken break adjuster springs, and also found that all the spindle nuts were WAY too loose on my new used trailer. Never would have found those if I'd just greased a zerk.

 

Totally agree with JimmieD. Open and inspect - then you know what you've got inside the drum/hubs. Grease the bearings by hand.

Those zerks on bearing buddy's sell a good story, but in most cases folks don't know when to stop pumping and end up blowing out the seals (been there done that myself early on with my boat trailer) and causing more work than they saved, and possibly losing braking power as well. It doesn't usually squirt out of the seals until the brakes warm up and the grease expands - which means you're on the road when it does.

A utility trailer, or any trailer not dunked into water for that matter doesn't take THAT much bearing/brake maintenance to ensure proper operation and last a long time.

 

Well said bulabula. By opening and cleaning and greasing you also get the chance to inspect the bearing and race. Ya, its messy, but so is blowing a bearing that wasnt properly greased and maintained for convenience.

 

I have the dexter EZ lube axles like the diagram above. I've had the hubs off once in 10 years just to check the brakes.

 

i'm with j-body,

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...d.php?t=143115

it goes down the shaft and comes back out the front.
out the back is blown seals.

i do like the idea of taking it apart if it is a new purchase, and prolly ever few years to check.

 

I made a page about this - not sure how accurate or useful it is

http://xj.cdevco.net/auto/trailer/

 

Those bearing buddys and the others like them have a spring under that cap and a spill port out of the side when you have good hub seals and then you grease them you should only need a couple of pumps to fill them it will compress the spring plate until it gets to the spill port and then the grease will come out the side vent.
The purpose of these is to keep positive pressure in side the hubs to keep the water out when launching a boat. For sure the best thing to do on a new/used trailer is to pull it down and check things over then you will know the condition of everything and not take a chance on what others may or may not have done correctly.

 

Bearing buddies are intended for boat trailers - to keep water out of the bearings. Many sets of brake linings have been ruined by overgreasing these things. My current 5th wheel has the Dexter Nev-R-Lube axles, but the previous ones got the disassemble, inspect and hand-pack treatment.

Rusty

 

And use grease with at least a 440degrees drop point, I found out that the hard way this year, last years lube job ended up in my brake drums as thin as motor oil from the heat. I used Valvoline high temp grease, but found out online that the drop point was only 275 degrees, but it was 400high temp grease.

 

as far a drop point goes anyone know what the walmart marine grease is b/c that's what I've been using.
thanks Jamie

 

JimmieD is right, the only way to insure greased bearings is to pull things apart and do them by hand.

I know the theory of the bearing buddy system, how it's supposed to come out the front and not the back. The truth however, deviates a LOT from fact, and the fact is that bearing buddies lubricate almost everything EXCEPT the bearings. I see 4 or 5 a year that have totally grease saturated brake shoes, blown seals and dry bearings.

The best thing you can do to axles equiped with bearing buddies is to remove the grease fitting on the axle stubs!

chaikwa.