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Old 05-26-2020, 01:56 PM   #1
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Dexter EX lube Axles.

I have seen a bunch of conversation about these online. Some people swear by them and some people swear at them. I talked to the RV center I bought mine from and they would not give a straight answer either way. So I figured I would take a look at mine. I only have about 3K miles on the trailer but plan on doing a bunch of driving this year. I pulled off each wheel this past Saturday and found one wheel with a bad rear seal. Appears the factory damaged it. I went ahead and replaced and repacked that one. I then proceeded to use the EZ lube on each wheel, pulling the hub after about 20 slow squeezes on the grease gun. Then again once the grease started coming out of the front pours. I found that with a constant tire spin and slow filling I did not get any grease coming out of the rear seals. The job was time consuming and tedious but I feel pretty good about using them in the future.

Any feedback from this great community would be cool.
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Old 05-26-2020, 02:07 PM   #2
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This is what i do---

When i De-winterize i pull the brake drums and check the brakes and repack the bearings by hand then use "double lip seals" put it all back together. Then depending on miles i will raise the wheel and while turning "slowly" add grease till it starts to come out the front. I have yet to have a wheel seal leak.
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Old 05-26-2020, 06:33 PM   #3
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There are members here that swear by the EZ Lube and other members who will swear at the EZ Lube. It's what I call a popcorn post.







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Old 05-27-2020, 12:47 PM   #4
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Along with raising the tires and spinning slowly ,make sure the hubs are warm as grease flows easier . Take it for a ride to warm up. Leave grease gun in the sun for a while too.
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Old 06-04-2020, 02:24 PM   #5
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You guys have it right, in my opinion. Lift and turn the wheels while greasing. It takes me about 20 pumps to see old grease come out, and about 80 or more to new, fresh grease come through. I believe the horror stories come from not raising the wheels, and by using a pneumatic gun. I finally took mine in with about 20,000 miles, after EZ Lubing them three times. The grease, seals and bearings were all just fine.
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Old 06-04-2020, 04:26 PM   #6
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I just repacked the bearings on my 2014 Crossroads Rushmore “Franklin” and did just like you. I pumped the old grease out of the spindle with CRC “Sta-Lube” grease before remounting the drums and after reinstalling the drums and before mounting the wheels I pumped new grease in while turning the drum every 2-3 pumps. It took approximately 175 pumps before grease started appearing, but remember only a tiny bit of grease comes out with each pump. In total I used 3 14oz. tubes which included packing the inner & outer bearings of all four wheels. I worked great. One word of warning...you must turn the drum/tire often while pumping in the grease or you do risk blowing the rear seal.
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Old 06-04-2020, 06:33 PM   #7
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Originally Posted by NEVER2LATE View Post
I just repacked the bearings on my 2014 Crossroads Rushmore “Franklin” and did just like you. I pumped the old grease out of the spindle with CRC “Sta-Lube” grease before remounting the drums and after reinstalling the drums and before mounting the wheels I pumped new grease in while turning the drum every 2-3 pumps. It took approximately 175 pumps before grease started appearing, but remember only a tiny bit of grease comes out with each pump. In total I used 3 14oz. tubes which included packing the inner & outer bearings of all four wheels. I worked great. One word of warning...you must turn the drum/tire often while pumping in the grease or you do risk blowing the rear seal.
If you hand packed the bearings you would have used a 1/4 of 1 tube of grease and probably a better job
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Old 06-04-2020, 06:40 PM   #8
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I have never repacked my bearings using the EZ lube.
I pull the drums and inspect the bearings. Them repack them by hand. While I have the drums off I check the brakes and all else that's inside the drums.
Replace the grease seals and put it back together. Then adjust the brakes.


Now I realize some of you guys use the EZ Lube zerk and apparently from the postings here, you have been successful doing it that way. It would seem others that have had issues using the EZ Lube were not doing it correctly. BUT, doing it that way even if you are successful, you still don't know what things look like inside the hub and drum.



One thing I see absolutely no sense to is pumping that hub plumb full of grease. If you hand pack the bearings you don't need to fill that hub with grease.



Not trying to talk anybody into doing it either way. Just stating how I see it.
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Old 06-04-2020, 07:12 PM   #9
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To Woodwalker. My comment was to support DaveOw’s post, not to look for approval of how I did the work. I’m not so sure you’re way is the best either. Concerning one or three tubes of grease, who cares? As long as I am working on my RV and not yours. Do it your way on your RV and I’ll do it my way on mine.
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Old 06-04-2020, 08:51 PM   #10
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EZ-Lube is Bad.... Maybe.

EZ-Lube is Bad?
There are just too many variables to know why some EZ-Lube spindles work fine in one case and not in the other.
The first time I pulled our wheels from the EZ-Lube spindles there were multiple problems that may have originated straight from the factory. There was no grease between the front and rear bearings. The EZ-Lube feature had never been employed. BUT all the rear seals had failed and contaminated the brake drums and linings. (Bad Seals? Over Greased?)
The area between the bearings was covered with crusty rust. Some of that rust had reached the bearings and they were all lightly scored and needed replacement. (Poor Workmanship? Poor Quality Control?)
At the time I unfairly blamed the EZ-Lube system. I removed the grease fitting and plugged the hole.
Now I continue to disassemble, clean and repack bearings and replace the seals annually. WHY? Because as a kid I replaced the front wheel bearings and seals on my 1950 Buick and twice the rear seals failed. It was centrifugal force and too much grease. Maybe that’s it.
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Old 06-07-2020, 09:10 PM   #11
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Lloyd as to filling the hub with grease - it was they way i was taught years ago when you had to repack the wheel bearings on your car. Yes i am that old .

Just to reinforce everyone should pull the hub and pack by hand and check the brakes. I just use the zerk to add a little between times. Kind of like on my mower deck. I figure it cant hurt.
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Old 06-08-2020, 09:24 AM   #12
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Think about this.

As you pump grease into the EZ lube you are pushing used grease out of the rear bearing to the front into the outer bearing.

The outer bearing will never see new grease.
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Old 06-08-2020, 10:18 AM   #13
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I don’t think you are right. The old grease has no where to go except through the outer bearings.
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Old 06-08-2020, 10:31 AM   #14
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Originally Posted by NEVER2LATE View Post
I don’t think you are right. The old grease has no where to go except through the outer bearings.
I believe that is exactly what I said. The outer bearing will never see new unused grease.

Take a look at this:

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Old 06-08-2020, 11:01 AM   #15
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Originally Posted by rcflyer View Post
Think about this.



As you pump grease into the EZ lube you are pushing used grease out of the rear bearing to the front into the outer bearing.



The outer bearing will never see new grease.
The new grease forces the old grease through the outer bearing and out.
Eventually, new grease will flow through the outer bearing and out.
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Old 06-08-2020, 11:05 AM   #16
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The new grease forces the old grease through the outer bearing and out.
Eventually, new grease will flow through the outer bearing and out.
I suspect you did not look at this diagram carefully.

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Old 06-08-2020, 11:22 AM   #17
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Hey Rcflyer. Not sure what you'r seeing on that diagram. From my understanding if you follow the grease flow it moves across both bearings and out the front of the spindle. As you spin the tire the grease is getting spread around the whole inner workings. The diagram is missing the weep hole in front of the spindle that allows grease to escape. Can you explain why the grease would not get to the outer bearings to get to weep hole?
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Old 06-08-2020, 12:19 PM   #18
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There is no outer “weep hole”. The grease is pushed through the outer bearing.
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Old 06-08-2020, 01:37 PM   #19
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Ah yea your right.
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Old 06-08-2020, 03:30 PM   #20
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It comes out around the washer and nut into the end cap then out of the hole by the zerk. On my utility trailer with no brakes i just take the cap off and keep pumping till i get fresh grease while turning the wheel. THIS IS NOT HOW I DO MY CAMPER.
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