TrailManor Owner's Forum - View Single Post - How to grease/pack/lube the wheel bearings?

**MikeD** · 05-13-2004, 01:37 PM

While doing my initial 200 mile brake adjustment, I figured that my next task would be greasing/lubing the hubs. I printed out any threads on this board that concerned greasing/lubing the wheel bearings, and then examined my hubs to see what would be required. To my surpirse, my Wheel bearing hubs seem different from everyone elses. My TM was manufactured in November, 2003. It appears that the factory had switched from Dexter E-Z Lube hubs (as described in this thread) to Reliable Sure Lube hubs. They may have even switched to a Reliable axle, but I can't find any identifing marks to be sure.

I've attached a picture of the Reliable Sure Lube hub. As you can see, there is no rubber plug to remove, the zerk fitting is just sitting on the end of the hub. I finally found the Reliable web site, and this page seems to describe the hub --
http://www.reliabletool.com/products/slgrease.htm

I noticed the following differences between the two hubs.

1. Old grease does not come out the front, but the back of the wheel hub where it attaches to the axle. Sure enough, when I looked at the back of my wheel hub, there was indeed a hole in the back with a small amount of grease sticking out.

2. The suggested maintenance schedule is different. Reliable suggests adding some grease every 3 months, 1000 miles, or as use requires. You can add 1.5 to 2 oz or 5-7 to fully replace all of the grease.

3. The Dexter hubs have good instructions for removing the hub and replacing it (for checking the brakes, repacking the hubs), etc. I can't find comparable instructions for the Reliable Sure Lube hubs.

On another board, I found a reference describing how the Sure Lube hubs are very good at keeping water out of the bearings for applications which dip the wheels into water, such as boat trailers. I don't know if this is important to us.

The Reliable site mentions that the grease should be a high quality wheel bearing grease. I assume that the NLGI-2 would still be appropriate.

Does anyone else have experience with this type of hub ?

MikeD

p.s. --- Interestingly enough, the literature that came with my TM contained a very nice booklet on the Dexter Axle and Easy-Lube hubs, but nothing on the Reliable Sure Lube hubs. Go figure ?

05-13-2004, 01:37 PM	#6
MikeD Site Sponsor Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 92	Re:How to grease/pack/lube the wheel bearings? While doing my initial 200 mile brake adjustment, I figured that my next task would be greasing/lubing the hubs. I printed out any threads on this board that concerned greasing/lubing the wheel bearings, and then examined my hubs to see what would be required. To my surpirse, my Wheel bearing hubs seem different from everyone elses. My TM was manufactured in November, 2003. It appears that the factory had switched from Dexter E-Z Lube hubs (as described in this thread) to Reliable Sure Lube hubs. They may have even switched to a Reliable axle, but I can't find any identifing marks to be sure. I've attached a picture of the Reliable Sure Lube hub. As you can see, there is no rubber plug to remove, the zerk fitting is just sitting on the end of the hub. I finally found the Reliable web site, and this page seems to describe the hub -- http://www.reliabletool.com/products/slgrease.htm I noticed the following differences between the two hubs. 1. Old grease does not come out the front, but the back of the wheel hub where it attaches to the axle. Sure enough, when I looked at the back of my wheel hub, there was indeed a hole in the back with a small amount of grease sticking out. 2. The suggested maintenance schedule is different. Reliable suggests adding some grease every 3 months, 1000 miles, or as use requires. You can add 1.5 to 2 oz or 5-7 to fully replace all of the grease. 3. The Dexter hubs have good instructions for removing the hub and replacing it (for checking the brakes, repacking the hubs), etc. I can't find comparable instructions for the Reliable Sure Lube hubs. On another board, I found a reference describing how the Sure Lube hubs are very good at keeping water out of the bearings for applications which dip the wheels into water, such as boat trailers. I don't know if this is important to us. The Reliable site mentions that the grease should be a high quality wheel bearing grease. I assume that the NLGI-2 would still be appropriate. Does anyone else have experience with this type of hub ? MikeD p.s. --- Interestingly enough, the literature that came with my TM contained a very nice booklet on the Dexter Axle and Easy-Lube hubs, but nothing on the Reliable Sure Lube hubs. Go figure ?