Saturday Wheel Bearing Project

I’m retiring August 1st and my wife and I are leaving a couple of days later for a month long trip to points west – primarily the Dakotas and Montana. We acquired our very lightly used 2004 3124KS last fall and this will be our first major outing. I’ve cleaned and put our personal touches in the TM and have repaired all those little things that seem to happen to anything that has a few years on it. The most significant thing I wanted to do before our trip was to pull the hubs, inspect the brakes, and repack the wheel bearings. Being 69 years young I am very familiar with the hand-packing method mentioned by some others on this forum. Since I work in an office all day (Information Technology), playing in dirt and grease are therapeutic to me (and much cheaper than a professional mental health practitioner).

All my components were in excellent shape, as one would expect on a unit that had limited use. I did pre-order the bearing seals from Dexter. Model K71-305-00 for the 3124, which has the heavier axle, 15-inch wheels, and 12x2 brakes. I would think that the 3326 shares this running gear. The Dexter technical literature recommends replacing these seals anytime you pull the hub on an EZ-Lube axle. Removing the old seals was the only part of the project that presented some challenge. The Dexter literature calls for prying them out from the backside with a screwdriver. It won’t work. I ended up using an old hubcap-removing tool from my days of messing with Volvo 544’s. Placing the flattened end under the lip of the seal and using a hammer on the other end was my solution. No worry about damaging the seal since you are disposing of it anyway. Putting the new seals in is a breeze. A thin coat of Permatex around the outside edge, a small section of 2x4, and a hammer complete this part of the job. Used my old faithful Castrol wheel bearing grease.

Even though this TM had minimum usage, including a one-way tow from Texas to South Carolina, the street side seal had a very small amount of leakage. Don’t know how it may have looked after a month on the road. I would strongly encourage everyone to pull their hubs and replace these seals on at least an annual basis. It is not only cheap maintenance; it’s also a lot of fun.

I have not had any "leakage" since I quit using the EZ lube thing. I only pack my bearings by hand. I ruined a set of brake shoes by using the EZ lube and will never use it again. The old cars - back when I was a kid- that had the brake drums in the front you packed the bearings by hand and only had to do it every 50,000 miles. My '66 Mustang (should have kept that car!) had the bearings packed twice. 50,000 miles and 100,000 miles. I know because I did it myself. It didn't have the fancy seals that the TM does, but then it didn't have the phony EZ lube system either! If you're using that Castrol wheel bearing grease you shouldn't have to pack the bearings for 5 years or more! I don't intend to pack my bearings until I replace the tires the next time. YMMV