Wheel bearings throwing grease

[Bill]

Almost two weeks ago, my wife and I started our annual pilgrimage from Arizona to Maine. Before we left, I adjusted the TM brakes, and greased the wheel bearings with the appropriate grease. On the fifth night of the trip, we pulled into a gorgeous Colorado State Park, and as we were setting up, I noticed that the left wheel hub had ejected a golf-ball sized clot of grease onto the painted part of the wheel. The hub was not hot, and everything had ridden smoothly - there was just this big glob of grease.

Early the next day we went to Centennial RV in Grand Junction (great place, by the way!) and had them pull the wheel, hub, and bearings on both sides. They found nothing wrong - again, just this big glob of grease. They cleaned the grease and the road grime off both wheels, and we were on our way. However, during the rest of the trip, I continued to see small flecks of grease on both wheels.

I don't recall seeing this before. Anyone have a similar experience, or know what's going on here? I have sent a query to Dexter Axle, but don't expect much of a meaningful response.

Bill

Bill and anyone who services their own TrailManors. Be sure to use an identical grease that is used by the factory. Just any bearing grease may do harm. Some types may cause your grease to liquify and thus leak out the seals.

Bill, did I hear you say you adjusted the brakes on your TM? I have been asking for advice for a long time about this. In which direction do you turn the adjusting star on each wheel? It is not the same direction for each wheel. I used to do it all the time on my cars as a kid. It should only take a few minutes but because I go the wrong way, I am never sure whether it is done poperly. Have you tried to find someone to adjust the brakes? First of all, the mechanic will spend an hour making the same mistake I do. They just do not know how to do it properly. If you find someone that is knowledgeable, it can cost $100-150.00. For such a small task, that is a pretty hefty fee.

Hal

[grill-n-go]

Since we bought our new TM in September one wheel was throwing grease. We take it out once a month driving 200 to 400 miles each outing. Got around to having it serviced under warranty in November (3 outings later). The shop said they could find nothing wrong and no unusual wear. They put a new seal on and sent me home. Next time out, you now it, the same wheel was still throwing grease. I decided it might be excess grease and let it go. Did that a couple of times, cleaned it up.

Last month we went to a rally in St. Augustine. About a minute after we pulled up a gentleman came over to welcome us and pointed to the greasy wheel. He removed the black rubber cap that goes over the hub, cleaned it, and explained that it needs to be depressed in the middle after it is seated by pushing it in with you finger. This way it will expand and seal properly once you get going. Go figure, it works! clean wheels after a 350 mile drive home. Hope this works for you.

[Denny_A]

Hal,

Brake adjusting was discussed a couple of years ago in this thread:

http://www.trailmanorowners.com/yabb...80&start=0

Replies #2 and #3 address it directly. I just updated (clarified?) reply #2

Denny_A

Yep, I looked and it is there. I was the one that started that string and then must have missed the response with the recommended method. I will now get out and get under.

Hal

[MikeD]

I have a different axle cover (Reliable Sure Lube versus Dexter E-Z Lube, see http://www.trailmanorowners.com/yabb...13562#msg13562), but I also have one wheel which seems to throw grease. I've attached a picture - are we talking about the same problem ?? The other wheel is clean, except for road dirt (and a tiny bit of grease). I have traveled perhaps 400 to 500 miles since getting the trailer. Is this common to both axles?

I'm trying to understand what to do about this ? Is this normal ? Do I have to worry about it at all ???? My problem wheel is the curb side (i.e., side of the oven/wardrobe) instead of street side (bathroom/refrig/kitchen sink/fresh water) ? Is there a pattern (left or right) ??

MikeD

[Bill]

Mike -

Yup, that's pretty much what I am seeing. Little splats of grease all around the painted part of the wheel, and radial greasy lines/tracks from the center toward the edge all around. I have the same thing on both wheels (now that I got the original giant clot of grease out of there). In your photo, it looks like grease is escaping from the seam at the base of the silver SureLube housing. Same place on mine - the Sure Lube and EZ Lube are pretty similar.

I wouldn't be too disturbed about it, except that it is new - I haven't seen this before.

Still waiting for something helpful from Dexter Axle ...

Bill

[MikeD]

Bill,

Which side is it ? I'm wondering if there is a pattern ???

MikeD

[MikeD]

Bill,

Doh! I really should read more carefully :-[.

After examining my hub, I agree with you about the source of the escaping grease - the base of the Sure Lube housing. After examining the other, clean wheel it appears that the dirty wheel has a slight gap between the housing and the hub, while the clean wheel has none. I'm going to see if a couple of gentle taps with a board and hammer can correct this and reduce the outflow of grease. I'll let you know if it makes any difference. Otherwise, I'll give my dealer a call.

Mike

[Bill]

I emailed Dexter Axle about this problem. Christine, the applications engineer at Dexter, called me today. Several points emerged from the discussion. Since I have EZ-Lube, the discussion was centered there. The Reliable Sure-Lube did not come up, but I bet a lot of it is the same.

• It is OK for the bearings to throw a little grease from the outer end of the hub. Yes, it is a bit ugly, but that is all.
• If it is thrown from the inner end of the hub, it means a grease seal has failed. Bad for the bearing, but worse, the grease may get into the brakes, which is a disaster, brakely-speaking.
• When you pump new grease into EZ-Lube, the old grease collects under the little sheet metal end cap (see the sketch). This is the reservoir for a lot of the grease that gets thrown. It is hard to clean out this cap without removing it (WARNING - I sliced my finger on the sharp edge of the cap, trying to poke it in to clean out the old grease). But it is perfectly OK to pop the end cap off, at which point the whole thing is easy to clean. Be sure the end cap is replaced tight and square, and it shouldn't leak - but there is no real seal there, like there is on the back of the hub. Mike D, I think you have the right idea here.
• EZ-Lube wasn't really intended for travel trailers - it was intended for boat trailers, so the owner could easily replace water-contaminated grease. In a travel trailer, the ease of using EZ-Lube tends to lull people into thinking that if they regrease frequently, they never have to remove or inspect the bearings. WRONG - Dexter still recommends that you pull the hubs and inspect the bearings every 12 months or 12,000 miles. Since that is the same as the re-grease interval (per Dexter - TM recommends more often), the advantage of EZ-Lube is somewhat lost.

Bill