Was there a grease shortage?

[Badd857]

I am probably going to be beating that dead horse but here goes. We purchased our 2018 3130 RE just before the end of the year (2018). We placed our rig at an RV resort for 7 months and then to new property in late 2019. We lived in it while building a new home. We have taken it on about 8 trips since for a total of +or - 1500 miles. Yes we stay local but my point? I have routinely greased the suspension and linkage and have had issues with wet bolts but have always been on top of these tasks as it was how I was raised. I had yet to re grease wheel bearings and for some reason assumed (wrongly) that from the “factory”, 1500 miles would not destroy or task these bearings. I pulled the wheels and found enough grease to barely coat the inner and outer bearings. These things are sent out to the dealers with enough grease to keep the wheels quiet and that’s about it. I escaped any damage but SHAME on me for assuming they were properly lubed. It’s embarrassing but I was lucky. CHECK YOUR BEARINGS. 😳

[phillyg]

Only the bearings and races need the grease. Different on a boat trailer where a grease-filled hub serves to keep water out.

[Montana Man]

Thanks for sharing. These things need to be mentioned.

[mlh]

Several years ago we had the bearings in a lathe replaced. They are the same type of bearings as are in your wheels just more precise. These are $7,000 bearings. They had about as much grease as you described and now after several thousand hours running between 1000 and 5000 RPMs they are still in excellent condition. One interesting thing the grease is $5000 per pound. Glad they didn’t use much.
Lynwood

[Cherokee]

Back in the day people thought more is better, like I did. But minimum amount of grease in bearings and on race allows for better heat displacement, that in turn makes the grease last longer by not breaking down by heat.

[Badd857]

My point to the post was to just bring out a case and point. Y’all can maintain or grease as you see fit. I am just trying to state that in my case, I assumed wrong. This is a critical fail point and I feel that this and many other areas are worth maybe a little more attention. I was VERY surprised to find these bearings so free of grease at only 1500 miles. Perhaps I am in the minority but just thought I would bring it up again at this point in the season. Happy camping friends.

[AZ Traveler]

Grease outside of the bearings and race serves no purpose.

[rohrmann]

This page on the Dexter web site has a video that shows how to grease the bearings. https://www.dexteraxle.com/Resources/?type=75

[Dave W]

All a ball or roller bearing needs for grease is to have it fully filled either via hand or mechanical means. All the hub and spindle needs is a fine film of up to 1/16" to prevent rust. That is what I learned in both the US Army and my university mechanical courses. Filling that hub via the E-Z Lube zerk serves no purpose other then purported ease of maintenance or if submerged, i.e. as a boat trailer. If the hub were to be submerged then you would have something like a Bearing Buddy which is designed to maintain a positive pressure in the hub cavity (but probably wont, I've found out)

[Jim in Halifax]

Too much grease is just as bad of not enough!! Too much causes heat inside hub and when grease gets too hot it expands and blows a seal!!

[Mr Mustang]

Originally Posted by rohrmann

This page on the Dexter web site has a video that shows how to grease the bearings. https://www.dexteraxle.com/Resources/?type=75

Thanks for the link, very informative!🇺🇦✌🏻☮️