EZ Loader Sure Lube bearing system

khe

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Dec 7, 2012
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I have a EZ Loader trailer with the sure lube system. I replaced all the bearings two years ago and I have another bearing that is slightly rough. I replaced one of the axles when I bought the boat since the tortion axle was bent. The new axle does not have a vent hole for the grease like the old axle does. Does the grease just go inside the axle in that case? The old axle has the weep hole that I can grease the axle until I see fresh grease coming out the weep hole. With the new axle, I just give it a few pumps from the grease gun.
 

Thalasso

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Jan 18, 2011
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I don't know what you mean by vent hole. The only hole should be for a zerk fitting.

[FONT=&quot]The Sure Lube system should be lubed by applying enough grease to push out all of the old dirty grease through the front of the dust cover until all of the grease coming out is clean.

Here is a cut away picture of your system
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Horigan

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Jun 12, 2016
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I believe he's referring to the vent hole shown in the schematic above below the inner bearing. I have a '95 Calkins trailer with the same vent hole. I switched to Bearing Buddy's and now am unable to build pressure in the grease cavity. I should have kept the original EZ lube fittings. If your new axle doesn't have the vent hole, then you should consider switching to Bearing Buddy's.
 

Silverbullet555

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Mar 13, 2011
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The older ez lube axles pushed the grease from the front to the back and the old grease went into the axle tube. Neither of the pics above are of that older design.

The newer design has grease going down the center of the axle and pushing towards the outside. The grease exits around the axle and can be wiped off. It's possible to replace most of the grease by pumping it through.

However, op said ez loader sure lube. They have the oil bath system. Is it that, or a grease system?

Is the new axle ez loader as well, or a different brand?
 
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khe

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My axles are not the type that Thalasso posted. The original axle (tortion axles) has a hole inline with the spindle and you add grease through the zerk in the cap until you see new grease come out the hole in the inboard side of the spindle. The new axle is an EZ Loader part but there is no vent hole like on the original axle.

I added grease to the left side of the old axle Friday and it popped the seal. I disassembled it this evening and the seal sleeve has somehow rotated so that the hole in the sleeve does not line up with the holes that are perpendicular to the axle so there was no way the grease could vent and that is why the seal popped. I now need to contact EZ Loader to obtain new seal sleeves.
 
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bruceb58

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Mar 5, 2006
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Do yourself a huge favor and just pull the hub occasionally and repack the bearings by hand. Many have blown out the rear seal using the EZ-Lube system. And just to clarify, I am NOT talking about Bearing Buddys here. They can blow out the rear seal as well if you pump too much grease in.
 

khe

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Dec 7, 2012
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I spoke with EZ Loader yesterday and have two sleeves and o-rings on the way. When I removed the old sleeves yesterday evening, there was not any o-ring between the spindle and the sleeve. There was not even a groove in the spindle to retain the o-ring. The hubs are ready for installation - new races, bearings packed, new seals installed. I should be able to finish it in less than an hour once the parts from EZ Loader arrive.
 

preventec47

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Aug 7, 2016
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What is the lesson here for those with garden variety trailer hubs and parts ? My vague understanding of the bearing buddy is simply that
it is a bearing cap that has a zerk fitting in it and it pushes all grease from outside to inside. If that is true, what else do I need to consider?
On common hub layouts is there an inner seal that can be blown out ?
 

bruceb58

Supreme Mariner
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Mar 5, 2006
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What is the lesson here for those with garden variety trailer hubs and parts ? My vague understanding of the bearing buddy is simply that
it is a bearing cap that has a zerk fitting in it and it pushes all grease from outside to inside. If that is true, what else do I need to consider?
On common hub layouts is there an inner seal that can be blown out ?
We aren't talking about Bearing Buddy here but this is how they work....The Bearing Buddy's only purpose in life is to keep the hub at a slight pressure. It doesn't move grease anywhere because you first fill the hub completely full of grease. You then add grease to the Buddy Bearing until it's piston first starts to move. If you filled the hub completely, you will rarely ever have to add grease after that. The trailer jockeys that put a couple pumps in everytime they launch are the ones with the blown seals and grease on their brakes.
 

khe

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Dec 7, 2012
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This has turned into a nightmare.... I received the new sleeves from EZ Loader on Monday and they did not have the lube holes in them. I called and they said that I needed to drill the holes in after installation. One part now works for greased as well as oil bath hubs. No big deal - so I attempted to install the sleeves and they would not go on. I measured the new sleeves and there is a .045" interference to the spindle. The new ones are also .030" wall thickness where the originals were .020" thick. The inside diameter of the new sleeves is just wrong in my opinion. I am waiting for EZ Loader to call me back but I fear I am going to have to buy a $500 axle just to get my trailer back on the road. I am hoping they just sent the wrong part but I really doubt it.

Does anyone know who made EZ Loader's axles in 1997? Was it Dexter?
 

khe

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Dec 7, 2012
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Update: I called EZ Loader and they made a change in 2013 to the axles. The parts guy looked up the number for axles older than 2013 and the ID measurement was comparable to the spindle diameter on my old axle. He's overnighting the parts to me so I should be back in business!
 

khe

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Dec 7, 2012
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All finished. Grease flows out the spindle bleed hole when added to the zerk in the bearing cap. I used Loctite 272 to bond the sleeves to the spindles so they won't rotate in the future. If I ever have to replace these sleeves, I'll just need to heat them to break the Loctite bond.

EZ Loader was very helpful during this ordeal.
 
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