Reliable sure lube hubs

[maineiac5586]

Going on a trip soon have a question. My boar trailer has reliable sure lube brand hubs (the kind where only a zerk fitting sticks out). I pumped 20 pumps of grease in but don't see it coming out if the inner seal or spindle or hub. Not sure if I did that right. Bearings were packed 2 years ago but I've only dunked it 2 times since then. Wheel turns smoothly with no noise or play. What am I doing wrong? Thank you

 

[alldodge]

My suggestion
Pump grease until it starts coming out. If you see any water then pump some more to expel the water.

Take your finger and get all the grease out of the hub so there is an air gap. You cannot remove enough to do any harm but if you don't give it a air gap the grease will heat up and expand enough to blow dust cover off

 

[silverbul]

jmo, if you pump grease in and don't see grease coming out, that means the seals are good. don't pump till you blow them out.

 

[maineiac5586]

jmo, if you pump grease in and don't see grease coming out, that means the seals are good. don't pump till you blow them out.

Yeah but how do you know how many pumps to do?

 

[alldodge]

Search online, lots of vids, sure lube, eazy lube are all the same, they re not bearing buddies. Only seal is in the rear and not the front. The front is a cover that is removed to lube

 

[maineiac5586]

Search online, lots of vids, sure lube, eazy lube are all the same, they re not bearing buddies. Only seal is in the rear and not the front. The front is a cover that is removed to lube

These don't have the rubber plug. They are a solid metal cap with a grease nipple in the center.

 

[alldodge]

These don't have the rubber plug. They are a solid metal cap with a grease nipple in the center.

ok, then I would treat them as if they didn't have a grease fitting and remove the cap, grease by hand. No telling what is or is not behind it

 

[Lou C]

I had these on my original axle on the Load Rite; the grease goes inside the axle tube.

 

[Horigan]

Correct. With Sure Lube, the grease comes out inboard of the brake backing plate or goes into the axle. I believe it comes out of a hole inboard of the brake backing plate on dropped axles. At least it does on mine.

Some folks on this thread are confusing Sure Lube with EZ Lube. They are different.

 

[Lou C]

ok, then I would treat them as if they didn't have a grease fitting and remove the cap, grease by hand. No telling what is or is not behind it

If you haven't owned this long then I'd take it all apart and inspect the bearings, races & seals, if replacement is necessary that's good time to do it. Otherwise beyond spinning the wheel and listening for bad noises, vibration & play etc. there's no way to know what condition they are in.

 

[richw46]

From what I see with some research, this Reliable Sure-Lube is a grease cap. It's not the same thing as the Reliable/Dexter Axle lube, which has a grease fitting on the end of the axle. With the Reliable or Dexter you push grease in the fitting, It goes through the axle to the rear bearing, through the front bearing and when the axle is full the old grease pushes out the front, around the edges of the axle where the filler fitting is. The Reliable that does this has a rubber cap over the grease fitting, which is built into the axle and is not a metal dust cap.

I have a 95 Ranger Trail trailer with this type of setup, but mine isn't a grease fitting. The grease gun needs a needle type attachment instead of the regular grease gun fitting. It's a really good system.

What I see at the Trailer Parts Depot site is just a dust cap with a grease fitting; not the same thing. It's like a Bearing Buddy without the springs etc. So it seems like you'd be pushing the new grease in the front bearing, through the middle and finally to the rear bearing. There is no exit for the old grease.

If this is new to you, I agree with taking it apart to check the amount of grease and condition of the bearings and seal. The alternative is to keep pumping until the grease comes out somewhere, probably around the seal.

Reliable Sure-Lube Grease Cap, 2K & 3.7K Axle Hubs, 1.98" Diameter, Sold As Each

Reliable Sure-Lube Grease Cap, 2K & 3.7K Axle Hubs, 1.98" Diameter, Sold As Each

www.trailerpartsdepot.com

 

[Horigan]

...it seems like you'd be pushing the new grease in the front bearing, through the middle and finally to the rear bearing. There is no exit for the old grease...

Not quite. With a Sure Lube axle there is an exit for the grease between the inner bearing and the seal, either going into the hollow axle, or for drop axles, out a hole inboard of the brake backing plate.

 

[richw46]

Not quite. With a Sure Lube axle there is an exit for the grease between the inner bearing and the seal, either going into the hollow axle, or for drop axles, out a hole inboard of the brake backing plate.

That's true, if the OP had the Sure Lube axle, but in his post he said he doesn't have the rubber dust cap cover with the grease fitting underneath. He said he has just the metal dust cap, no rubber cover, exposed grease fitting. I included a picture of that type in my post. The metal dust cap doesn't provide any special flow of grease other than lube through the dust cap fitting to the outer bearing. If the metal dust cap is tight enough, he could push the grease to the inner bearing.

 

[Horigan]

@richw46
The rubber dust cap with zerk on end of the axle is the EZ-lube system with different internal grease routing. The OP has the Sure Lube axle that utilizes the metal dust cap with exposed zerk, like you pictured.

These don't have the rubber plug. They are a solid metal cap with a grease nipple in the center.

 

[richw46]

@richw46
The rubber dust cap with zerk on end of the axle is the EZ-lube system with different internal grease routing. The OP has the Sure Lube axle that utilizes the metal dust cap with exposed zerk, like you pictured.

I totally agree with you. I thought that's what I was saying. It's certainly what I meant. Maybe the confusion is because I said that when you have this metal cap and put grease into the fitting, the only route is through the outer bearing to the inner bearing. There's no exit for the grease except past the seal.

I see it as a better version of the Bearing Buddy since you're using real pressure to put in the grease. Bearing Buddies have that little coil spring which doesn't have enough strength to push the grease at all.

 

[Horigan]

Got it. There's an exit between the inner bearing and the seal, that vents either to the inside of the axle, or in my case with a drop axle, just inboard of the brake bracket.

It's possible the OP doesn't have a Sure Lube axle, just the cap. If he/she can keep pumping in more grease and the rear seal doesn't blow, then it's going inside the axle.

To answer the OP's original question, I suspect 20 pumps should be enough.

 

[04fxdwgi25]

One problem with the ones that bleed into the axle is, the grease nad harden / plug up in the hollow axle tube over the years,
1. Pumping grease in will blow out the seal or push the cap off
2. When the grease heats up and expands, due to nowhere to go against the full / hard grease in axle tube, the grease / air can push the cap off / blow past seal.

Had an Eagle trailer that did that. Took a while to figure that one out.

 

[richw46]

I have a 95 Ranger Trail and it has a similar operation to the Sure Seal/Dexter axles. Instead of a grease fitting I have to use a kind of needle to force grease through the end of the axle. I keep pumping and it eventually forces old grease out around the end of the axle and outer bearing.

But I don't just push in more grease each year. Water can still collect in the hub area and cause problems. When I push the grease in, if any off color grease comes out, or if any water dribbles out, I pull everything and repack the bearings; both sides, even if only one side had the problem. I've never had the grease go solid or been unable to push in fresh grease.

There is nothing worse than traveling back on a Saturday morning, barely into an 1100 mile journey, when your friend behind you calls you on the phone and says there is smoke pouring out of your axle. Lesson learned-take care of your equipment and it will take care of you.

 

[maineiac5586]

Not quite. With a Sure Lube axle there is an exit for the grease between the inner bearing and the seal, either going into the hollow axle, or for drop axles, out a hole inboard of the brake backing plate.
View attachment 383955

Thank you that's very helpful

 

[BopBop]

Going on a trip soon have a question. My boar trailer has reliable sure lube brand hubs (the kind where only a zerk fitting sticks out). I pumped 20 pumps of grease in but don't see it coming out if the inner seal or spindle or hub. Not sure if I did that right. Bearings were packed 2 years ago but I've only dunked it 2 times since then. Wheel turns smoothly with no noise or play. What am I doing wrong? Thank you

I had Sure-Lube on my last trailer and it was a great system.

I'm trying to find Sure-Lube hubs for my new boat trailer, but doesn't seem to be available anymore. Does anyone know if Reliable went out of business?