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 read the thread and feel like adding my experiences...
I have a 1998 Prestige trailer for my Mariah. It has the "sure lube" system. Simple research will confirm what some have said. Lube is pumped in the hub cap, goes through the outer bearing, then the inner bearing, then out a hole in the torsion axle on the inside. I guess this was a great idea in 1998, you can easily change your grease by pumping enough through. I think this system was updated later to a new name (Dexter?) where the grease comes out of the hub cap so your not climbing under the trailer, and the dust cap will also help keep water out.
Here's my issue. before my annual trip to Lake Mead, I pump grease in until I see it come out on the inside. This is tedious to constantly be looking under the trailer for the grease to come out. Be sure to place cardboard underneath to catch the eventual blobs. Not bad in my driveway but when at the lake in 114 degree heat, I don't like laying down on hot gravel. Even though I grease before the trip, I do it again at the lake. I wind with 10~20 pumps on the front axle (presumably due to brake heat), and only 3~7 pumps on the rear axle. I worry about water coming in through this "exit" hole. I wish I could seal it.
This year, I lost a grease cap two miles before the lake. These Reliable caps are rare to find on the road, so I settled for a Bearing Buddy cap. I installed it and tried to pump grease through. Surprisingly, the bearing buddy spring compressed to it's limit and grease leaked all around the spring seal, while no grease was observed coming out of the axle underneath the trailer. Before heading home a found a great trailer resource in Henderson. They didn't have a reliable cap, but they had one with the zerk fitting and a "pressure relief" in the cap as well. I pulled this plastic spring-loaded valve out in installed a silicone plug in it's place. This cap allowed enough pressure for me to see the grease come out the axle. As a side note, before this trip, bought a fancy grease gun lock fitting and and a flex cable so I could pump while also watching underneath. Although they claimed up to 10,000psi, I found a golf ball size of lube around the zerk fitting while nothing came through. I'm sure it's a faulty grease coupler, and not over 10,000 psi.
I envy the other closed lube solutions and owners who are not constantly pumping grease and climbing under the trailer. I'm considering all new TDE axles with Vortex lube system with a 6-year / 100,000 mile warranty.
So, in my experience, 20 pumps is not unusual, keep going until you see clean grease come out. ;-) Buy extra tubes of grease.
P.S. I'd be happy to post pictures if interested and the server can accept them.
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