Servicing your Dexter Axle brakes or bearings

[AKCamper]

I realize that looking at the seals and bearings is the best way to identify them,but does a 2016 19 have only one type of seal and bearing? My trailer is stored thousands of miles away so looking is an issue. It would be nice to have a set in the tool kit.

 

[Ron in BC]

you may be able to get away with cleaning them with brake cleaner( a spray product) and some clean rags or if you can find it, some carbon tetrachloride. . New seals are only a few dollars apiece. I replace them each time I service the bearings ( about 15,000 to 20,000 miles.).
Iowa Dave

I've been cleaning contaminated brake shoes since I was a teenager. I usually clean them with acetone then put a small amount of gas on them and light it on fire. Flares up for a minute and then goes out. My theory is that it burns off any of the grease that wasn't cleaned off with the acetone.
Works for me, never had a problem with a contaminated shoe afterwards.

y change was enough to buy a can of pop from the aging pop machine for fifty cents. Then I took a couple free cookies with me and out the door I went. Jeez I really appreciate a good counterman. All those numbers confuse me.
Iowa Dave

I think that it was the free cookies that you appreciated the most. ;D

Ron

 

[Iowa Dave]

Give me a brake and a Kit Kat

I've been cleaning contaminated brake shoes since I was a teenager. I usually clean them with acetone then put a small amount of gas on them and light it on fire. Flares up for a minute and then goes out. My theory is that it burns off any of the grease that wasn't cleaned off with the acetone.
Works for me, never had a problem with a contaminated shoe afterwards.



I think that it was the free cookies that you appreciated the most. ;D

Ron

We never used the gasoline and blaze away method in the filling station for obvious reasons. Always used carbon tet back then. Our local dealer is an outfit called Midwest Wheel, we bought all out trailer stuff from them when I was with the City. I am a sucker for free cookies, stale donuts, free bottle of water and cheap soda from a privately filled machine so the shop guys can have a pizza day once in a while. I send them far more business than I do personally, it makes the world go around.
Iowa Dave

 

[Iowa Dave]

Give me a brake and a Kit Kat

I've been cleaning contaminated brake shoes since I was a teenager. I usually clean them with acetone then put a small amount of gas on them and light it on fire. Flares up for a minute and then goes out. My theory is that it burns off any of the grease that wasn't cleaned off with the acetone.
Works for me, never had a problem with a contaminated shoe afterwards.



I think that it was the free cookies that you appreciated the most. ;D

Ron

We never used the gasoline and blaze away method in the filling station for obvious reasons. Always used carbon tet back then. Our local dealer is an outfit called Midwest Wheel. We bought all our trailer stuff from them when I was with the City. I am a sucker for free cookies, stale donuts, free bottle of water and cheap soda from a privately filled machine so the shop guys can have a pizza day once in a while. I send them far more business than I do personally, it makes the world go around.
Iowa Dave

 

[rubicon327]

Here's a new wrinkle on ordering the parts.
I have enclosed NTP's breakdown for the Dexter 10x2 1/4 3500 Lb hub parts.
They give the NTP number as 46-1510 and the manufactures part # as 010-019-00. If you search for part # 010-019-00 you will bring up numerous sites with the part number being 46-1510 010-019-00 or 010-019-00 46-1510 along with the ones using just 010-019-00 for the part #.
Most of the ones I went to did not have any further info other than the part being made by Dexter. So I looked for best price and what looked like a valid website and placed an order for 5 of the seals, I ordered 1 extra just in case I messed one up. I went down to the post office this morning and picked up our mail that was held last week and find the part is way to big. By the measurements it matches the part for a 12X2 hub seal. I finally found one site which uses this number for the larger part.
DEXTER AXLE Grease Seal 46-1510 010-019-00
Stock#: 46-1510
Manufacturer part number: 010-019-00
46-1510 DEXTER AXLE 010-019-00
$2.09
2.25" lip ID x 3.376" seal OD, fits Dexter 12" x 2" hubs/Drums after 1998.
Used with 1-3/4" ID wheel bearings.
But the same part number also is used for the correct part for our trailer hubs. So it appears if they use 46-1510 in any part of the numbers you will need to contact them before ordering to find out what they have if they do not give the measurements. From what I can tell what they sent me was NTP part 46-1505 010-010-00. And the majority of sites selling the part supposedly for our hub have this part instead.

You lost me a little bit, but can't you just take 010-019-00 manufacturers # and put it in on etrailer? This is what comes up for me.
www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Bearings-Races-Seals-Caps/etrailer/RG06-050.html

 

[Brian B-P]

I realize that looking at the seals and bearings is the best way to identify them,but does a 2016 19 have only one type of seal and bearing? My trailer is stored thousands of miles away so looking is an issue. It would be nice to have a set in the tool kit.

It seems pretty safe to assume that Escape (of any model) built with E-Z Lube hubs has the same bearings and seals. It's all the same Dexter product... even the beam-and-leaf-spring 2014-2015 5.0TA uses the same hubs and brakes.

E-Z Lube is relevant because it (at least originally) came with a different (better) rear seal than the non-E-Z Lube hub.

 

[wetzk]

You lost me a little bit, but can't you just take 010-019-00 manufacturers # and put it in on etrailer? This is what comes up for me.
www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Bearings-Races-Seals-Caps/etrailer/RG06-050.html

''You can but when you order the seals from Etrailer they are the same cheap Chinese seals I can buy from the local marine supply store.
I've used them before and it's 50/50 on whether they will work right so I try to order the real Dexter seals. Side by side you can tell a difference between them. All the local places get the cheap seals now and tell you they will need to order the Dexter seals.

One good thing that came out of this. The site that sold me the parts after I contacted them and explained the problem took a look at their parts numbers and corrected them. And said keep the seals that were sent and are sending me a dozen of the real ones and 2 sets of bearings as a thank you for finding a problem on their site. Now if I ever buy something that uses 12 inch drums I already have the seals. I might hand them off to one of the behemoth trailer owners next time I'm by one since the odds are kind of low of that happening.

 

[Ron in BC]

We never used the gasoline and blaze away method in the filling station for obvious reasons.
Iowa Dave

In our gas station we made frequent use of the torch for cutting and welding so a dinky little fire for a few seconds paled in comparison.

Ron

 

[Iowa Dave]

Real Deal

Here are a couple photos of the correct Dexter seal for our 2013 Escape 21 axles. It is an 010-019-00 Dexter Fusion Inc. It has two separate seal faces an inner and an outer. There is no spring in this seal. I line them up on the hub and thump them in carefully with usually a plastic faced hammer. Once they look fully seated, I change to about a 16 oz ball peen hammer and tap them down til I can feel part of the hub contacting the hammer face. The sound will change when they are seated. Easy does it.
Iowa Dave

 

[rubicon327]

Here are a couple photos of the correct Dexter seal for our 2013 Escape 21 axles. It is an 010-019-00 Dexter Fusion Inc. It has two separate seal faces an inner and an outer. There is no spring in this seal. I line them up on the hub and thump them in carefully with usually a plastic faced hammer. Once they look fully seated, I change to about a 16 oz ball peen hammer and tap them down til I can feel part of the hub contacting the hammer face. The sound will change when they are seated. Easy does it.
Iowa Dave

Dave are these for use with the EZ-Lube or standard axles or both? Etrailer was easy to grab seals when I got new Dexter Nev-R-Adjust brake assemblies, but would like to get these official Dexter seals. Not going to chance it.

 

[Iowa Dave]

I think at this time, there’s just one seal for both. I have the ezlube feature on the 2013 21. I asked my guy about it and he said the book only showed one number. I can understand what Brian said as far as a little different design at one time on the seal for the ezlube as it might be possible to create excessive pressure when gun greasing if too much grease is pumped in. I did not ask the previous owner if he gun greased this trailer but I can tell you there wasn’t all that much grease around the axle. One seal had a little wet around the back and the actuator arm had some grease and “dirt” made of grease and brake dust on the arm. I cleaned it up, There was no grease on the brake shoes so it was pretty minor. My project this week is to inspect the brake shoes, change if necessary, don’t think it will be, grease the bearings by hand since I’ll be in there anyway, and install new seals and adjust brakes. Between the miles we’ve run the past couple years and trading trailers, and replacing the brakes on the 19 before I ran it to Osoyoos last spring, I’ve been kind of out of sync with what ought to be necessary and what I’ve done. 55 years on brakes, bearings, tires, wires, and general annual trailer maintenance on campers and other trailers begins to feel like the return of the swallows to Capistrano every spring. Wouldn’t do it if I didn’t like it. I’m like the robber in the Dirty Harry movie. I gots to know. The key is a clean well lighted place to work, tunes and being able to talk to myself as I go along.
Iowa Dave

 

[wetzk]

Dave are these for use with the EZ-Lube or standard axles or both? Etrailer was easy to grab seals when I got new Dexter Nev-R-Adjust brake assemblies, but would like to get these official Dexter seals. Not going to chance it.

Have you installed the new brake assemblies yet?
I have thought about installing them, if I need to change pads or they wear out or whatever. One thing that concerned me though was how low the specs are on the rv industries brake drums. The drum run out can vary from very little to more than the self adjusting brakes can handle. If the run out is to excessive the brakes adjust every time they hit the open spot and after a few thousand miles are very tight.
A quick google search found this which describes it.
https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/23458294/print/true.cfm
No way I would spend all that time finding the perfect set of drums if I had their problem, I'd just yank the self adjusting mechanisms out. It's not that hard to just do the manual adjustment.
If the disc brakes were not so expensive and our trailers a lot heavier they would be a no brainer.

 

[Iowa Dave]

When I put new brakes on the 19 I did not buy the self adjusters. Like has been said, it’s very easy to adjust them manually. I did take the drums to a shop I use for the cars and asked them if I should get them turned. My guy said there was very little wear so we did not turn them. I think they were stamped for .010 turning which is not much. That was on the 19. So I bought the full assemblies and got new backing plates, magnets and shoes. Four bolts and two wires and you’re back in business. I think they were about $128 for all four. I did find one bad wire from the original trailer assembly where they missed a crimp and I wasn’t apparently getting the full voltage to the magnet but otherwise everything else was worn evenly. Used shrink covers on the new connectors. 11/16 box end wrench on the backing plate nuts. Torque was. “ughh that ought to do it”
Iowa Dave

 

[Rossue2]

Dave are these for use with the EZ-Lube or standard axles or both? Etrailer was easy to grab seals when I got new Dexter Nev-R-Adjust brake assemblies, but would like to get these official Dexter seals. Not going to chance it.

Have you installed the new brake assemblies yet?

 

[Ron in BC]

Yah, I use the same brand sometimes.

Ron

 

[wetzk]

Yah, I use the same brand sometimes.

Ron

We used the calibrated elbow when tightening things.

 

[rubicon327]

Have you installed the new brake assemblies yet?
I have thought about installing them, if I need to change pads or they wear out or whatever. One thing that concerned me though was how low the specs are on the rv industries brake drums. The drum run out can vary from very little to more than the self adjusting brakes can handle. If the run out is to excessive the brakes adjust every time they hit the open spot and after a few thousand miles are very tight.
A quick google search found this which describes it.
https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/23458294/print/true.cfm
No way I would spend all that time finding the perfect set of drums if I had their problem, I'd just yank the self adjusting mechanisms out. It's not that hard to just do the manual adjustment.
If the disc brakes were not so expensive and our trailers a lot heavier they would be a no brainer.

Have you installed the new brake assemblies yet?

No, haven’t installed them yet. Hadn’t thought of the drum runout. A part of me wonders if this was just an isolated case where this guy had a problem and another part of me doesn’t want to find out and wants to just take the self adjusters out before I install them. Thoughts?

These are the ones I have out in the garage:
www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Brakes/Dexter-Axle/23-468-469.html

 

[elongest]

Dexter seals

The last time I ordered Dexter seals from Eastern Marine (A Dexter dealer.) I got the real Dexter seals. Dexter seals are made much better than the knock off double lip seals.
Eddie
https://www.easternmarine.com/dexter-172-id-grease-seal-010-019-00

 

[wetzk]

No, haven’t installed them yet. Hadn’t thought of the drum runout. A part of me wonders if this was just an isolated case where this guy had a problem and another part of me doesn’t want to find out and wants to just take the self adjusters out before I install them. Thoughts?

These are the ones I have out in the garage:
www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Brakes/Dexter-Axle/23-468-469.html

If I had them I'd try them and order a spare set of seals and take a brake spoon with me when I travel. If a brake tightens up you can spin it back a few to loosen it and it will slowly tighten again.
Then when you have time pull the hubs and remove the offending hardware from all the brakes. And if you have no problem you are set. All you would need to do from then on is whenever you do your bearing repack inspect the brakes, no more every 3000 mile adjustments.

Edit, I already bring a brake spoon with me along with other tools and small repair items. My trailer brakes are in too good of shape at this time though so it will be a few years before I consider the auto adjusters.

 

[Rossue2]

No, haven’t installed them yet. Hadn’t thought of the drum runout. A part of me wonders if this was just an isolated case where this guy had a problem and another part of me doesn’t want to find out and wants to just take the self adjusters out before I install them. Thoughts?

These are the ones I have out in the garage:
www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Brakes/Dexter-Axle/23-468-469.html

Decided a while ago these were going to be replacements to hopefully eliminate random wheel lockup that affects tire wear. Haven't seen a negative review.