Servicing your Dexter Axle brakes or bearings

[Iowa Dave]

Hi Bob
Definitely that too. We used to pull a trailer with those little 8 or
10 inch wheels, I can’t remember.
But I know that rollout distance was a lot shorter than the 7.60 X 15 tires on the Buick tow vehicle. Must have spun them up pretty good. We always used that fiber wheel bearing grease, that stuff was pretty tacky but if you worked it Into that bearing cage it wouldn’t let you down.
Iowa Dave

 

[Chotch]

Totally disagree. No comparison between modern automotive brakes and trailer brakes that haven't changed for many decades. From leaking rear seals- like we had at first inspect @ 1 year to a recent post re: stripped thread for castle nut....you disregard Dexter's maintenance schedule at your risk.

Also- if you burn a bearing and waste the spindle you have to replace the whole axle.

Ok, trailer brakes are pretty much exactly like drum brakes that have been on cars for decades. Mechanically activated by an electro magnet instead of a hydraulic cylinder, very similar to how the hand brake works. Pretty sure that there are still a few vehicles out there that have drum brakes on the rear. But we’re talking bearings here. The wheel bearings on your trailer are no different than a billion cars on the road right now. Tapered roller bearings where invented and proven long before I was born (long time ago) I’ve serviced hundreds and replaced quite a few. The bearings are plenty big enough and the wheels are sized so they are not spinning excessively fast, the weight of the trailer I don’t see as excessive either, being supported by 8 bearings. I’m absolutely not recommending anyone disregard Dexters maintenance schedule, I just don’t see the need. If you look at my earlier post you will see I disassembled mine and found grease had leaked past the seals, the hubs and bearings where full of clean grease and looked like they where done the day before. I happen to think the grease that leaked happened when the axels where greased at the factory by using a high pressure grease gun as opposed to hand packing. I packed the bearings, replaced the seals with OEM replacement seals and we will see what happens when I take it apart a year from now. I just wish I had taken it apart when I first got the trailer, that would have proven me either right or made my argument irrelevant. We’ll see.
You stated someone posted that they found a stripped castle nut? None of the Easy Lube axles I’ve seen even have a castle nut. But if indeed this was the case it kinda shows a pretty poor QC, no?

 

[Rossue2]

Sorry, I meant spindle nut.

 

[Tom&Joan]

Totally disagree. No comparison between modern automotive brakes and trailer brakes that haven't changed for many decades. From leaking rear seals- like we had at first inspect @ 1 year to a recent post re: stripped thread for castle nut....you disregard Dexter's maintenance schedule at your risk.

Also- if you burn a bearing and waste the spindle you have to replace the whole axle.

OK, here is more of my perspective: First of all, my wife and I recently purchased a 2017 5.0 TA. This trailer was said to have been used only a few times. I seems to us it had never been used. Full LP tanks, remotes still in plastic, etc. Looks new in every way. I planned on checking the wheel bearings soon, but this thread moved it up on my to do list. My discovery follows.

Both LH brake seals had failed as well as one on the right. The grease was spun around on the hardware but did not get on the linings. The grease is super soupy, not good when combined with the EZ lube feature.

Now, consider this scenario: Suppose the original owner did not sell, but decided to use the unit for another season. Come spring he thinks it may be a good idea to pump some grease into the bearings. (He read posts from the misinformed and took it in line and sinker.) But guess what? This dude just bought himself a brake job! Maybe it took some miles, but soon he says to himself, I don't think my brakes are working good...

Having previously owned a large fifth wheel with Lippert axles I discovered the same thing, grease where it was not supposed to be. My advice for a new owner is to immediately check the wheel bearings before they go anywhere. The forums are full of failures.

The above comes from being a mechanic on cars, trucks and trailers, also industrial equipment for a good 65 years. ( started early) I will turn 80 this month. Cheers to me!

 

[Bill and Earline]

Definitely cheers to you, Tom.

We chose to cancel the Davey Crockett gathering for this year, right near you. Maybe we'll see you somewhere else in the not too distant future.

Bill

 

[Tom&Joan]

Definitely cheers to you, Tom.

We chose to cancel the Davey Crockett gathering for this year, right near you. Maybe we'll see you somewhere else in the not too distant future.

Bill

Bill, Did you mean the event is cancelled, or you cancelled attending? If event is cancelled, we know of one other party we could notify. And yes, hope to cross paths!

Tom

 

[Bill and Earline]

The King of the Wild Frontier event was demoted from a "rally" to a "gathering", since nobody wanted to step up and guide it or promote it.

As far as I know, some will still be attending, but not us.

Bill

 

[Radar1]

Grease filled drums and loose bearings

Today I decided to do the first annual bearing inspection on our year old 19' Escape.

It was nice that I could do two wheels at a time by just rolling the other two wheels up on the leveling blocks. Still, doing four wheels is twice as many as our old Scamp. :-[

I was not happy to see what the hub assemblies looked like on the inside, nor was I happy to find that it appears that Dexter didn't even follow their own guidance when tightening the bearings at the factory.

First thing I noticed on the first wheel (the one that has extra wear on the outside tread) was that the nut was at least 1 1/2 full turns from finger tight, and I could actually feel the loosness in the drum as I rocked it in my hands before removing the nut. The other three weren't quite as loose as the first one, but needed anywhere from a quarter turn to half turn to get to "finger tight".

Bearings all looked OK, but I was astonished at the amount of grease that had escaped out the inner bearing and into the brake assembly, on every wheel! In all my years of servicing brakes and bearings I have never seen that much grease in the brake assemblies.

At least my brakes won't squeak since they all have some grease on them now.

I have not used the EZ-LUBE feature; the grease and bearing looseness is how it came from the factory. I wonder if they are overzealous with the grease gun at the factory, using so much pressure that the grease is forced out the inner seal. There was still plenty of grease in the hub, even with all that had escaped.

 

[Iowa Dave]

I’m glad you checked them when you did. I regularly rotate my tires and check the drums each time. I like to turn those nuts down to make sure the bearing is seated into the cups. Then back it off a little till things spin quietly and freely. I read the Dexter manual, this might not quite agree with them but has worked for me for nearly 60 years. I do not use the easy lube feature.
I use red and tacky by Lucas or the bearing grease branded by dexter.
Iowa Dave

 

[Rossue2]

Two words likely: Training Issue. Not hard to imagine what all employers are going through right now and these kinds of things are likely going to happen with more frequency. Which is why it is even more important to not neglect this inspection. We had one inner grease seal slightly leaking when first inspected at the one year mark.

 

[rubicon327]

Bearings all looked OK, but I was astonished at the amount of grease that had escaped out the inner bearing and into the brake assembly, on every wheel! In all my years of servicing brakes and bearings I have never seen that much grease in the brake assemblies.

At least my brakes won't squeak since they all have some grease on them now.

Sorry to hear of your troubles. Shouldn’t all the brake assemblies be replaced with that level of contamination from bearing grease?

 

[Iowa Dave]

I didn’t make that comment but said to myself, “It’s going to be very difficult to clean those up. If they were mine I’d probably change out the whole rig for the peace of mind.” Any missed grease on a cleanup always seems to migrate back to the shows or magnets.
Iowa Dave

 

[Eggscape]

I would imagine that there are a whole lot of trailers out there with poorly adjusted axle nuts and brakes.

I learned this first hand when checking the brakes on my new cargo trailer a few years ago. Nothing was to spec.

 

[Iowa Dave]

It’s sad commentary to think that the owner needs to do or have done, an initial inspection, but that seems to be the case on many things. When I sold turf and landscape equipment out delivery driver would check over a thing we got in and also very conscientiously assemble things that came “in a box” if something wasn’t right, it didn’t go out on the floor. The way the business ran, there was time to do these things when the driver got back from making deliveries, and fueled the Mack for the next day. We rarely loaded for the next day if fertilizer or calcined clay was the first load out on the truck. It was hard on the suspension unless the next day started with and straw mulch.
Iowa Dave

 

[MVA]

I’m glad you checked them when you did. I regularly rotate my tires and check the drums each time. I like to turn those nuts down to make sure the bearing is seated into the cups. Then back it off a little till things spin quietly and freely. I read the Dexter manual, this might not quite agree with them but has worked for me for nearly 60 years. I do not use the easy lube feature.
I use red and tacky by Lucas or the bearing grease branded by dexter.
Iowa Dave

Dave,

What pattern do you use when rotating the tires? Swap front and rear on each side?

 

[Ron in BC]

I didn’t make that comment but said to myself, “It’s going to be very difficult to clean those up. If they were mine I’d probably change out the whole rig for the peace of mind.” Any missed grease on a cleanup always seems to migrate back to the shows or magnets.
Iowa Dave

At the risk of folks recoiling in horror and sending shockwaves through the forum I'll say what I've done many times over the last 60 years with greased contaminated brake shoes or pads.

I wipe off the surplus grease, set them on concrete, pour some gas on them and let them burn. Sometimes more than once. Then I scuff them with emory paper. Never ever had a problem doing that.

Works for me but I'm not for a second advocating anyone do that.

Ron

 

[Iowa Dave]

Pattern

Dave,

What pattern do you use when rotating the tires? Swap front and rear on each side?

Hello Steve
While I have read that there are several patterns for tire rotation I have used the following
Spare to right rear
Right rear to right front
Right front to Left front
Left front to left rear.
Left rear to spare.
From my point of view:
1. The trailer tires are non directional
2. The tires “scuff”’on tight turns and their position on the two front mountings and two rear mountings is good for their wear longevity.
3. Although we try to load side to side evenly and same with front to back,
Rotation evens out uneven load wear.
4. The spare is as wear and age dependable as all the rest of the tires. (Because it’s one of the boys)
I am running Goodyear Endurance tires at about 58 lbs cold. I don’t find that too stiff for the
21 Escape which weighs 4360 loaded for a three week trip. As previously stated each rotation allows for checking the drums easier for “play” or a leaking seal. Not that it couldn’t be done with the tire and rim on in most cases. It’s just a “while I am at it”’opportunity.
Others may feel differently but that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Iowa Dave

 

[MVA]

Thanks Dave