Trailer axle grease zerk?

[Duckdog91]

Notice my spindle on my boat trailer has a built in grease zerk, appears the grease come out near the inside bearing, any advantages to these as to say a bearing buddy system? How much grease does one of these setups take? Thanks

[Marty59]

In my opinion the EZ Lube spindles are superior to the bearing buddies. You are able to flush and fill the bearing grease without disassembling the hub. If you google "How to" lube the with EZ Lube spindle there are plenty of videos our there. Twice yearly (mid-year and end of season) I'll flush out the grease. My spindles take about 1/2 tube of grease per spindle to flush. It is obvious when the new grease starts to come out around the outer bearing based on color. Just make sure you rotate the tire/hub while you are adding the new grease. Note, they warn against using a pneumatic grease gun so that you don't blow out the seals.

One tip I picked up on one of those videos was to cut the bottom out of a dixie cup and insert inside the housing around the zerk. The cup catches the old grease as it comes out and makes a lot less of a mess.


Hope that helps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzKZ7hjExtk


Marty

[Duckdog91]

Exactly the info i was looking for. Thanks a bunch!

[Ronman]

I have a Tie Down Engineering version (2007) of zerk fitting on axle grease system. I do agree way better then bearing buddy but I'm quite disappointed on the performance on these. I disassembled cleaned and hand repacked bearings this summer. Its been 5 years or so. I was maintaining the trailer for the long winter months and was surprised to see grease oozing out of rear seal and front dust cap rubber and metal parts. One rubber dust cap fell off and was in hub cap. I have not really driven this boat over 10 miles every weekend to lake and was surprised to see such a mess in inside of rims etc. The hub seals were replaced with Tie Down Engineering correct OEM type. Not sure why this happened.

[Huntindave]

Originally Posted by Marty59

You are able to flush and fill the bearing grease without disassembling the hub.

Marty

I would be interested to know how one determines the condition of the bearings with out disassembly and inspection?

Originally Posted by Huntindave

I would be interested to know how one determines the condition of the bearings with out disassembly and inspection?

Prior to adding grease jack up each wheel and put your hands at 6 and 12 o clock and check for too much play. Repeat at 9 and 3 o clock. Spin each wheel and listen for noise. Now grease the bearing if everything seems OK.

BTW when is the last time you disassembled your truck bearings to check on their condition. Asking for a friend.

[Huntindave]

Originally Posted by foxy

Prior to adding grease jack up each wheel and put your hands at 6 and 12 o clock and check for too much play. Repeat at 9 and 3 o clock. Spin each wheel and listen for noise. Now grease the bearing if everything seems OK.

BTW when is the last time you disassembled your truck bearings to check on their condition. Asking for a friend.

Same time I greased them. answering for a friend,

[Marty59]

Originally Posted by Huntindave

I would be interested to know how one determines the condition of the bearings with out disassembly and inspection?

Good judgement....no noise, wobble or grease leaking from the seals then just flush grease and move on. In 50 years and hundreds of thousands of trailer miles, never had a bearing failure. Don't hear many actual bearing failures on this site given the number of boat/trailer owners. Do what you need to satisfy your maintenance needs.

Marty

[Yellowfin123]

Originally Posted by Marty59

In my opinion the EZ Lube spindles are superior to the bearing buddies. You are able to flush and fill the bearing grease without disassembling the hub. If you google "How to" lube the with EZ Lube spindle there are plenty of videos our there. Twice yearly (mid-year and end of season) I'll flush out the grease. My spindles take about 1/2 tube of grease per spindle to flush. It is obvious when the new grease starts to come out around the outer bearing based on color. Just make sure you rotate the tire/hub while you are adding the new grease. Note, they warn against using a pneumatic grease gun so that you don't blow out the seals.

One tip I picked up on one of those videos was to cut the bottom out of a dixie cup and insert inside the housing around the zerk. The cup catches the old grease as it comes out and makes a lot less of a mess.


Hope that helps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzKZ7hjExtk


Marty

good to know

Originally Posted by Huntindave

Same time I greased them. answering for a friend,

So never, yearly or whenever ?