Passport bearings (no zerk fitting?)

[mfifield01]

I'm new to the forum and TTs, but not new to trailers. I've owned a couple of boats, so I've worked on the bearings on the trailers (water kills them quickly). I just purchased a Passport 2810BH. Going through the PDI, I asked about bearing maintenance. The service person said they need to be repacked every 1-2 years depending on usage. I asked about greasing them and how often. He said you can't grease them. I asked about a zerk fitting and he said it didn't have one. I noticed that it has solid looking cap on the outside. Usually you see a rubber bearing cover of some sort. The brochure says EZ lube axle. Is there actually a zerk fitting?

[BirchyBoy]

You should have a plastic protective cover but it should be open on the end, or it may have a plastic "x" that wasn't removed at the factory. Inside that cover should be a rubber boot covering the zirk fitting. Make sure you read the book before adding grease. The hubs have to be rotating as you add grease.

[mfifield01]

How often do you add some grease? My boat was often, since I dipped it the water. For the TT, I'm thinking every 6 months.

[Desert185]

With my cars that have greaseable front wheel bearings I have always regreased them every one or two years, depending on mileage. Lubing the wheel bearings on a trailer every year that perhaps doesn't see much mileage during that time frame is probably overkill, or overpayment if you don't do the service yourself.

Having a bronze bushing, grease-able wetbolt kit with heavy shackles is more important in the spectrum of trailer maintenance than over-lubing wheel bearings, IMO.

[mfifield01]

Does anyone carry a backup bearing kit? If so, do you know the kit (or part number)?

[dcg9381]

I often carried one with boat trailers, if I was going far. I don't have a PN for yours, but look at the axle, should be a tag on it. You can email/call the manufacturer and they'll have the info on what bearings on in that axle.

[SteveC7010]

Originally Posted by mfifield01

Does anyone carry a backup bearing kit? If so, do you know the kit (or part number)?

Should be a part number chart on AlKo's ore Dexter's website. Once you know which axle you have, the chart should answer the rest.

It's also possible that your trailer doesn't have the ez lube axle. On some, it's an option rather than standard. If you have the build sheet, that info will be on it.

[BirchyBoy]

Originally Posted by mfifield01

How often do you add some grease? My boat was often, since I dipped it the water. For the TT, I'm thinking every 6 months.

I've greased mine twice in 10k miles. I think the book calls for every 3k or similar.

[mfifield01]

Thanks for the info. I think I'm just being overly concerned due to the problems with boat trailers. Had a bearing cease up last year on my boat and the bearing was repacked 2.5 years earlier. I borrowed my Dad's boat for a summer and had a bearing completely grind away, but no maintenance was done on this trailer in the 7 years it was owned (not even a couple squirts of grease). Both of these boat were rarely towed over 20 miles. Boats tend to get water pushed into the bearings even with special seals.

According to the brochure, there's only two options for the Passport GT. Both of them are on my MSRP sheet (15k A/C and Aluminum wheels). Under Standard Exterior features, EZ lube axles are listed.

[BirchyBoy]

It's possible the upgraded wheels come with a full center cap that is covering up the grease cap and rubber boot. If so, take a wheel off and see what is there. Good luck!

[RdRmr]

mfifield01,
If you have the EZ lube axles, yes there is a zerk right on the end of the axle. In Dexter's "Operation Maintenance Service Manual" for 600-8000 LB. axles it states in their maintenance schedule section page 80: Wheel bearings and cups - inspect for corrosion or wear. Clean and repack every twelve months or 12,000 miles, which ever comes first. Even if you have the EZ lube assembly they still say inspect and pack yearly. Myself, I hand pack yearly and so far (over twenty years) haven't had a bearing failure yet. But I do carry a spare inner and outer set in the tool box just in case.
Happy Campin....

[gearhead]

Last year I got all the info off the paper tag on my axle and I called Dexter asking about a spare bearing & seal kit. I have 5200# axles and they didn't have a kit. But they did give me bearing and seal manufacturer part numbers. I bought spares and packed the bearings and buried them and a seal in grease in a Rubbermaid food storage tub with a screw-on top. I put some cling wrap on top of the grease to help seal.
Today I just finished repacking my bearings and replacing seals. I checked the spare stored bearings and seal to be sure I had the right ones...I did.
The factory Dexter seal was a simple open back seal. All I could find locally was O'Rielly house brand seals. They had steel retainers on both sides and were double lip like factory.
No issues with the factory seals or bearings. The bearings cleaned up good and the races were bright with no visible indications. The unit was built in Jan 2014 and we bought it in July 2014. Maybe has 5,000 miles on it. I used Mobil1 synthetic grease. I took it for a 30 mile trial and shot the drum temps and all were less than 100F, so I'm calling it good.
Based on what I saw with mine, I see no reason to repack every 12 months. I might look again at 2 years. The next time I go in it I want to replace the Chinese bearings with U.S. made Timkens.
My RV shop quoted $400 plus parts. I may have $60 in seals and grease. Took about 1.5 hour per hub. I ain't as fast as I wuz.

edit...it may look like there is no access to a grease zerk, but there may be a plastic chrome "cover" on the end of the center cap. They break very easy. You can pry it out with a screwdriver.
also...be carefull buying parts on the 'net. eTrailer was confusing about the seal for my axle. There was a change in 1997.

[bobbecky]

Just received new Timken , USA made, bearings for our rig. Early on, with maybe 6,000 miles, I performed a bearing lube using the EZ Lube zerks, following the directions to the letter. 6,000 miles later, pulled the drums, only to find that three of the drums and brakes were well greased. Ended up replacing all the backing plate brake assemblies, and having the drums turned. Lesson learned, the EZ Lube system is too risky to use, can pull the drums, repack the bearings, install new seals, and put it all back together for less than $40. I am about to service the rig again, have new brakes, new Timken bearings, and will do the job in less than a day, and we will be good to go again. The rig has almost 40,000 miles on it, and except for the first time, have never had grease on the brakes. If you are only an occasional weekend warrior, you can easily go two years between servicing, just use the best grease available, new seals each time, and don't cut corners.

[jsmith948]

THIS^^^^^^^^!! I don't see how one can expect the seal to contain the grease under the pressure it must take to force the grease through the inner bearing, the hub cavity and out through the outer bearing. Hand packing is the way to properly grease the bearings. JMHO

[Javi]

Bearing buddies work great on boat trailers and small utility trailers without brakes... past that they suck and should never be used on any trailer with brakes..

Also, I recommend pulling the hubs and checking every bearing on any NEW trailer as the assembly line is noted for using the bare minimum grease... I've seen some where I swear they just swiped the bearing at the grease can..

[bsmith0404]

When our trailer was new I added grease through the EZ lube because, as Javi noted, the factory is notorious for under greasing. Each took several shots of grease (in the teens) before the grease started to push out the front. After roughly 5k miles I finally pulled them and repacked (no issues with pushing grease past the seals). I use Mystik JT-6 Hi-Temp #2 grease. If you check the manufacturers website, they will have a list of what grease they use and what is compatible with it. I believe a lithium complex grease is probably the most common used, but you need to check to make sure before you just add grease. If you do a complete repack and clean all of the old grease out it shouldn't be a concern.

Not trying to promote one store/company over another, but....I got new seals from NAPA, don't remember the number anymore. I just pulled the old one and took it to the store to match it up. I use other parts stores for a lot of my automotive needs, but NAPA seems to be the best when it comes to looking up numbers and finding compatible replacements......when was the last time you saw a parts guy actually pull out a book and look up a part number? To many of the other parts stores seem to have "I can't find it in the computer" syndrome.

As for how often, depends on how much use your RV gets. If packed properly, I don't see a reason to deal with them more than once a year, many people can probably get 2 yrs out of grease. I personally don't like going that long because grease will have thickeners separate. How many times have you noticed a small amount of liquid dripping from your grease gun that is just sitting in your garage? That is from the oils and thickeners separating, it'll do the same thing in the hubs/bearings.

[gearhead]

My story is similar. When new, I pumped grease in the hubs, while turning it. I pumped a lot of grease in them. Of course I worried about if I blew the seals. And I was pumping Mobil1 synthetic in with whatever low bid grease used at the factory. So, several worries.
When I disassembled them this week I didn't have any blown seals. I did see what appeared to be a black sealant like Aviation Permatex behind the seal bore before I pulled the seal. When installing the new seals I used a very small amount of high temp red Permatex on the seal OD. A VERY small amount after the seal was started in its' bore. I put as much grease as I could in the void of the hub, reassembled the hub and pumped enough in it to see it come out the outboard bearing.
I don't plan on pumping anymore grease in them. That grease should be good for several years. Travel trailer bearings have a fair load on them but that inboard bearing is pretty decent sized. Based on my rotating machinery experience, about 7 years is expected mean time between failure. And it better be longer if you want a decent raise. lol
And don't tell anyone I used that "double cross" Exxon grease.

[bsmith0404]

Originally Posted by gearhead

And don't tell anyone I used that "double cross" Exxon grease.

I'm telling everyone..lol. I used to use Mobil 1 synthetic grease with good results, but got tired of cleaning all of the puddles off the floor under the spot my grease gun hangs in the garage. I don't know what kind of soap/thickener they use, but I don't like it. I decided to switch to Mystik, which I had good luck with in the past. Even though it is owned by a Venezuelan company now, the quality hasn't seemed to go down.

[gearhead]

This is what a lot of new boat trailers are equipped with on the Gulf Coast. I have them on mine, and with torsion suspension. A winning combo so far.
If I were building travel trailers....
http://www.ufpnet.com/Portals/0/PDFs...20Brochure.pdf

[gearhead]

Originally Posted by bsmith0404

I'm telling everyone..lol. I used to use Mobil 1 synthetic grease with good results, but got tired of cleaning all of the puddles off the floor under the spot my grease gun hangs in the garage. I don't know what kind of soap/thickener they use, but I don't like it. I decided to switch to Mystik, which I had good luck with in the past. Even though it is owned by a Venezuelan company now, the quality hasn't seemed to go down.

I thought I would "toe the line" with Dexter regarding approved greases. I used to use Pennzoil (Shell) synthetic marine grease but can't find it over the counter anymore. Autozone stocks Mobil1, and it's a get it when they have it deal. I just put WalMart marine grease in my little GoDevil boat trailer. Smells and looks like the Pennzoil, so I feel better!
I keep my 3 grease guns in a plastic kitchen sized garbage can in the storage barn, and it's a mess.
I've got a tube of Lucas Red Sticky and Tacky that is going to be used on something for a trial. Maybe the lawn mower.
***edit Amazon lists Timken bearings cheaper than parts store Chinese bearings. But I won't guarantee they aren't Chinese Timkens.