Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 

Go Back   Keystone RV Forums > Keystone Tech Forums > Technical Corner
Click Here to Login

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 05-25-2020, 04:14 PM   #1
Steve's 70-5
Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2019
Location: Louisville
Posts: 67
Axle Grease

Was camping this weekend, was pulling in the campground after being out. While driving to my campsite, there was a fifth-wheel camper in front of me. It was leaning to the right side real bad, I figured they had a tire problems. The spare tire was still under the camper, looking again I noticed he only had one tire on the right side. It just happened he was put in the campsite next to me.


Walking out later that evening, the guy was out by his camper. I asked him what the problem was. He was from Florida, heading to Michigan and Wisconsin. He was in a state park in Tennessee and was heading north. When close to the Ky, TN state line, he got a warning in his truck, that he had lost trailer brakes. He pulled in the E Lane on I 65 and investigated. He thought it was a plug problem, he was in a new truck. He said he was in a bad spot on the side of the interstate, so he got back on the road and stop at the Ky. welcome center on 65. When he went back to the trailer the hub/tire on the right side was smoking/wasted. He called a service center, they towed the trailer to a garage and started to investigate the problem.



The trailer owner said that he just had the bearings repacked at a RV dealer service center in Florida, where he lived.



From the conversation I had with the owner.


The mechanic that investigated the problem said that who ever repacked the bearings, used the wrong grease. It looked like they just took the bearings out and pushed more grease in them. The grease that was in the bearings and what was used was two different types. The mechanic said that if you do not use the exact same grease, you will have problems. The two different greases will mix together and break down, adding heat to the equation will make it worse. You will end up with a oil in the hubs. The spindle on the axle was gouged and should not be used, per the mechanic.



The camper owner said he will be calling the RV dealer Tuesday to see what they will do. The mechanic said will call the manufacture and see about getting a axle and there might be a road trip to North Indiana to pick it up.



I guess I learned a couple things. I did not know about mixing grease. I though a RV dealer would get it right.
__________________
I am a analog man living in a digital world.

Joe Walsh
Steve's 70-5 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-25-2020, 04:57 PM   #2
LewisB
Senior Member
 
LewisB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Tucson
Posts: 822
The Dexter Manual states:
Click image for larger version

Name:	Grease2.jpg
Views:	242
Size:	91.8 KB
ID:	27562
as found in:
600-8k_complete_service_manual.pdf
__________________
Brad & Penny (50 years!)
2017 F350 DRW CC 4x4 Payload=5560
2018 Raptor 353TS
2019 Can Am Maverick Sport XRC - the "Blue Goose"

On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjc...yZ_w7jyofaPLVQ
LewisB is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-25-2020, 06:20 PM   #3
sourdough
Site Team
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: W. Texas
Posts: 17,600
You need to know what is put in those bearings and either remove the old completely or refill with the same. I keep 2 tubes on my shelf in the barn and they come from my tire/wheel guy that takes care of that.
__________________
Danny and Susan, wife of 56 years
2019 Ram 3500 Laramie CC SWB SB 6.4 4x4 4.10
2020 Montana High Country 331RL
sourdough is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 02-17-2023, 07:43 AM   #4
Kirk's Keystone Outback.
Senior Member
 
Kirk's Keystone Outback.'s Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2022
Location: West Coast Florida
Posts: 243
Older thread, but still great information.
I'm planning on inspecting my bearings before next trip. I'm presently using Lucas Green Grease, but am switching to Lucas Red & Tacky grease. This post only confirms to thoroughly flush out the green first, which was the plan all along. Thanks
__________________
2018 Outback 299URL
2020 F250 FX4 6.2L 4.30 AR
Equal-i-zer 10K WDH
Kirk's Keystone Outback. is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-17-2023, 09:27 AM   #5
ChuckS
Senior Member
 
ChuckS's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Mountain Home, Idaho
Posts: 2,977
I only use Lucas Red & Tacky

Images are from my 2014 Alpine when I pulled off the hubs and repacked while replacing my tires.

The bearings are the original OEM Dexter axle 7K bearings and races. I have about 40K miles of towing on the Alpine.

As you can see from the first few pics this is what the grease looked like BEFORE I cleaned and repacked. It was a waste of time but since I was getting the tires replaced I killed some time

Also an image of one of the inner bearings after it was cleaned before I hand packed it again

I DO NOT USE the EZ Lube zerks on the axle ends
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	7FC779AF-240E-4445-BF7F-AA3136E5736E.jpeg
Views:	109
Size:	276.2 KB
ID:	42964   Click image for larger version

Name:	AC47161A-7EF4-4E82-9072-CD99CF80A588.jpeg
Views:	114
Size:	159.7 KB
ID:	42965   Click image for larger version

Name:	4333BBFC-8691-48FE-A3A7-38B3804AD3FB.jpeg
Views:	113
Size:	132.2 KB
ID:	42966   Click image for larger version

Name:	E08FAAF7-E5AA-4C5C-A68B-1FC9A8984E35.jpeg
Views:	127
Size:	167.4 KB
ID:	42967  
__________________


2007 GMC Classic club cab 4x4 Duramax LBZ
2014 Alpine 3010 RE. 34 foot fifth wheel
ChuckS is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-17-2023, 09:48 AM   #6
Kirk's Keystone Outback.
Senior Member
 
Kirk's Keystone Outback.'s Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2022
Location: West Coast Florida
Posts: 243
Thanks Chuck for this information. Very helpful.
__________________
2018 Outback 299URL
2020 F250 FX4 6.2L 4.30 AR
Equal-i-zer 10K WDH
Kirk's Keystone Outback. is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-18-2023, 10:07 AM   #7
GoingPlaces
Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2021
Location: Hillsboro
Posts: 72
I will be repacking my bearings soon. From the recommendations here I see Lucas Red and Tacky grease is a good product. My trailer is a 2021 product and still has factory grease. Looking at the Lippert Manual, Lucas is not an approved vendor. I use Lucas's lubricants on other things, and I would like to use their grease.

So, it seems that I would need to "flush" out the bearings before using the Red and Tacky. Not having done this task before, how is the flushing accomplished? With solvents or just pushing through copious amounts of new grease?

I am planning on using a Grease Packing tool.

I did check the data sheet for Red and Tacky. Lucas says it is a Lithium Complex grease.... would that imply that it is compatible with the existing factory grease?
__________________
Cougar 25rdswe 2021
GoingPlaces is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-18-2023, 10:52 AM   #8
JRTJH
Site Team
 
JRTJH's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Gaylord
Posts: 26,841
Scott,

This is "just my opinion" but if you're going to do what you said, "repack the bearings" then you're only going to be doing about half the "best practice" of completely cleaning the bearings and hub/races, inspecting the bearings and races for any signs of damage or wear, then repacking with new grease and replacing the seal with a new "DOUBLE LIP" seal.

So, even using a "bearing grease packing tool", unless you clean all the old grease off the bearings and out of the hubs, you really can't do a "best practice maintenance task"....

So, doing the "whole job" you're going to be "starting with no grease in the hubs or on the bearings, so there won't be any "grease incompatability"...
__________________
John



2015 F250 6.7l 4x4
2014 Cougar X Lite 27RKS
JRTJH is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-18-2023, 11:22 AM   #9
GoingPlaces
Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2021
Location: Hillsboro
Posts: 72
Thanks this is good info and appreciated!

I totally get that is more to the story than just the actual repacking part and was planning on doing exactly what you described. What I don't know is, will just wiping off all of the old grease before repacking (which one should do anyway) would be sufficient to remove incompatibility issues. Or should I do more/extra to remove any old and potentially incompatible grease inside the bearings? A few folks here said the bearings needed to be "flushed" which to me sounded different and more involved than wiping away old grease.
__________________
Cougar 25rdswe 2021
GoingPlaces is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-18-2023, 11:34 AM   #10
Kirk's Keystone Outback.
Senior Member
 
Kirk's Keystone Outback.'s Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2022
Location: West Coast Florida
Posts: 243
If you don’t have a parts washer, brake clean can be used to force out the old grease, while using compressed air. Just don’t spin the bearing dry, that’s a big no no.
__________________
2018 Outback 299URL
2020 F250 FX4 6.2L 4.30 AR
Equal-i-zer 10K WDH
Kirk's Keystone Outback. is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-18-2023, 03:30 PM   #11
Gary R.
Senior Member
 
Gary R.'s Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2019
Location: Oregon High Desert
Posts: 1,550
Yes you should clean the old grease from the bearings to give them a thorough inspection. I would go to your nearest auto parts store and grab a parts cleaning pan, a case of spray brake cleaner, and a parts cleaning brush. Some good rubber gloves will help keep your hands clean, and a few rolls of those blue shop towels will be handy.

As stated, do not spin the bearings with compressed air. The rollers could blow out of the cage and cause injury.

Good luck in your project, I'm doing bearing service on our Alpine in the next couple of weeks.
__________________
Gary & Deb (44 years)
RV: Keystone 2013 Alpine 3495FL
TV: 2014 RAM 3500HD Laramie Long Box, 6.4 HEMI, 4x4, 4.10's, with Mopar Puck system, and a B&W Companion hitch.
Retired Firefighter/EMT.
Gary R. is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
axle, grease

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Keystone RV Company or any of its affiliates in any way. Keystone RV® is a registered trademark of the Keystone RV Company.


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 10:58 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.