Maintenance maintenance maintenance (question)

[C_M_25]

During my post-trip trailer inspection yesterday, I noticed a small sheen of grease behind one seal and a little bit more behind the other seal on the same side. There was no slinging grease...yet. Anyway, I pulled the worst hub and noticed an instant cooked oil smell. There was quite a bit of black goop between the seal and inner bearing. All of that red grease was a milky pink color and really just slid out of the hub. Bearings still looked good. Maybe just a very slight discoloration on a couple of rollers but it all looked good. I have that posi-lube/ez-lube axle, and I know that water can enter the hubs from the dust cap area with time. When I checked out the inner seal, it looked good. So, since my setup is almost a year old and the seals looked good, do you think I can just use the posi-lube grease zerks on the other two hubs to completely flush out the old grease and any water? How often do you guys recommend flushing those hubs with new grease? Seems like with a standard dust cap with rubber cap that water will eventually make it in...

On another note, I'm not tearing down another hub until I get a seal puller. Those damn things are ridiculous...

[Bamaman]

You have a problem that's very often experienced in Recreational Vehicles.

Axle manufacturers (Lippert) uses a thin bearing grease injected into the caps as a labor saver. The problem is that they also use cheap $2 Chinese seals and the "grease" gets past the seals and contaminates the braking system. With grease/oil on brake shoes, they don't work. It's a serious safety issue not being addressed by the Federal Government or the RV industry.

On my new fifth wheel trailer, I see grease on the back of one wheel.

The fix is to jack the trailer up, pull the wheel and disassemble each of the hubs. I'll be cleaning the bearings with mineral spirits and replacing the grease with red, sticky old style bearing grease (available at Walmart). And I'll be replacing the axle seals with good quality pieces. If my brakes are contaminated, they'll have to be completely cleaned up and/or replaced with self adjusting brakes.

Axles are axles--no matter if they're on RV's or in marine use. They all use the same axles/hubs and assembly methods.

[C_M_25]

Let me ask you guys something. I was told last year that I was upgraded to a brand new trailer because the one that was sold with my boat failed because it was too little for the boat. Well, I noticed that when I pulled my hub that it had some dings in it. It didn't look new, so I checked the VIN. It shows the trailer was actually built in 2014. Either this trailer sat on a lot for 2 years or it was used by somebody then damaged and sent to me. This tells me that my trailer seals are more than 2 years old which would explain why I've had several fail. I'm also now concerned my hub may be damaged because of the dings and gouges in it.

So, I ask: Is it possible that a hub can be damaged in this manner during shipping? Wouldn't a brand new hub be smooth and not be missing paint? Thanks...

[kryptonite]

If I were traveling long distance I would totally remove the hub, clean bearings, repack. If you are just using for short distance you could get away with just flushing out the old grease with new, but I wouldn't rely on that for very long.

[C_M_25]

Thanks for the replies guys. I'm getting new hubs for the trailer as one of them was dinged up a little too much. Anyway, I do have a few questions and I apologize...just trying to learn.

1) Grease in the two bad hubs was milky pink suggesting water got in. Obviously, the inner seal going bad would cause this. Could the end cap have allowed water intrusion as well? These are the posi-lube axles, and I'm not so certain that those little rubber end caps seem to allow a little grease to leak out when the hubs are hot.

2) Are the posi-lube end caps supposed to be water tight?

Clearly water entered my hubs and nearly caused the bearings to implode, so I'm looking for ways to determine earlier in the process whether I have problems. Thanks everyone.

[kryptonite]

I did have the rubber on the cap go bad on one of mine, that was causing water to enter.

I remove my caps anyways when I pump new grease in, so you really could put on solid dust caps if it becomes a problem. It's just as easy to remove the dust cap cover to grease as it is to take the small rubber off. I remove the whole cap just so I can wipe out some of the old grease that the new pushes out.