Flexride bearing question

[Woodbutcher]

I bought a Flexride torsion axle from Southwest wheel. I want to grease the bearings. I sent them an email since there was nothing on their site about maintainence. They say use a high temperature wheel bearing grease and pack them seasonaly. With that being all they say, am I supposed to pull off the wheel and take the hub assembly apart and hand pack the bearings? Or do I just use the grease fitting that is already there? Which way is better and what grease do you recommend?

[G-force]

Personaly, I find most hubs come improperly lubed from the factory. Plus, you never know what grease they used. I like to clean it all out, and pack it properly with the type of grease I plan to use. Some people like the black moly grease, others the sticky red colored stuff. Either will work as long as it is rated for wheel bearing use. Is the grease zerk in the center of the axle? If so, it is probaly like the Dexter EZ lube setup where the grease is pumped in from between the inner seal and bearing, and pushes everything outward. I would repack the bearing by hand (you will probaly need to buy a new inner seal to get the inner bearing out) then pump the grease through untill its full and coming out.

[Woodbutcher]

Mike, The zerk is just under the rubber cap on the hub. So do you never use the zerk, or you hand pack the first time and refresh with the zerk once a season?

[G-force]

Yup, that looks like the EZ lube style. Once I know the grade of grease, I would have no problem just pumping more in periodicaly to keep the lubrication up. The problem is some greases cant mix with other greases, and if you try and mix them, they seperate and destroy the bearings. I would pack by hand, then pump untill it flowed out the first time. As for yearly maintance, yes, just using the zerk will repack the grease, but you should also inspect the bearings and check the nut for proper adjustment as well. If I had relativly few miles on a trailer a year, I would have no qualms doing the inspection every other year of so. If I'm really putting on the miles, I would grease through the zerk every 5 or so thousand miles and inspect/adjust yearly.

[Alphacarina]

I'm not that overly cautious

I would assume that Flexiride packs their bearings very well and with the proper grease - Your axle(s) weren't made in China, after all. I would even go so far as to assume that they did a better job of packing them than the average layman could do at home . . . . unless he's quite experienced

I would buy a cartridge of good quality wheel bearing grease and not worry at all about whether or not it's compatible with the stuff already in there and just give it a couple of pumps every few thousand miles

Me? I've seen more bearings fail shortly after being 'serviced' by well meaning amateurs who don't have experience in hand packing wheel bearings - Unless you have the proper tool to pack them using the pressure from a grease gun . . . . or unless you really know what you're doing, they probably have more grease in them now than they will have after you're done repacking them - It's very hard to get the bearing 100% full of the fibrous type grease even if you do know what you're doing

I would bet that as they come from Flexiride they will go a couple of hundred thousand miles with minimal maintenance . . . . just an additional shot of grease every now and then

Just another 'opinion' - Take it with a grain of salt . . . .

Don

[bobhenry]

then pump the grease through untill its full and coming out.

Having worked in a lubrication lab where we provided ASTM and MIL spec testing of greases, gear oils, and lubricating paints I have to disagree with the fill it full statement. There is a term called churning that causes excessive heat in a completely stuffed bearing cavity. What happens when this grease warms up ? It expands ! Where is it gonna go ? Anywhere it can generally squeezing past the seal! This weakens and deforms the seal causing leakage. Pack both bearings with what they will hold and add a golf ball size glob in the void as a reserve. As the hub warms and cools this reserve will replenish the bearings as needed. The air space left will provide cooling and an expansion area. This is why grease zerks are a bad idea it is extremely hard to tell if you have too little or too much and did it initially pack the bearing as needed. It's only 1 nut and 1 cotterpin and 10 minutes to perform this service you will set along the road a lot longer than that.

[Arne]

filling it also creates a big mess when disassembled. A well greased bearing does not have to be covered with a ton of grease, but it does have to be done right.

[Woodbutcher]

Ok guys, I will open them up and see what I've got. I used to grease bearings on my cars in the 70's. I would just put a glob of grease in my palm and work the bearing in a circle into my palm till the bearing was loaded. Then slide it in place. Is this the right way? Sorry to beat a dead horse but I hate working on stuff on the side of the road.

[Nitetimes]

.... I would just put a glob of grease in my palm and work the bearing in a circle into my palm till the bearing was loaded. Then slide it in place. Is this the right way?

Works for me!! Unless you buy a bearing packer that's the way it's been done for a loooong time!

Sorry to beat a dead horse but I hate working on stuff on the side of the road.

Me too!! I don't use EZ lube....ever!

BTW...Don't count on Dexter or Flexride or any of the other manufacturers when it comes to the bearings being properly greased. I have found many of them with barely enough to cover the bearings let alone packed, also found ones that had had a bit of grease smeared around the race and slapped together. It doesn't take long and it's worth the piece of mind to check up on their work.

[BrwBier]

I always think of grease zerks only for boat trailers. You give them a shot of grease when coming out of the water. A properly packed bearing should not have to be serviced for tens of thousands of miles and if you need to adjust it periodically then you have a huge problem. Properly packed and adjusted bearings do not wear. No wear no adjustment. A bearing packer might make the job easier and a little less messy but not better.
Brwbier

[Woodbutcher]

Thanks for all the help!

[Wolffarmer]

Trailer bearings are essentialy the same as front bearings of a rear wheel drive car. Sould be able to treat them the same. After I service either one I will drive untill things should be warmed up and go around and feel the hubs for any that may be over heated. In the past I had many many wheels in my farming days. I would not trust any manufacture to greese their wheels properly. I have seen far to many that was inadiquate to no grease. And it doesn't matter what country they are made in. If the manufacture cuts corners it seems grease is the first one. ( out of sight, out of mind ). Auto Manufactures don't seem to have this problem. They know if they don't grease it properly it is coming back to them in a few days. Trailers could take much longer. In short. Don't trust any manufacture of trailer hubs, check them. When they are new it is not a big deal to pull them and see if there is a mess of grease in there or if it needs to be redone (then write a letter to the manufacture )

[bdosborn]

Here's a great tutorial on how to pack bearings.

http://fullsizebronco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=75784

Bruce

[Woodbutcher]

Great writeup. Thanks!