Leaking Axle Grease Seals

[EmTee]

I have owned my enclosed car hauler (purchased new) for a year now.  I have put about 5,000 miles on it over the past 12 months.  In preparation for its annual NY state safety inspection i decided to pull the hubs and re-pack the wheel bearings.  To my surprise, the first wheel I removed revealed brakes slathered with grease!  Long story short is I found the same situation on 3 of the 4 hubs.  The odd thing is I didn't notice any issue with braking; my expectation was to re-pack bearings, reassemble and adjust the brakes.  Instead, I had the dealer service the brakes and seals while it was there for inspection.

 

I talked with the dealer/owner and he said that he gets 2 or 3 trailers in every week with the same issue.  He said the grease seals available are 'junk'.  I was blaming the manufacturer with over-filling the 'EZ-Lube' hubs and said that my plan is to only hand-pack the bearings from now on.  He said that even if I do that, I still need to inject grease through the zerk fitting until new grease just exits the outer bearing or I will likely suffer a roadside bearing failure.

 

He said that there are better quality seals available (from Timken?), but they are quite expensive.  My trailer has a pair of 5K Lippert torsion axles.  Has anyone else experienced this problem?  If so, what have you done to resolve it?

[ClayDBH]

I buy only Dexter seals now after a few failures with "just as good" seals. The only time I have a seal failure now is if I do a hard drag sideways of the trailer (which does not happen anymore (fingers crossed).

[Trulyvintage]

New trailers use ready made

axle assemblies that the 

trailer manufacturer installs.

 

Components are not checked

to make sure they are correctly

manufactured/assembled by

the trailer builder.

 

if you are buying from a

reputable trailer dealer

part of what their mark up

over manufacturer cost

should be to completely 

inspect the trailer before

it leaves their lot

(so to speak because 

many trailer dealers ship

trailers to customers direct

from the trailer builder).

 

 

Jim

 

[EmTee]

11 hours ago, Trulyvintage said:

f you are buying from a

reputable trailer dealer

part of what their mark up

over manufacturer cost

should be to completely 

inspect the trailer before

it leaves their lot

I agree.  That said, I paid for the brake repair only because the dealership is a small, family-owned business and the issue wasn't really his fault.  I inspected the seals when i removed the drums and discovered the problem.  Two of the leaky seals didn't have any obvious physical defects; one did show a small nick in the lip.  Oddly, the seal on the one dry wheel had a obvious lip defect, yet the grease stayed-put...

 

I told the dealer that I would not be paying for this service going forward.  If it happens again, I'll be doing the repair and will investigate alternative seals.  There are numerous threads on internet RV forums complaining about this issue with Lippert 'EZ-Lube' hubs.  I didn't see as many complaints associated with Dexter axles, but the designs are similar (same?).  Maybe Dexter uses better quality seals...?

[Trulyvintage]

While I can appreciate

you choose to do business 

that way - it was their fault.

 

If you ordered the trailer from

them and if you paid them

then they are responsible

for prepping the trailer

and checking everything

to make sure it is roadworthy

because that’s what

you’re paying them to do.

 

Paying for the repairs that were

a warranty item sets

the tone for future warranty

issues because you have

alreadynwaived your right

to return the trailer to

the manufacturer

representative

that you bought

it from and if you read

the writing in your warranty

you have to do that.

 

If you have repairs done

that are covered under

warranty by unauthorized

factory service your

warranty is null and void.

 

 

Jim

Edited October 15 by Trulyvintage (see edit history)

[Larry Schramm]

The last new trailer that I bought, a double axle enclosed and Dexter axles.  It had right side brakes on all four locations. Screw up from Dexter and not the trailer builder. 

 

Until I put left brake sets on the left side and right sets on the right side that trailer when applying the brakes had a very distinctive harsh apply.

[Trulyvintage]

It is a screw up from the trailer builder.

It is up to the trailer manufacturer

to check the part they are

installing to make sure it

is assembled correctly.

 

Dexter axles are assembled

in the US from domestic and

foreign parts.

 

Several years ago

I had to pick up part I had

ordered at a Dexter

manufacturing plant.

 

As I pulled around to shipping,

I saw a large rolloff dumpster

full of axles that did not meet

quality control inspection

so rather than disassemble

or repair them just

threw them away.

 

Jim

[EmTee]

Just to close the loop on this saga, I called Lippert Customer Service yesterday and described my experience.  BLUF: "Sorry, there's nothing we can do; axle seals are considered to be 'consumables' that should be replaced annually."

 

Basically what I expected...  Just for future reference, any warranty claim needs to include photographs, sworn deposition and DNA sample.  Since I had the representative on the phone, I asked him whether there were any service bulletins on this issue or updated/superseding replacement seals.  He claimed to be checking as I waited and came back to say he found nothing in their database.

 

So, I will be keeping an eye on the situation and pay closer attention to brake operation (although I didn't notice any issue previously).  I'm considering the idea of drilling an inspection hole in the backing plates to allow me to insert my borescope camera to check for any signs of leakage before the annual hub disassembly and bearing check.

[ClayDBH]

2 hours ago, EmTee said:

 

 

So, I will be keeping an eye on the situation and pay closer attention to brake operation (although I didn't notice any issue previously).  I'm considering the idea of drilling an inspection hole in the backing plates to allow me to insert my borescope camera to check for any signs of leakage before the annual hub disassembly and bearing check.

I really only know Dexter stuff but look at your backing plates. Dexter has 'cutouts' on the outer edges of them that you can look or touch to see/ feel what is going on in there for the most part. 

[Marty Roth]

My custom built Forest River was delivered with Lippert torsion 6K axles and consistently wore out tires unevenly (alignment). The axles were returned to the manufacturer who claimed "No Issues" but wanted a fortune to ship them back to the local shop. Buying new Dexter Axles was the better choice, and the "WEAR" issue has never resurfaced even after many tens of thousands of miles.

[EmTee]

I'll be keeping a close eye on my hubs from now on.  So far, no unusual tire wear or other performance issues; just throwing grease from the inner seals.  As I said, all four seals are new now and the next trip is planned for end of next month...

[Trulyvintage]

There are two different types of inner hub axle seals, and two different sizes for spindles rated at 7K and below.

 

If the wrong size seal is installed

and/or the wrong style of seal is installed the grease will not stay in the bearing cavity of the hub.

 

Jim

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[EmTee]

Well, the dealer installed the replacement seals, so we'll see...  I'll be performing all of the maintenance from this point forward.