EmTee Posted Sunday at 02:51 PM Share Posted Sunday at 02:51 PM 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? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClayDBH Posted Sunday at 03:55 PM Share Posted Sunday at 03:55 PM 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). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trulyvintage Posted yesterday at 12:39 AM Share Posted yesterday at 12:39 AM 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 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmTee Posted 23 hours ago Author Share Posted 23 hours ago 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...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trulyvintage Posted 12 hours ago Share Posted 12 hours ago (edited) 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 12 hours ago by Trulyvintage (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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