Bearing Maintenance

[djsamuel]

Has anybody performed maintenance on their bearings using the EZ-Lube system?  Mine aren't due yet, but I will do it before we head to the Grand Canyon in September.  Just curious how well it works and if I can just do that rather than removing the drums and manually packing the bearings.

[tinkeringtechie]

This topic is usually heavily debated, so you'll probably get answers from both sides.

My personal opinion on the matter is that the EZ-lube hubs are nice for "topping off", but not a substitute for regular maintenance. Removing the hubs can give you much more feedback on the state of the bearings and brakes. You'll be able to inspect everything and replace/adjust as necessary. The zerk fitting is connected to a channel that exits right next to the rear seal. That seal will be under a lot of pressure when you're adding grease and if it fails or leaks, the grease will now be inside the hub and could potentially end up on the brakes. Also, in order to get grease to the front bearing you'll need to fill all of the voids in the hub cavity, which is not ideal (and a waste of grease  

So personally I just repack every spring and don't use the EZ-lube feature.

[djsamuel]

[quote source="/post/95/thread" timestamp="1394566460" author="@tinkeringtechie"]

So personally I just repack every spring and don't use the EZ-lube feature.


[/quote]That's the direction I'm leaning.  Do you need to replace the seals when you pull the bearings?

[tinkeringtechie]

You can usually reuse the front seals if you're careful, but the rear seals always get ruined when I pry them out (maybe there's a trick that I don't know of).