Trailer Bearings and grease

Rory McNeil · 06-28-2019, 06:14 PM

I recently had to replace a bad wheel bearing on my 24 foot Wells Cargo trailer, with 5200 lb Dexter "NevRLube" axles. The only bearing I could find in the area was a Chinese made unit in a National Bearing box. Does anybody have anything good to say about these off shore bearings, or should I be looking to find some North American made bearings, if that is even possible these days? Also, I have Lucas "Red and Tacky" grease, anybody use this grease on their trailer bearings, or should I look for a different brand? Most of my racing happens close to home, rarely more than a 3 hour tow, normally only 1 hour, with about 2500 miles a year of towing. any thoughts on how often I should be repacking my bearings? Every year seems like overkill, but 4 years obviously is not enough! Odd thing is that the inner bearings still had plenty of clean grease on them, but both outers on the rear axle were brown and rusty.

Rich Biebel · 06-28-2019, 08:13 PM

My Classic Terminator trailer has Nev-R-Lube bearings and they are sealed cartridges. They can't be repacked.....They press into the drum and have a snap ring to retain them....

I replaced all mine and kept the old ones as spares.

If you have bearings that can be repacked they are not the sealed type I have and I would not call them Nev-R-Lube.....

The best wheel bearing grease is red synthetic waterproof grease and if you use that you'll get way better bearing life. Chemsearch is a company we get that grease from.

My old 22' trailer regularly hurt bearings until I used similar grease....

I would try to find some better bearings.....and Made in USA...

Rory McNeil · 06-29-2019, 12:50 AM

My mistake, Rich, I mixed up the names of the features of the Dexter axles, it has NevRAdjust trailer brakes, they call the wheel bearings "EZLube", they have a grease nipple under each dust cap so you can pump grease into the spindle, which is drilled so the grease goes into the inner bearing, and pushes the old grease out towards the dust cap, hopefully without pushing grease past the inner seals.
As for the Lucas Red N Tacky grease I have, it is a red Lithium based grease with good rating (GC-LB), so I am hoping it should work well for the bearings.

Rusty Davenport · 07-01-2019, 02:25 PM

If you do a little research you will find out that "mixing" brands and types of grease is absolutely NOT RECOMMENDED !!!!! Just a note of extreme caution.

FED 387 · 07-01-2019, 03:44 PM

X 2!!!!!!!!

Run to Rund · 07-02-2019, 12:07 PM

If you download the Dexter hubs-drums-bearings manual, it has recommended greases in it. They use lithium complex grease. Some other types of greases are sodium or aluminum complex.

Bob Mulry · 07-03-2019, 03:10 PM

When they first started installing disc brakes from the factory there was a special Hi-Temp Disc Brake Moly Wheel Bearing grease...

I guess that I've been using it on every wheel bearing that I have packed in the last 50 years with good results....

Boat trailers excepted..

GTX JOHN · 07-04-2019, 05:31 PM

My son Jon builds and sells trailers......He will not use ANYTHING
but Dexter Axles Bearings Suspension on the trailers he sells.

He replaces a lot of Chinese Crap every week
from other manufacturers for people traveling thru our little town
to Vegas or further West.

Yes Dexter is a bit more money......But.

lo23m8b · 07-18-2019, 10:09 PM

I've been using Mobil 1 red synthetic as of late because I can no longer find the old Hi-Performance Hi-Temp Blue. It's seems OK. But never mix greases because if the bases are different it will break down. If you are using a new product fully clean the old bearings then pack them good. Regular maintenance is the key. On the job for 50 years.

Mike Pearson · 07-19-2019, 09:23 AM

All of the bearings and seals for that axle are available at NAPA. I also have 5200 LB Dexter easy lube axles under my trailer. I have been using the NAPA bearings in my trailer as needed. I have been using the Valvoline red tacky grease. I do tow long distances at times. I have had some issue with one axle and hub killing the outside bearing and race. Recently I put a new hub. brakes and bearings on that spindle. so far it has been OK. If your tires have a weird tread wear it can put more pressure on the bearing and overheat it.

06-28-2019, 06:14 PM	#1
Rory McNeil VIP Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: from Vancouver BC Canada, now in Nova Scotia Posts: 1,300 Likes: 302 Liked 1,074 Times in 294 Posts	Trailer Bearings and grease I recently had to replace a bad wheel bearing on my 24 foot Wells Cargo trailer, with 5200 lb Dexter "NevRLube" axles. The only bearing I could find in the area was a Chinese made unit in a National Bearing box. Does anybody have anything good to say about these off shore bearings, or should I be looking to find some North American made bearings, if that is even possible these days? Also, I have Lucas "Red and Tacky" grease, anybody use this grease on their trailer bearings, or should I look for a different brand? Most of my racing happens close to home, rarely more than a 3 hour tow, normally only 1 hour, with about 2500 miles a year of towing. any thoughts on how often I should be repacking my bearings? Every year seems like overkill, but 4 years obviously is not enough! Odd thing is that the inner bearings still had plenty of clean grease on them, but both outers on the rear axle were brown and rusty. __________________ NHRA 6390 STK M/S 85 Mustang

06-28-2019, 08:13 PM	#2
Rich Biebel VIP Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Northern New Jersey suburbs Posts: 2,314 Likes: 25 Liked 544 Times in 213 Posts	Re: Trailer Bearings and grease My Classic Terminator trailer has Nev-R-Lube bearings and they are sealed cartridges. They can't be repacked.....They press into the drum and have a snap ring to retain them.... I replaced all mine and kept the old ones as spares. If you have bearings that can be repacked they are not the sealed type I have and I would not call them Nev-R-Lube..... The best wheel bearing grease is red synthetic waterproof grease and if you use that you'll get way better bearing life. Chemsearch is a company we get that grease from. My old 22' trailer regularly hurt bearings until I used similar grease.... I would try to find some better bearings.....and Made in USA... __________________ Rich Biebel S/C 1479 Stock 147R Last edited by Rich Biebel; 06-28-2019 at 08:17 PM.

06-29-2019, 12:50 AM	#3
Rory McNeil VIP Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: from Vancouver BC Canada, now in Nova Scotia Posts: 1,300 Likes: 302 Liked 1,074 Times in 294 Posts	Re: Trailer Bearings and grease My mistake, Rich, I mixed up the names of the features of the Dexter axles, it has NevRAdjust trailer brakes, they call the wheel bearings "EZLube", they have a grease nipple under each dust cap so you can pump grease into the spindle, which is drilled so the grease goes into the inner bearing, and pushes the old grease out towards the dust cap, hopefully without pushing grease past the inner seals. As for the Lucas Red N Tacky grease I have, it is a red Lithium based grease with good rating (GC-LB), so I am hoping it should work well for the bearings. __________________ NHRA 6390 STK M/S 85 Mustang

07-01-2019, 02:25 PM	#4
Rusty Davenport Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Nashville N.C. Posts: 505 Likes: 4 Liked 100 Times in 26 Posts	Re: Trailer Bearings and grease If you do a little research you will find out that "mixing" brands and types of grease is absolutely NOT RECOMMENDED !!!!! Just a note of extreme caution. __________________ NHRA AND IHRA STOCK ELIMINATOR 2772

07-01-2019, 03:44 PM	#5
FED 387 VIP Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 3,409 Likes: 504 Liked 328 Times in 176 Posts	Re: Trailer Bearings and grease X 2!!!!!!!!

07-02-2019, 12:07 PM	#6
Run to Rund Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Henderson, NV Posts: 583 Likes: 8 Liked 54 Times in 27 Posts	Re: Trailer Bearings and grease If you download the Dexter hubs-drums-bearings manual, it has recommended greases in it. They use lithium complex grease. Some other types of greases are sodium or aluminum complex.

07-03-2019, 03:10 PM	#7
Bob Mulry VIP Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Coarsegold, CA Posts: 1,016 Likes: 57 Liked 320 Times in 102 Posts	Re: Trailer Bearings and grease When they first started installing disc brakes from the factory there was a special Hi-Temp Disc Brake Moly Wheel Bearing grease... I guess that I've been using it on every wheel bearing that I have packed in the last 50 years with good results.... Boat trailers excepted.. __________________ Bob Mulry 7516 STK A & M Motorsports

07-04-2019, 05:31 PM	#8
GTX JOHN VIP Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Boulder City, Nevada 89005 Posts: 2,719 Likes: 2,765 Liked 2,425 Times in 687 Posts	Re: Trailer Bearings and grease My son Jon builds and sells trailers......He will not use ANYTHING but Dexter Axles Bearings Suspension on the trailers he sells. He replaces a lot of Chinese Crap every week from other manufacturers for people traveling thru our little town to Vegas or further West. Yes Dexter is a bit more money......But. __________________ John Irving 741 Stock 741 Super Stock Last edited by GTX JOHN; 07-04-2019 at 05:34 PM.

07-18-2019, 10:09 PM	#9
lo23m8b Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2018 Posts: 11 Likes: 0 Liked 3 Times in 2 Posts	Re: Trailer Bearings and grease I've been using Mobil 1 red synthetic as of late because I can no longer find the old Hi-Performance Hi-Temp Blue. It's seems OK. But never mix greases because if the bases are different it will break down. If you are using a new product fully clean the old bearings then pack them good. Regular maintenance is the key. On the job for 50 years.

07-19-2019, 09:23 AM	#10
Mike Pearson VIP Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 2,434 Likes: 608 Liked 1,903 Times in 571 Posts	Re: Trailer Bearings and grease All of the bearings and seals for that axle are available at NAPA. I also have 5200 LB Dexter easy lube axles under my trailer. I have been using the NAPA bearings in my trailer as needed. I have been using the Valvoline red tacky grease. I do tow long distances at times. I have had some issue with one axle and hub killing the outside bearing and race. Recently I put a new hub. brakes and bearings on that spindle. so far it has been OK. If your tires have a weird tread wear it can put more pressure on the bearing and overheat it. __________________ Mike Pearson 2485 SS