Micro Minnie 2108DS Wheel Bearing Lube

[Marine359]

Just a heads up for all Micro Minnie owners on lube for your wheel bearings.

Wheel lube should be done every year. But I’m lazy, and didn’t get around to this task until late in second year. Fortunately, Micro Minnie’s are equipped with Zirc lube fittings. It makes this maintenance chore much easier. Use any type of high-temp grease.

Roll one wheel up onto an Anderson type elliptical leveler. This will lift the second axle off the ground. Remove decorative cap with flat blade screwdriver, and remove interior dust cover with same. First turn the wheel to determine if the brakes are set properly. There should be some grinding and resistance if the brakes are properly set. If wheels turn with no resistance, then you need to adjust brakes with a brake adjusting tool.

Follow instructions for loading the grease gun, and attach pressurized fitting (such that some grease comes out when you squeeze the trigger) to the zirc fitting in the wheel. Turn the wheel while squeezing the trigger repeatedly until you see pink lube coming out of the fitting. Note: you must turn the wheel when squeezing the grease trigger, or grease will not get into all the bearings.

When you see pink grease coming out of the fitting, Remove the grease gun. Scoop out excess grease from the wheel Bering with a paper towel. Replace rubber dust cover. Replace decorative wheel cover. Move on to next wheel.

After two years of neglecting this essential task, each wheel consumed approximately 1/2 tube of grease. I’m just thinking, dude, you should have done this way sooner. An accident/emergency could have happened

Easy maintenance task. About $20 for the grease gun at any auto parts store, and $20 for the two tubes of grease. Wear nitrile gloves. Chore takes about an hour.

[SactoSteve]

Your timing of this post is impecible!
I was justbturning my attention to this task.
Thank you,
- steve

[Blue Sky]

... agreeing with Marine359. Remember the Fram commercials of some decades ago: "Pay me now, or pay me later".

I wonder when I pass a bearing failure on the side of the road if $.50 worth of grease would have prevented it.

[Bigbird65]

This process works well as long as the rear seal is in good condition. I've read too many stories where the grease went past the rear seal and on to the brake shoes. That is why I go to the trouble of hand packing the bearings. Maybe I am overly cautious.

[Marine359]

Originally Posted by Bigbird65

This process works well as long as the rear seal is in good condition. I've read too many stories where the grease went past the rear seal and on to the brake shoes. That is why I go to the trouble of hand packing the bearings. Maybe I am overly cautious.

That’s a good thing if your rig has some years and miles on it. Not really a risk on a newer rig. But if it’s a concern, you can always remove the wheel to check.

[Thindirtline]

Thanks Marine359! I will definitely add this to my roof caulking check each fall.

[Bcborn]

Originally Posted by Bigbird65

This process works well as long as the rear seal is in good condition. I've read too many stories where the grease went past the rear seal and on to the brake shoes. That is why I go to the trouble of hand packing the bearings. Maybe I am overly cautious.

Hand packing definitely uses less grease as your not filling the hub. Pulling the hub to pack rear bearings will cost you a new seal each time and more time consuming too.

I have never done it Via the zirc fitting which is much easier. If grease pushes past the rear seal I'm unsure if their is a way of telling if the seal failed before it's too late.

Some trailer owners put on many miles/Km a year. Some trailer owners put on very few few miles/Km a year.

Is their any repack service schedule based on miles/Km towed per year?

[Bigbird65]

Bcborn actually you can repack the rear bearing without removing the rear seal. I push the rear inner bearing toward the front of the hub, maybe 1/8". With a finger full of grease I force the grease between the rear seal and the bearing. I keep doing this until I have thoroughly packed the complete bearing. It only takes a few minutes to do this. I have used this technique on 2 different Winnebago trailers since 2014 and never had a bearing problem.
I inspect the seal and replace it if I should find a nick.
I have not seen a spec on how many miles or when to pack the bearings. I usually do the job after 10,000 miles or once a year.

[tinglett]

I recently repacked my bearings and the 4 seals were only a total of $25 at O'Reilly. That isn't going to break my wallet.

I found very little grease in the bearings when I first packed them. In the end I decided to pump the hub full of grease in addition to hand packing, under the theory that more grease was better than too little. But I'm probably just wasting grease.

The problem with just pumping in grease is that you are skipping the inspection step. Perhaps do that every 2-3 years? Packing is easy enough that I'll just do it each time, though I'm doing this only ever other year as we put so few miles on the rig. Hopefully we'll get out there more often over time.

[SactoSteve]

I haven’t packed wheel bearing in years. What size seals am I looking for?
Thanks,
- Steve

[tinglett]

Originally Posted by SactoSteve

I haven’t packed wheel bearing in years. What size seals am I looking for?

I just took the seal to the auto parts store and they figured it out. They were giddy at first because the seal had numbers on it, but they didn't match anything in the database, so they went by dimensions. And that worked fine.

I suppose the only trick is if they don't have enough. Then you are stuck, but I suppose you could finish the wheel you started. I bought spares, as well as two extra sets of bearings and races. I could go measure for you, but I wonder if the micro-minnies all use the same size. You probably need to take one into the store.

The first time I packed mine it took a lot of time. Well, it took a lot of time for the first wheel. Then the other 3 went pretty fast. In the end I think it was a lot less work than hauling everything to a dealer. Plus I have some confidence now I could do this on the road while waiting for AAA+ to come to the rescue.

[SactoSteve]

I wonder if the micro-minnies all use the same size.

I had the same thought.
We have several car parts places very local so your approach should work fine.
Thanks for the response.

- Steve

[RocknRoll]

Last winter, I had attempted to repack mine (zero experience) as it had never been done before. Bought all of the tools and did as much homework as possible.

On the first wheel, the lug nut actually broke, and I could not get it off for the life of me. I threw up my hands and called a local wheel and tire shop to see if they could fit me in and sure, bring it in.

Upon same day pickup, they told me that one of the bearings had some play and it was a good thing I brought it in. Replaced the bearing, lug nut, repacked all bearings/replaced seals and rotated the tires. I avoided a lot of potential misery and to me $160 out the door was money well spent.

Moral of the story? Inspect, inspect and inspect.

[splitley]

I have a 2018 2106DS, Recently repacked all 4 wheels, I bought a new hub from Etrailer, installed Timkin bearings ( Made in USA ) also bought 3 more sets of Timkin bearing's and grease seals, trailer is at a storage facility which doesn't allow working on the trailer, same as where I live, HOA forbids even having an RV at property. My plan, jack up trailer,Remove wheel, remove hub,, replace with new hub, 8 min total time, then do the same thing 3 more times, over a few days time, done! plus I keep a Hub ready to go in the back of my truck. I definitely would visually check at least every 2 years as I was a Machine repairman for GM for 30 years, the Chinese bearing are junk, tested mine for heat before and after and the Timkens run 10 - 15 degrees cooler on average also never ever mix two different types of grease. Mobil temp SHC 32 is the best, after installation give each wheel 1/2 dozen pumps with the grease gun while turning the wheel