New 2019 Minnie & Wheel Bearings Needed Grease?

Jaeger · 04-16-2019, 07:38 AM

We bought a new 2019 Minnie 2250DS last June and put about 1500 miles on it last year. Even though it hasn't yet been 12 months/12,000 miles as the Lippert owner's manual states (Lippert manufactures the axle/wheel assembly), I decided to pull the wheels and lube the bearings, just to be safe.

The good news is I was surprised to find an easily accessible zerc grease fitting under an easily removed rubber dust cap once I had the wheel off. The manual says for this sort of assembly, to apply the grease while turning the wheel until grease starts to appear from behind the nut.

To get to the point, the four wheels took about 3/4 or more of a large tube of grease! I stopped putting grease in as soon as it showed up around the nut. I'm reasonably confident the bearings did have some grease as shipped from the factory, but the wheels sure took a lot more than I would have expected.

SummitPond · 04-18-2019, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaeger

We bought a new 2019 Minnie 2250DS last June and put about 1500 miles on it last year. Even though it hasn't yet been 12 months/12,000 miles as the Lippert owner's manual states (Lippert manufactures the axle/wheel assembly), I decided to pull the wheels and lube the bearings, just to be safe.

The good news is I was surprised to find an easily accessible zerc grease fitting under an easily removed rubber dust cap once I had the wheel off. The manual says for this sort of assembly, to apply the grease while turning the wheel until grease starts to appear from behind the nut.

To get to the point, the four wheels took about 3/4 or more of a large tube of grease! I stopped putting grease in as soon as it showed up around the nut. I'm reasonably confident the bearings did have some grease as shipped from the factory, but the wheels sure took a lot more than I would have expected.

I believe the proper protocol to use the zirc fittings is to rotate the tire while pumping the grease. If one of the seals blew out you may have greased up the brakes. There's a lot of discussion on these Lippert hubs on the Keystone site. I haven't done a search on this site for discussions related to this, but I know there are boatloads on the other I mentioned.

Bigbird65 · 04-18-2019, 05:10 PM

I recently at 5,700 miles (2250DS) serviced mine for the first time and inspected the bearings. All 8 Chinese bearings and races looked fine. I was amazed at how little grease was in the bearings. Evidently it was enough. Repacked, replaced, and installed new grease seals. Will go at least 10,000 miles before doing it again.
I would never use the Zerk/pump method to grease my wheel bearings. I have read too many horror stories of grease being forced past the grease seals and wreaking havoc with the brake shoes. You would think this would cause poor braking but on the contrary, it causes the brake drums to start grabbing and flat spotting the tires. The reason that it takes so much grease to do this method is because there is a large cavity between the spindle and the hub that must be filled before the grease comes out the front bearing. I hope you don't have any of these problems.

beengood · 05-02-2019, 09:17 AM

Took home a 2019 27 rlts and pulled the wheels to check the bearings, found bare min. of grease and one bearing locked down way to tight and the bearing and race were already discolored. We are planning a long trip and i am sure that wheel would have been a big problem some where inconvenient. Also I never use the zerks.

Bigbird65 · 05-02-2019, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beengood

Took home a 2019 27 rlts and pulled the wheels to check the bearings, found bare min. of grease and one bearing locked down way to tight and the bearing and race were already discolored. We are planning a long trip and i am sure that wheel would have been a big problem some where inconvenient. Also I never use the zerks.

Are you going to replace the discolored race and bearing before your long trip? As I was doing the grease job I carefully examined all of the races and bearings. I did not find any sign of discoloration. Again, I was surprised at how little grease came from the factory. I put substantially more back in. This is the grease that I use. I used it on our 2101DS for 4 years. It is a good product and readily available. I did not find that the castle nut had been over tightened on any of the spindles. etrailer is good place to find the grease seals.

beengood · 05-02-2019, 03:27 PM

Replaced bearings and races for that wheel at that time. Cheap and easy in the driveway not so cheap or easy on the side of the road.

Bigbird65 · 05-02-2019, 03:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beengood

Replaced bearings and races for that wheel at that time. Cheap and easy in the driveway not so cheap or easy on the side of the road.

Sure glad you did it. You will have a lot more peace of mind on the trip. Be safe and have a good trip.

Tstutz2002 · 05-05-2019, 09:21 AM

I did the bearings yesterday on my 2018 Minnie Plus 27RBHSS and found almost no grease in one hub, a fair amount in the other 3, and the dust cap totally missing from one hub. Next week will be this trailer’s first trip since I brought it home from the dealer. Glad I checked it out.

Bigbird65 · 05-05-2019, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tstutz2002

I did the bearings yesterday on my 2018 Minnie Plus 27RBHSS and found almost no grease in one hub, a fair amount in the other 3, and the dust cap totally missing from one hub. Next week will be this trailer’s first trip since I brought it home from the dealer. Glad I checked it out.

I think you just dodged a bullet. Congratulations on the new trailer.

Tstutz2002 · 05-05-2019, 10:24 AM

It’s a 2018 Mini-Plus 27RBHSS. We actually looked at it last spring, but they just didn’t want to deal. At the winter RV show this year, there was nothing that caught our eye so we looked at their online ad and saw this one still there at a much better price than last year. We traded a 2016 2106FBS - I retired last Friday and we plan more long term trips so the extra space is nice. Shakedown trip starts on mother’s day with a a 6 weeks swing out west starting in June.

Bigbird65 · 05-05-2019, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tstutz2002

It’s a 2018 Mini-Plus 27RBHSS. We actually looked at it last spring, but they just didn’t want to deal. At the winter RV show this year, there was nothing that caught our eye so we looked at their online ad and saw this one still there at a much better price than last year. We traded a 2016 2106FBS - I retired last Friday and we plan more long term trips so the extra space is nice. Shakedown trip starts on mother’s day with a a 6 weeks swing out west starting in June.

That sure sounds like fun. We had a 2101DS for 4 years. In March 2018 we traded for the 2250DS because we wanted more room. We have put 5,700 miles on it so far and are really happy with it. Taking it to the Florida Keys later this month for deep sea fishing and snorkeling.

Tstutz2002 · 05-08-2019, 12:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tstutz2002

It’s a 2018 Mini-Plus 27RBHSS. We actually looked at it last spring, but they just didn’t want to deal. At the winter RV show this year, there was nothing that caught our eye so we looked at their online ad and saw this one still there at a much better price than last year. We traded a 2016 2106FBS - I retired last Friday and we plan more long term trips so the extra space is nice. Shakedown trip starts on mother’s day with a a 6 weeks swing out west starting in June.

Didn’t mean to hijack the thread - whether you plan to pack bearings the old fashioned way, or use the EZ Lube fittings - before your first trip it can’t hurt to pull the wheels and check things out. It helps to get familiar in your driveway instead of the side of the road...