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Old 05-20-2016, 10:37 PM   #1
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Default Squeaking trailer wheel

One of the four trailer wheels squeaks as it is rotated. Not a bearing issue since I just greased it and there was no change. I'm thinking that its either the magnet or the the brake shoes rubbing on the drum. Before I take the drum off, is there a brake adjustment port that can be accessed to adjust the shoes?
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Old 05-21-2016, 12:35 AM   #2
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There should be an adjustment slot on the backside toward the bottom. It might be covered by a dust cover. Have you adjusted the brakes lately? There is no self adjuster so it is unlikely to be tight brake shoes unless there is a rock or something in the wheel. You probably won't know for sure unless you take the wheel and drum off. Also, if you are hearing a noise you might want the wheel off to make sure the grease is getting to the wheel bearings. I am assuming you used the grease fitting on the outside of the hub. That method is not always reliable.

Personally, I don't guess with those kind of noises. The consequence of guessing wrong can be costly, time consuming and awkward.
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Old 05-21-2016, 03:28 AM   #3
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Or you could do what I do -- turn up the volume on the radio!
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Old 05-22-2016, 12:16 PM   #4
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OK, normally I would chuckle at profdant139's post and go on to the next one. In this case, I feel a need to say something.

We are talking about a 6 or 7 year old trailer that is new to Twinster2. I assume that the squeak is isolated to the wheel as opposed to the suspension or the body of the trailer. I would think that breaking the wheels down would be a priority to check out both the brake condition and the wheel bearings/spindle. Those things are the sources of some "inconvenience" if things go wrong. If nothing else, checking out the wheel parts should be one thing to check off of your list.
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Old 05-25-2016, 05:28 PM   #5
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N&K, your advice is "sound," no pun intended. (Well, yes it is.) But I was just joking around -- of course this noise has to be investigated. If that bearing freezes at freeway speeds, it could start a fire. (I know that is true for trucks -- I assume it is true for trailers, too.)
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Old 05-25-2016, 07:14 PM   #6
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Squeaks are not normally a good thing ... I agree with N&K... I would not only pull the squeaking wheel and bearing, but personally, I would pull them all before towing the trailer again...
TRUE STORY -- I lost a wheel once on a boat trailer with with 2,000 lbs. of boat and motor, and spring loaded dust caps... and was lucky... It cost me the axle and body work, and I even found the tire and wheel... The wheel bearing seized and twisted the axle-spindle. If the wheel had been on the left, it could have killed someone!!! But thank my lucky stars, it was a right wheel and rolled a 1/2 mile down the bar-ditch... Later inspection of the hub revealed a crack that could not be seen without removal

Okay, the other thing that will probably raise conflicts ... I am not trying to do so and only posting my opinion... Back in the old days you pulled the wheels and bearings, cleaned, inspected, repacked the bearings, and replaced the inner grease seal... NOW, the boating world pressure grease caps are used to give a slight pressure to the bearing cavity before backing an otherwise warm hub into cold water... This additional pressure was designed to offset the hub cooling quickly and sucking water into the hub... This otherwise good idea is being used to grease wheel bearings on travel trailers that were never intended to be backed into water... These caps can blow seals and not provide the positive results of cleaning, inspection, and proper packing...

I own 3 trailers and NEVER, NEVER, NEVER use these BOAT TRAILER GREASE CAPS and DO NOT EVEN KNOW IF THEY WORK... I USE THEM FOR DUST CAPS... I believe that a good periodic bearing inspection and PROPER repacking of the bearings is good preventative maintenance and will help keep you rolling safely...

FACT---A trailer with lots of grease in the hub that sits in one place all winter can still have the bearings displace grease at the contact zone between the race and bearing and rust this small spot. This little pit will grow when rotating under load, an eventual bearing failure can result... an annual inspect can help prevent failure on an otherwise great vacation...

AGAIN, Just my opinion... Better safe than sorry...
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Old 05-26-2016, 08:31 AM   #7
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I agree with John that the "dexter e-z lube", and the "bearing buddy" do not work all that well. One problem for instance with the E-Z lube is the grease first goes in through the zerk, travels thru the spindle to the inner bearing, then flows outward to fill the entire hub cavity before getting to the outer bearing.
In many cases, all that happens is the inner bearing gets some fresh grease, but the outer never gets any because the hub never gets filled. And that's assuming as John points out, that the seal holds.

I'm old fashioned, I pull them apart and do it all by hand. It's a good opportunity to inspect everything and potentially head off any problems I may find.

PS, I used the bearing buddy on a boat trailer I had years ago. That trailer did not have brakes. I felt the bearing buddies worked "ok" for that application, but still, I would tear them apart manually a couple times each season, and always found at least a little water in there.
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Old 05-29-2016, 05:19 PM   #8
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It should be mentioned when lubing the 'dexter e-z lube' hubs ~ the wheel is to lifted so it's off the ground and the wheel rotated when pumping in the grease ... until the grease is seen coming out around the outer bearing.

It's in the instructions about using the 'dexter e-z lube' hubs. When it comes out around the outer bearing, you know the cavity between the bearings has been filled with grease too.



PS: I wasn't sure about the e-z lub system so I pulled the hub after lubing it that way and yes, the center was full of grease.
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Old 05-30-2016, 04:52 PM   #9
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When I greased the wheels with the easy-lub system I slowly pumped in Lucas "Red N Sticky" grease while turning the wheel until all of the black grease was purged form the bearing and red grease started coming out. Probably a waste of grease, but it only took two cartridge and at least I know that all new grease is in the bearing pack now.
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Old 05-30-2016, 06:40 PM   #10
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Twinster, after you have run it for a while, especially after it's been pulled in hot weather at highway speeds, crawl under there and take a close look at the back where the backing plate bolts to the end of the axle, and also at the bottom of the backing plate is a bit of a lip. If you see any hint of "oily-ness" that will be your clue that grease got past the inner seal.
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