Upgrade tires, axles, wheels, suspension on 22FBS

Mhitesman

Member
I think we had a bent axle when our 2013 22FBS Northtrail Caliber Edition was new, but the salesman convinced us the wheels tilting strangely was a "feature". Two axles later and three tires later, we upgraded the whole undercarriage last Spring. For the first time ever, we took a long trip without a breakdown. We upgraded the stock C rated tires to Maxxus 8000 ST8000 . We went up a size on them too. I think they are 15" instead of 14" Rated E. 5200 lb axle upgrade as well. The rig sits an inch higher but not uncomfortable or unsafe. Along with that we redid all the suspension, brakes, and of course wheels. Got the EZ Lube to keep the bearings greased easily. My question is this: Anyone else have this trailer and axle problems?
 

mlpeloquin

Well-known member
You did great on all but the wanting to use the EZ Lube. Don't use the EX Lube. It was invented for the boating industry. You really need to clean and inspect the bearings and races before packing the bearing properly. This gives you the opportunity to inspect the breaks as well. Pumping grease into that fitting puts a lot of pressure on the shaft seal. You will not know if you blew the seal and coated the breaks with grease. And of course you will need to replace the grease seals when you do a proper regreasing the bearings.
 

RickL

Well-known member
My take on the easy lube bearing caps are - they are worthless in any configuration. Bearings packed correctly along with fresh seals and an undamaged seal area is the only way to go. I grew up in Minnesota where there were tons of boat trailer running them. My brother swore by them, I swore at them. Until he lost an axle because he thought the bearing buddies (EZ lube) were the cats meow. I yanked the other wheel off as he said he had just the night prior lubed the bearings. The hub was full of water! Of course this was a boat trailer going in and out of the water.

However the same same thought applies to RV’s. Disassemble, clean, inspect, and repack the bearings on a yearly basis with quality wheel grease and new seals and you won’t have an issue.
 
I agree about the ez lube

i had them on a cargo tag trailer. As well as towmax tires. Never had a problem with either. But we where loaded about half our rated capacity

im guessing as you load up to your rated capacity. Things change. Tires and seals take a beating and definitely upgrade to compensate

I would put a couple of pumps of lube in each wheel once a year. Then I read the directions about filling them up and immediately had grease on my rear axle brakes which I’m guessing takes more abuse. I’m going to not use the ez lube anymore though I’d imagine I could as long as I don’t fill the entire axle hub and only refresh the larger inside bearings. It seems I’ll repack the bearings twice as often as replacing the brake pads. So between brakes I’ll repack the bearings and clean and inspect the brakes

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