How to Lubricate Dexter EZ Lube Axle Bearings

The video below shows you how to lubricate the Dexter E-Z Lube® Axle Bearing System on your Casita. The E-Z Lube® system consists of axle spindles that have been specially drilled and assembled with grease zerk fittings.

No disassembly is required to repack bearings with fresh grease — just attach a grease gun at the spindle end zerk and inject the grease. When grease is pumped into the fittings, it is channeled to the inner bearing, then to the outer bearing, and eventually back out the grease cap hole for a complete bearing repack.

(Older model year Casitas do not have the E-Z Lube® bearing system, and so, must be disassembled, cleaned, packed and reassembled by hand. Dexter introduced the E-Z Lube feature in its light duty axles in 2002. The E-Z Lube® feature is designed to allow immersion in water. Axles not equipped with E-Z Lube® are not designed for immersion and bearings should be repacked after each immersion.)

The E-Z Lube® procedure will take about an hour to perform. Using the E-Z Lube method there is no need to remove and hand pack each bearing assembly. Note: Be sure to spin your tire as shown in the video as you pump grease into the E-Z Lube® grease zerk, otherwise you risk blowing out the bearing seals. The following is a note directly from Dexter:

WARNING: It is important NOT to mix different types of grease thickeners. The grease that Dexter Axle uses is a Lithium Complex grease. Mixing our grease with a Barium, Calcium, Clay, or Polyurea soap-based thickener agent will cause adverse effects. This may include causing the two greases to harden, separate, become acidic or pose other hazards and damage to the bearings.

Summary of steps

1. Use wheel chocks on opposite side of trailer
2. Jack up a wheel enough that it can spin freely — The Casita factory says to always jack up the trailer by the frame and never raise it by placing a jack under the axle. (To jack a wheel off the ground on either side, place the bottle jack or floor jack under the frame member directly behind the axle. Once the wheel is jacked up off the ground, for safty, place a support stand under the frame directly behind the jack placement. Do not jack up on the axle — It's a thin walled tube and may deform, which as you might expect, is a bad thing.)
3. Remove the cap covering the axle zerk fitting
4. Attach grease gun to zerk and start pumping grease while rotating wheel
5. Continue pumping grease until the new grease starts coming out the front
6. Remove grease gun, wipe away excess grease, and replace cap
7. Lower wheel and repeat for the other wheels

What You’ll Need

• Grease gun — Dexter strongly recommends not using pneumatic powered grease guns as these can inject grease too fast and force grease past the seal, or in rare cases dislodge the seal.
• 1 tube of grease per wheel — (Dexter uses its own grease brand which is a red lithium complex axle grease with NLGI No 2 consistency with additives for corrosion and oxidation inhibitors, and good resistance to water.)
• Bottle jack
• Wheel chocks
• Flat head screwdriver
• Rags or paper towels

The procedure is easy and straightforward. Just attach the grease gun to the zerk, then start pumping grease while rotating the wheel. Continue pumping until grease starts to come out the front around the grease gun. When new grease starts to come out, you can stop pumping. Wipe away excess grease and replace the rubber cap. (Dexter Manual)

If your Casita is an older model year manufactured before Casita adopted the E-Z Lube axle, your will have to follow the procedure cover in the following video from the Dexter axle company.

Dexter Approved Grease Brands

———  Approved Sources ———	————  Product Names ————
Chem Arrow	Arrow 2282
Chevron Texaco	Chevron Ulti-Plex Grease EP #2 Texaco Starplex Moly MPGM #2
Citgo®	Lithoplex MP #2 Lithoplex CM #2 Mystik JT-6 Hi-Temp Grease #2
ConocoPhillips/76   Lubricants/Kendall	Multiplex RED #2 L427 Super Blu Grease
Dexter®	Mystik Lithoplex Multi
Exxon™/Mobil™	Ronex, MP Mobilith AW 2 Mobil I Synthetic Grease
Fuchs	Renolit Uniwrl 2
Great Plains Lubricants	Lithium Complex EP #2
Oil Center Research of   Oklahoma	Liquid-O-Ring No, 167L
Pennzoil®-Quaker State®	Synthetic Red Grease
Royal® Mfg. Company	Royal 98 Lithium Complex EP #2
Shell	Gadus S3 V220C Gadus S5 V220 Rotella Heavy Duty Lithium Complex #2
Valvoline™	Valvoline Multi-Purpose GM Valvoline DuraBlend

Dexter’s lubricant grease specifications 

Thickener Type	Lithium Complex
Dropping Point	215°C (419°F) Minimum
Consistency	NLGI No. 2
Additives	EP, Corrosion & Oxidation Inhibitors
Viscosity Index	80 Minimum

More:

• Dexter 600-8k axle complete service manual pdf

This content is offered for informational purposes only and is not intended to replace manuals or instructions provided by the manufacturer or the advice of a qualified professional. No warranty or appropriateness for a specific purpose is expressed or implied. CasitaLife is not liable for any information covered or not covered.