ALKO trailer axle not taking grease

[BJN644]

I have a #7000 trailer with 2 # 3500 axles that I bought new last summer. I cannot get the ez lube style hubs to take any grease, I actually blew the flexible hose off my grease gun trying to lube the hubs. I have had it back to my dealer twice and they say there is nothing wrong with it, I say bull because you can't grease the hubs. I'm waiting to hear back from ALKO to see what they have to say.

I have 2 other trailers with this style grease-able hubs and have no problems lubing them.

Anyone else have this problem?

 

[Diamondpilot]

Are they the type of axles with grease fittings in the end of the spindle? If so I would check to make sure they are actually drilled. As you know, these axles have a hole drilled though them to a spot between the inner and outer bearing and push grease both ways.

The opposite style is Bearing Buddies. They use a spring to apply pressure on a grease reserve to apply grease through the outer bearing to the inner bearing. I am assuming you have the type I described first. If so you may try just replacing the grease nipple. I just bough a lawn cart and could not get 3 of the 4 fittings to take grease, problem was cheap nipples. Easy fix with my HF kit of fittings. The usually just thread in but some are pressed in.

Hope this is some help.

Chris

 

[BJN644]

Yes, they are the first type you mentioned. I did think of replacing the fittings, I'm still waiting for a call back from ALKO to hear what they have to say before I start replacing parts on a new trailer. Thanks for the reply.

 

[Diamondpilot]

A real simple 2 minute check you can make is to remove the grease nipple (zerk) and put it in a grease gun and pump. If it does then you can rule it out. while you have the zerk out try putting a piece of wire like a coat hanger in the hole to see if its drilled.

Chris

 

[Orange 08]

Was the dealer able to put grease through it when you brought it back to him?

If so maybe you could bring it back again and ask to watch him grease it and then try it with your grease gun.

 

[BJN644]

A real simple 2 minute check you can make is to remove the grease nipple (zerk) and put it in a grease gun and pump. If it does then you can rule it out. while you have the zerk out try putting a piece of wire like a coat hanger in the hole to see if its drilled.

Chris

I should have thought of this myself. Notice the fittings, they are falling apart, I think two of them are missing the spring. As I stated this trailer was bought new last summer, stayed parked all winter and has maybe less than 1000 miles on it. I'm stopping by the trailer dealer today to show them the fine components used in their trailers. And by the way ALKO doesn't have much for customer service, I called 3 times this week, left voicemail messages and no one returned my calls.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I should have thought of this myself. Notice the fittings, they are falling apart, I think two of them are missing the spring. As I stated this trailer was bought new last summer, stayed parked all winter and has maybe less than 1000 miles on it. I'm stopping by the trailer dealer today to show them the fine components used in their trailers. And by the way ALKO doesn't have much for customer service, I called 3 times this week, left voicemail messages and no one returned my calls.

Glad I pointed you in the right direction. Should be a easy $5 fix. I would just go get the parts and eat the cost or save the receipt and mail it to them demanding a refund with some payment, like $25 for your time. They should also buy you a new grease gun since they broke yours. Its not just ALKO. My buddy who runs a mowing business has a EXMARK piece of equipment and wanted me to order and change the wheels for him this spring. I take care of all his equipment from weed eaters, mowers, cars, tractors, to his dozer. Anyway I got the 4 new wheels from them, one of the top companies in ZTR's, and had 3 of the 4 did not take grease. Similar problem as yours. Actually used my 200 piece Harbor Freight $3 Zerk kit to fix it. Seems everyone is cheapening things up.

As for axles, I have ALKO axles on my car haul trailer but have never tried to contact them. Never had a issue. I have called Dexter and they do answer the phone. Give them a chance though. I believe they are located here in Indiana and the whole trailer, camper, boat industry here is hurting. They have been doing 1 week shut downs and more. So maybe they are simply out of the building. Not a good excuse but may be true. Blame our economy.

Chris

 

[BOBBYROGERS]

Be careful greasing your axles that way etheir with bearing buddy's or e z lube spindles the grease you pump in has to go some wear over time and useually ends up in your breaks witch will cause a failure and if you are not jacking your trailer up to check the bearing ajustment first you can end up with more problems later. i know you said it was new that makes it more important to check the end play in your bearings to make sure they are ajusted correctly

 

[Skyco]

Found this thread on a google search.
I have a year old trailer that has an Al-Ko axle. Left side greased fine, cannot get grease into right side.
I pulled the zerk first thing and found grease pumps through it fine.
So in an effort to see what was going on, I went to pull right side hub/brake drum and had a devil of a time getting it off...the outer bearing was pretty firmly locked to the axle shaft. More on that later.

So with the hub/drum off I can pump grease right through axle and and out the cross drilled hole. Stick the hub back on and no go. Doesn't make sense. The cross drilled hole does appear to be more toward the outer end of the spindle than where they normally are on Dexter axles. I'm thinking the bearing race is blocking it. I need to pull the left working side and see if it looks the same. Unfortunately I am out of town all week and won't be able to get a look until next weekend.


So back to the outer bearing, I assumed the Chinese bearing was made slightly off and some factory moron just beat it on. Went and bought another bearing- nope the dang axle stub where it necks down for the smaller outer bearing is machined a hair too big! So I was half right some factory moron beat it on but not because the bearing was out of spec. The bearing will not just slide on as it should, and I'm not going to force it as that isn't right.

Gonna try to call Al-Ko tomorrow, I think I have a bad axle, and want a warranty replacement, problem is this trailer leaves on a 5-6,000 mile trip in just a few weeks, and I don't have time for this...
So first ever Al-Ko axle for me and multiple problems, never had a problem with a Dexter axle....and I've probably owned over 50 of them, there are 12 Dexter axles right now in the yard.
The other posts mentioning not being able to easily talk to someone at Al-Ko is a concern, I've talked to engineers at Dexter several times with no problems doing so.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Never seen this problem. I will say I have seen some bad welds and far from smooth surfaces on some axles by all manufactures. They keep making them cheaper and cheaper.

Chris