3500 pound versus 5200 pound axles on a LE2

[John and Debbie]

Hi all, we will be in Grand Junction, Colorado in mid May getting the five leaf springs put on our 2022 LE2.  We also have Bulldog shocks that they will put on.  Lew was asking if we wanted the 5200 pound Dexter Never lube axles also.  Has anyone gone that route?  Has anyone had any issues with the stock dual 3500 pound axles?

Thanks, John

[ScubaRx]

There have been lots of owners to swap to the  (now standard) 5200 pound axles. It makes good sense if you’re installing the HD springs. Plus, you avoid the hassle of having to service the bearings. 

[Patriot]

8 hours ago, John and Debbie said:

Hi all, we will be in Grand Junction, Colorado in mid May getting the five leaf springs put on our 2022 LE2.  We also have Bulldog shocks that they will put on.  Lew was asking if we wanted the 5200 pound Dexter Never lube axles also.  Has anyone gone that route?  Has anyone had any issues with the stock dual 3500 pound axles?

Thanks, John

@John and Debbie

I had Oliver Service swap out my 3500# axles to the never lube 5200# axles. I had no issues with my 3500# axles, but just prefer having the never lube bearings and larger axle and 10” drum brakes.

On our trip out west last fall, I made an appt with Lew at Alcan Spring and had his team install the Alcan 5 leaf pack, HD Shackles, and HD wet bolts. This took about 2.5 hrs for his team to install. Based on my experience at Alcan, I would not have any reservations what so ever about having Lew’s team do an axle swap along with the 5 leaf pack. Lew’s guys did a great job on the install and I am very happy with my new running gear. 

I highly recommend traveling with a torque wrench if you have this work done. You will need to torque your new leaf pack Ubolts and wheel lug nuts if you opt for the upgraded 5200# never lube axles. Lew will provide you with the mileage interval and torque specs for the Ubolts. PM me if you have questions.

 

Edited Saturday at 02:07 PM by Patriot
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[katanapilot]

I’m curious if the never lube axles have high quality (US or Japan made) bearings or if they are “blessed” with Chinese bearings.  While I get the appeal of not having to repack bearings every 12k miles - at least you can fairly easily replace the roller bearings if they exhibit signs of wear or if they fail on the road.  Can you do that with the sealed bearings or do you just carry a spare hub? 

[Patriot]

8 hours ago, katanapilot said:

I’m curious if the never lube axles have high quality (US or Japan made) bearings or if they are “blessed” with Chinese bearings.  While I get the appeal of not having to repack bearings every 12k miles - at least you can fairly easily replace the roller bearings if they exhibit signs of wear or if they fail on the road.  Can you do that with the sealed bearings or do you just carry a spare hub? 

As for the original hub bearing manufacture my SWAG would be made in China bearings like the rest of the Dexter bearings. And yes, you would need to carry a spare hub. At the time I had our 3500# axles swapped out according to Jason at Oliver there were more than 200+ Olivers running the never lubes with zero failures reported to Oliver by owners. And so far no reported failures on here or the FB forum. My local Dexter dealer said they have never seen a reported failure on this particular hub. Not saying that you won’t ever have a failure as anything certainly is possible. They are never lube, not never fail.

I could easily carry a spare hub but choose not to as these are available from Dexter and most shops. These 5200# axles are admittedly IMHO overkill for an OLE2, so I just don’t get overly concerned about a bearing failure. I really like the noticeable stopping power of the 12” drums on level roads. That said, with my diesel engine brake I rarely use truck or trailer brakes on long descents like Teton Pass or some of the higher passes in Colorado and areas out west or even here in the Blue Ridge Mountains. There are trade offs for sure. If it’s within an owners budget, I say have at it. 

Edited Saturday at 08:34 PM by Patriot
correct drum brake size to 12”

[johnwen]

We had Alcan put  the 5000# neverlubes  on last month so not much experience with them (no problems so far).  You can get the axles without the neverlube option.  Per Lew, the bearing inserts (on the neverlubes) can be replaced down the road without replacing the axle if one does go bad.  We full time so our weight is maxxed out at all times when disconnected from the TV.  Peace of mind for us.

6 hours ago, Patriot said:

I highly recommend traveling with a torque wrench if you have this work done. You will need to torque your new leaf pack Ubolts and wheel lug nuts if you opt for the upgraded 5200# never lube axles. Lew will provide you with the mileage interval and torque specs for the Ubolts.

As David mentions...stay true to Lew's torque directions, and then some.  I was still torquing at 1000+ miles.  

Best of luck,

John

[Patriot]

8 minutes ago, johnwen said:

We had Alcan put  the 5000# neverlubes  on last month so not much experience with them (no problems so far).  You can get the axles without the neverlube option.  Per Lew, the bearing inserts (on the neverlubes) can be replaced down the road without replacing the axle if one does go bad.  We full time so our weight is maxxed out at all times when disconnected from the TV.  Peace of mind for us.

As David mentions...stay true to Lew's torque directions, and then some.  I was still torquing at 1000+ miles.  

Best of luck,

John

John, 

You keep that torquing up and you will have arms 💪🏻 like Popeye! 😄  Hello to Wendy from Kathy and I, Mod On Brother!

Edited Saturday at 02:42 PM by Patriot

[johnwen]

1 minute ago, Patriot said:

John, 

You keep that torquing up and you will have arms 💪🏻 like Popeye! 😄  Hello to Wendy from Kathy and I, Mod On Brother!

I wore my arms slap out the first couple of times on the 90ftlb nuts.  The 65 pounders weren't so bad.  Glad I didn't wait for this mod 5 years from now!  Hi from us both!!!  Going to a music rally this week (Dogwood).  Safe travels my friend.  Are the blueberries in bloom yet?

John

[John Dorrer]

10 hours ago, John and Debbie said:

Hi all, we will be in Grand Junction, Colorado in mid May getting the five leaf springs put on our 2022 LE2.  We also have Bulldog shocks that they will put on.  Lew was asking if we wanted the 5200 pound Dexter Never lube axles also.  Has anyone gone that route?  Has anyone had any issues with the stock dual 3500 pound axles?

Thanks, John

I believe the 2022's have the higher rated axel. Check the label on the axel. The 2022's have the Never-Lube.

[CRM]

2 hours ago, Patriot said:

As for the original hub bearing manufacture my SWAG would be made in China bearings like the rest of the Dexter bearings. And yes, you would need to carry a spare hub. At the time I had our 3500# axles swapped out according to Jason at Oliver there were more than 200+ Olivers running the never lubes with zero failures reported to Oliver by owners. And so far no reported failures on here or the FB forum. My local Dexter dealer said they have never seen a reported failure on this particular hub. Not saying that you won’t ever have a failure as anything certainly is possible. They are never lube, not never fail.

A couple of years ago a friend of mine had a bearing fail on his work trailer with the never lube axles. He was able to get a new Timken bearing through Summit for around $50 which is far less than Dexter charges for their Chinese bearings. He said they use these same bearings on some production cars.

[rich.dev]

12 minutes ago, John Dorrer said:

I believe the 2022's have the higher rated axel. Check the label on the axel. The 2022's have the Never-Lube.

 

I was wondering same, we have a 2023 with the D52 axles. @John and Debbie check the label on your axles, if you see D52 you have the 5200 lbs axles, the 3500lbs on the label refers to the springs (2 x 1750lbs), NOT the axles. See pic. 

 

Edited Saturday at 03:28 PM by rich.dev

[John Dorrer]

You should have the updated axel. +2 Rich.Dev.  Our 2022 has the updated axel.

 

Verify with Oliver.

[John Dorrer]

If I recall my conversation with Oliver and Dexter we have the updated axel, 052:3500. If I remember it is the 4-leaf spring which gets the 3500, so when you get the 5-lead springs you will meet the 5200 axel. Again you would need to verify this.

 

You shouldn't need to change out your axels.

[Trailblazers]

i'm curious, approximately how much does the 5200 swap-out run?

[jd1923]

9 hours ago, Patriot said:

I had Oliver Service swap out my 3500# axles to the never lube 5200# axles. I had no issues with my 3500# axles, but just prefer having the never lube bearings and larger axle and 10” drum brakes.

 

I believe you meant you replaced the 3500# axles with 10" brakes (on 4-bolt backing plates) to 5200# rated axles that have 12" brakes on 5 bolts backing plates. The 5-bolt backing plate takes the larger 12" drum brakes or disc brakes like @ScubaRx has, which are not available on the 4-bolt platform. I'd upgrade for the better brakes more so than the Nev-R-Lube feature (someday).

Edited Saturday at 05:17 PM by jd1923

[John and Debbie]

2 hours ago, John Dorrer said:

I believe the 2022's have the higher rated axel. Check the label on the axel. The 2022's have the Never-Lube.

It's 3500 Never-lube

[John and Debbie]

2 hours ago, rich.dev said:

 

I was wondering same, we have a 2023 with the D52 axles. @John and Debbie check the label on your axles, if you see D52 you have the 5200 lbs axles, the 3500lbs on the label refers to the springs (2 x 1750lbs), NOT the axles. See pic. 

 

Very valuable information! I did see the 3500 pounds and assumed that was for the axle.  I will check the label when I get back to Oregon.  I am in Colorado now.

John

[John Dorrer]

20 minutes ago, John and Debbie said:

It's 3500 Never-lube

052 is the axel capacity, and the rating is 3500 due to the 4-leaf springs.

Edited Saturday at 06:15 PM by John Dorrer
Updated Comment

[Patriot]

7 minutes ago, John Dorrer said:

052 is the axel capacity, and the rating is 3500 due to the 4-leaf springs.

Yeah that too! 😄 thanks John!

[Patriot]

1 hour ago, Trailblazers said:

i'm curious, approximately how much does the 5200 swap-out run?

You may want to give Oliver a call and get the latest pricing. 

[Patriot]

3 hours ago, johnwen said:

I wore my arms slap out the first couple of times on the 90ftlb nuts.  The 65 pounders weren't so bad.  Glad I didn't wait for this mod 5 years from now!  Hi from us both!!!  Going to a music rally this week (Dogwood).  Safe travels my friend.  Are the blueberries in bloom yet?

John

Not yet, but buds are coming on! A lighter crop this year as we had to prune way back last year. We don’t do ladders and many of our bushes were 10’ high.  

So it goes! Enjoy the music rally!

[ScubaRx]

10 hours ago, Patriot said:

...I had Oliver Service swap out my 3500# axles to the never lube 5200# axles. I had no issues with my 3500# axles, but just prefer having the never lube bearings and larger axle and 10” drum brakes...

 

I thought the heavier duty axles had 12" brakes.

[rich.dev]

1 hour ago, John and Debbie said:

It's 3500 Never-lube

Not doubting you, it’s just as far as I know they switched to the 5200 pound axles end of 2021, can you post a pic of the label?

[Patriot]

11 hours ago, ScubaRx said:

I thought the heavier duty axles had 12" brakes.

Correct  Steve, my mistake, they are 12” drums.  I edited and corrected my initial reply. Thanks! 😊 

Edited yesterday at 05:55 AM by Patriot

[John Dorrer]

1 hour ago, rich.dev said:

Not doubting you, it’s just as far as I know they switched to the 5200 pound axles end of 2021, can you post a pic of the label?

They have #1290, late 2022 or more likely a 2023 trailer. Our #1045 is a 2022. He needs to look at the label more closely, as it should say 052 capacity, rated 3500 (Due to 4-leaf springs).