Dexter Nev-R LubeTM Bearings – Will bearing replacement be necessary on the road?

[jd1923]

8 hours ago, Patriot said:

At the time of my swap out, I believe there were over 200 trailers sold with the Neverlube bearings. None the less still always an inspection items along with the brake system.

We can only hope these never lube bearings are never fail. 😊

David, what you wrote is usually my frame of mind. I am generally more of a care-free person vs. being the worrier. I do required maintenance, but if they say annually for me it's going to be every two years.

Oliver has had a 3-year history with these bearings. And yes, I imagine it's a good 200 trailers and likely 300 by now. This is a small sample and Oliver owners tow less miles per year than commercial trailers. There are many forums citing failures like the Airstream owner I quoted above. Being safe, conservative and preventive, I would not count on your last sentence always being true.

It could be said that a 7K LB Oliver will run much longer without failure on a bearing designed to support much heavier trailers. Installing these axles is over-engineering and they should work as designed for years, even longer on our relatively light and aerodynamic Olivers.

At a minimum, I suggest Oliver Owners with Nev-R Lube bearings should get online with RockAuto, Summit (links above) or another auto parts store and spend <$100 for 2 replacement bearings to have onboard. The secondary parts, snap-rings and washer will be reusable except in rare cases and investment in tools is another step. Each of us will decide on the amount of protection, where we feel comfortable.

A few parts and perhaps tools is a small amount of insurance so that one day, on some future cross-country trip, we are not stuck somewhere waiting days without having this critical part on-hand. What Don wrote above is seriously true, though many of us carry extra water pumps too! 🤣

On 8/20/2025 at 9:38 PM, dhaig said:

Failure of wheel bearings is among the few potentially disabling items on the trailer.  Failure of other items, such as water pumps may be inconvenient, but not likely to prevent returning home.

Edited Friday at 06:54 AM by jd1923

[Patriot]

I can’t think of a report on here or the FB Oliver page where an Oliver owner has even had a standard wheel bearing failure.
That said, it never hurts to carry spares when practical and do regular maintenance.
Anything to help owners sleep better and not be left flapping. 

Long live the Neverlubes! 😄

Edited Friday at 01:36 PM by Patriot