Dexter EZ-Flex zerks not accepting grease

[Boudicca908]

On 1/31/2022 at 8:02 PM, John E Davies said:

Each bolt has a single hole in it, drilled at 90 degrees to the center hole, to allow the grease to flow outwards. Sometimes the weight of the trailer bearing down blocks one or three…. The first thing to try is to raise the hull to relax the suspension. Often that does the trick, if not, you could have a blocked zerk fitting, which can be replaced, or worst case, Dexter forgot to drill the holes properly. In that case, you need a new bolt and nut. The nuts are in theory one time use and should be changed.

I am revisiting 3 of my zerks today, that resisted accepting grease. I had towed to a new location, and 2 of them accepted the grease, but the 3rd one did not. I don’t own a jack (yet) and may succumb to the pressure to buy one, but I do own a trailer aid tandem tire ramp, like THIS https://a.co/d/3WPOXCa

Would that work for this task? 
 

Second question:

If I remove that bolt, will the leaf spring (proper name?) come falling out? I don’t have a great amount of upper body strength. (It takes two hands for me to squeeze the grease gun.) I want to be prepared before I venture down this road. 

Edited August 5 by Boudicca908
Added question

[mossemi]

6 hours ago, Boudicca908 said:

but the 3rd one did not

If you are just trying to lift the tire that is associated with the zerk that is not accepting grease, the trailer aid will probably work.  I wouldn’t take the wet bolt out, but I would remove the zerk fitting for cleaning or replacement.  If the bolt has to come out, I suggest going to a trailer shop and letting the professionals handle it.  And if you are going to continue doing your own grease jobs, invest in a battery powered grease gun.

Mossey

[Boudicca908]

13 hours ago, mossemi said:

I wouldn’t take the wet bolt out, but I would remove the zerk fitting for cleaning or replacement.

Thank you -- I will try looking for youtube or other videos about this -- because seeing the images of what I would call a 'bolt' and looking at the nut and head of the element that passes through, I don't see how to remove the zerk without removing the bolt. I'm heading to dry camp in the mountains this morning, so I will have to do this next step later. Will be night before I'm back online, assuming my starlink will work there. 

[jd1923]

2 hours ago, Boudicca908 said:

I don't see how to remove the zerk without removing the bolt.

The Zerk is threaded into the bolt. Likely a 8 or10mm wrench to remove it. Or you can take a center punch and just see if you can push the little ball valve.

[mossemi]

On 8/5/2024 at 10:17 PM, mossemi said:

If you are just trying to lift the tire that is associated with the zerk that is not accepting grease, the trailer aid will probably work.

Or you could just lift the side of the Ollie that has the troublesome zerk with the rear jack.  The idea of lifting the trailer is to remove the downward pressure on the suspension system.  And do either of these procedures while the Ollie is connected to your truck.  If you are going to be under the trailer and you don’t have any jack stands to support the trailer while working on the suspension, be sure to place wood blocks or what ever you use under your jacks when setting up, under the frame as a safety measure.  Stay safe!

Mossey

[Boudicca908]

On 8/7/2024 at 6:42 AM, mossemi said:

Or you could just lift the side of the Ollie that has the troublesome zerk with the rear jack.  The idea of lifting the trailer is to remove the downward pressure on the suspension system.  And do either of these procedures while the Ollie is connected to your truck

This worked! I first used a paper clip to work on the little ball in the zerk, and felt it loosen up, but the grease didn’t flow until I drove the other (rear) tire up onto the trailer aide tandem tire ramp. 

That accomplished, I wanted to remove the zerk and go down the mountain to the hardware, to try to

QUESTION (1) ascertain the right size zerk (and buy some extras). 

I can’t get the zerk off. I have an assortment of adjustable wrenches, but none of them work. And I can’t tell 

QUESTION (2) which way to turn the zerk to remove it. 
 

QUESTION (3) recommended tool to use for the zerks?
 

Can anyone answer these 3 questions? 

Edited yesterday at 08:14 PM by Boudicca908
Added question

[Ronbrink]

17 hours ago, Boudicca908 said:

This worked! I first used a paper clip to work on the little ball in the zerk, and felt it loosen up, but the grease didn’t flow until I drove the other (rear) tire up onto the trailer aide tandem tire ramp. 

That accomplished, I wanted to remove the zerk and go down the mountain to the hardware, to try to

QUESTION (1) ascertain the right size zerk (and buy some extras). 

I can’t get the zerk off. I have an assortment of adjustable wrenches, but none of them work. And I can’t tell 

QUESTION (2) which way to turn the zerk to remove it. 
 

QUESTION (3) recommended tool to use for the zerks?
 

Can anyone answer these 3 questions? 

Q1 - A word of caution, my 2020 OLEll had two different thread size zerks; specifically 1/4-28 and M6x1mm. Other than a couple of 90° at EZ-Flex top, I choose to replace the stock straight ones with 45° angle zerks to ease servicing. I ordered mine from Grainger’s. 
Q2 - Turn counter clockwise (left) to loosen, clockwise (right) to tighten. 
Q3 - An adjustable wrench will have too much play and you will end up rounding the bolt head. Use the appropriate box end  wrench, based on the thread type as to whether a Standard or Metric wrench is needed. Likewise a proper socket may suffice, but I like being able to see the zerk when removing. 

[mossemi]

19 hours ago, Boudicca908 said:

I can’t get the zerk off. I have an assortment of adjustable wrenches, but none of them work. And I can’t tell 

As a general rule, any tool that does multiple things or sizes doesn’t do any of them well and adjustable wrench’s have a place, but it’s not for zerk fittings.  And that also applies to me, I can break any thing.

So my advice and using @Ronbrink information is to go to an auto parts store and see what they have as far as zerk fittings go.  I seem to remember that the NAPA store I frequent, has variety packs that have different styles like straight, 45° and 90° and  maybe different sizes.  Pickup several types and sizes and also check for box end wrenches that fit while you have the zerks in hand.  And check their return policy so you can return the wrong ones.

Also try some penetrating oil on the zerk threads.

Mossey

 

Edited 5 hours ago by mossemi

[Ronbrink]

1 hour ago, Ronbrink said:

I ordered mine from Grainger’s. 

@Boudicca908 Alternatively, one can take their zerks to most any hardware store and use a convenient thread gauge (SAE/Metric) to determine thread size, then order online or purchase at a retail store exactly what is needed. Grainger’s offers stainless steel zerks and protective caps; no worry of rust and corrosions, or road grime with the two. As a side note, once the thread size is determined also get a matching nut to ‘thread test’ the other zerks as removed; if the nut doesn’t easily thread on then a different thread size zerk will be needed in that instance.