Recommendation for axle maintenance

Jms

My wife and I just purchased a dealer clearance 2018 T@G XL Outback. It has sat on the lot for almost a year, and we just brought it home over about a 150 mile trip. Got to wondering if, because it has been sitting for almost a year, should we go ahead and service the bearings. Thoughts?

WilliamA

My 2 cents worth says yes. It's always a good idea to check things out, plus you can familiarize yourself with components when you don't have a flashlight clenched in your teeth. Maintenance is the cheapest insurance you can't buy...
WilliamA

BBsGarage

Always a good idea to check things out and make sure everything is tight after the first shakedown trip.

LuckyJ

Haaa, nothing beats a cold aluminium flashlight grinding your teeth while you get water dripping in your eyes while laying on your back in a mud hole on the side of the road.

Priceless.

Yep, better take a look while in the confort of your home.

Michigan_Mike

@Jms said:
My wife and I just purchased a dealer clearance 2018 T@G XL Outback. It has sat on the lot for almost a year, and we just brought it home over about a 150 mile trip. Got to wondering if, because it has been sitting for almost a year, should we go ahead and service the bearings. Thoughts?

Rule of thumb is 12 months or 12K miles but a few squirts won't hurt anything. As for long term maintenance, unless you are familiar with bearings, inspections, changing them out, etc. I would defer that to a seasoned professional. Certainly you can pump grease into the EZ fill zerks on the ends of the axles but it's not fun finding out that you have a bad bearing and damaged axle when you are 2000 miles away from home. I've always serviced my own bearings and early on, had a bad experience and subsequent damaged axle spline out in Arizona one summer that required replacing the axle in a state park. I learned my lesson well!

How does that old saying go, an ounce of protection's worth a pound of cure!

Jms

Thanks, everyone for the advice! I'll go ahead and do the hubs before we head out. I'm spending the holiday going through everything in the trailer to make sure we don't have any surprises our first trip out.

LuckyJ

Btw, if they do not go w/o grease, they should be good for many many thousands of miles.

But, it is a good idea to have a look at them. The outback ones anyway. Heavier duty at 2200lbs than the regular T@Gs and also larger wheels, with reduce the number of rotation per mile.