Guest peter Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 I've been busy today inspecting the one I bought off e.bay recently. I have read reports of owners complaining about not having any maintenance instructions. So I have completely dismantled mine to carry out greasing and inspection before I use it. I must say that I am extremely impressed at the robustness and quality of fit and materials. It's good job I did as it had not been lubricated correctly and it wouldn't have been long before it sustained uneccessary premature wear. So be warned they are not like ordinary trailers and cannot be given a bit of grease in the wheel bearings and that's it. They are very easy to dismantle and work on and don't require any special tools or experience. The point of this post is to ask anyone that has one and does not know what to do re maintenance, to pm me and I will send them instructions to keep it in good order and safe to use. I realise this shouldn't be neccessary, as the makers should provide it. But they apparently don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairweather camper Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 Apparently you should not grease/oil certain parts of the hydratrail according to the manufacturers, but dont know which bits, suggest you get in touch and ask before greasing/oiling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 What and let the bearing surfaces go rusty and wreck the phosphur bronze bearings. I don't think so, I don't care what the manufactures say. It would last about 2 yrs at that rate max. What's the point of fitting bearings that you don't grease, stupid idea. The only bit that does not require too much lubrication as far as I'm concerned, is the nylon collar with jubilee clip around it, that you can tighten, that is used to stop the wheels shimmying on rough surfaces owing to them being self centreing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliffy Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 peter - 2012-10-18 9:02 PMWhat and let the bearing surfaces go rusty and wreck the phosphur bronze bearings. I don't think so, I don't care what the manufactures say.It would last about 2 yrs at that rate max.What's the point of fitting bearings that you don't grease, stupid idea.The only bit that does not require too much lubrication as far as I'm concerned, is the nylon collar with jubilee clip around it, that you can tighten, that is used to stop the wheels shimmying on rough surfaces owing to them being self centreing. Are you sure the bearings are Phosphor Bronze? They could be Oilite which which looks similar PB or brass but are designed to be self lubricating. Greasing them may adversely affect the lubricating properties. See link http://www.bearingboys.co.uk/Oilite__Bearing_Bushes_-1011-c Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 Not greasing them certainly will, as all the crap off the road gets thrown up over them. In reality these are probably not he correct bearing type for this application as they aren't sealed against the elements. But at least greasing them regularly will massively extend their life. I can't see anything on the web site that prohibits greasing, and they state they are bronze as well. I don't want to get into an argument over it. My original post was an offer to help those who have them. If they want to disregard it, that's fine by me. I'm sure easy lifter will appreciate the business when they fail early and need re-furbishing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alwaysared Posted November 6, 2021 Share Posted November 6, 2021 peter - 2012-10-17 9:12 PM I've been busy today inspecting the one I bought off e.bay recently. I have read reports of owners complaining about not having any maintenance instructions. So I have completely dismantled mine to carry out greasing and inspection before I use it. I must say that I am extremely impressed at the robustness and quality of fit and materials. It's good job I did as it had not been lubricated correctly and it wouldn't have been long before it sustained uneccessary premature wear. So be warned they are not like ordinary trailers and cannot be given a bit of grease in the wheel bearings and that's it. They are very easy to dismantle and work on and don't require any special tools or experience. The point of this post is to ask anyone that has one and does not know what to do re maintenance, to pm me and I will send them instructions to keep it in good order and safe to use. I realise this shouldn't be neccessary, as the makers should provide it. But they apparently don't. I realise this is a very old thread but does anyone still have this information available? I've just purchased one and would like to give it the once over. Again I'm sorry to revive such an old thread. Regards, Del Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted November 6, 2021 Share Posted November 6, 2021 Welcome to the Out&AboutLive forums, Del. There were a few later O&AL forum threads about this product https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Easylifter-Hydra-Trail-Mudguards-Broken-Off/51828/ https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/EasyLifter-Hydratrail-motorcycle-carrier/46511/ but if it’s just ‘maintenance' you are interested in, I’m not sure if those discussions will assist. “peter”, who offered to help regarding maintenance on this thread, has his user-name blacked out, indicating that his forum account has been deleted - so it’s unlikely that you’ll get a response from him. There are qute a few online entries about this product (GOOGLE-search on “easy lifter hydra trail”) and this LONG (2010 to 2020) 39-page MotorHomeFacts forum discussion includes comments about maintenance. https://forums.motorhomefacts.com/89-motorcycle-racks-cycle-racks/67965-new-easylifter-hydra-trail.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alwaysared Posted November 8, 2021 Share Posted November 8, 2021 Thank you, I'll go through threads. I've contacted Easy Lifter and got some information from the guy there but there seems very little information on the website about maintaining and keeping it in good order. Regards, Del Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.