The Great Wheel Bearing Debate - Resolved!

[DQDick]

My only problem with relying on what Dexter says about how they leave the factory is the issue of torque on the U bolts. Dexter claimed at last years Rally they all left the factory torqued correctly. Since mine weren't even close to tight enough I asked for a show of hands of who else in the room had loose U bolts on their rig. Most of the room raised their hands. So much for quality control at the factory.

[Montana3800RE]

quote:Originally posted by ARJ

Boy, talk about making mountains out of mole hills!

Take the damn zerks out and throw them away. Follow the Timken instructions posted above by 8.1al. It shouldn't be necessary to repack the bearings more than every couple of years except to pull a wheel and check the crappy brake linings that were installed.

As far as the bearing adjustments-the outer bearing nut should be tightened fully and the backed off about an 1/8th of a turn allowing for the castle lock or cotter pin to be installed.

I pull every trailer into my shop every winter when our business is slow and pull apart every wheel clean, inspect, and repack every bearing by hand,and also clean the hub with solvent, I do not use the easy lube. The problem with the easy lube is it fills the air cavity up with grease between the bearings and as the hub heats up it will retain the heat more. I want to see what is going on inside my hub with the bearings, brake lineings, and all brake parts, that's why I tear it down. Over the years I have seen so many folks broke down along side the road with fried wheel bearings or screwed up spindals. Happy Campin..........Ron

[Pugtracker]

quote:Originally posted by Montana3800RE

I pull every trailer into my shop every winter when our business is slow and pull apart every wheel clean, inspect, and repack every bearing by hand,and also clean the hub with solvent, I do not use the easy lube. The problem with the easy lube is it fills the air cavity up with grease between the bearings and as the hub heats up it will retain the heat more. I want to see what is going on inside my hub with the bearings, brake lineings, and all brake parts, that's why I tear it down. Over the years I have seen so many folks broke down along side the road with fried wheel bearings or screwed up spindals. Happy Campin..........Ron

Ditto!!!!

[Tom S.]

quote:Originally posted by Montana3800RE

I pull every trailer into my shop every winter when our business is slow and pull apart every wheel clean, inspect, and repack every bearing by hand,and also clean the hub with solvent, I do not use the easy lube. The problem with the easy lube is it fills the air cavity up with grease between the bearings and as the hub heats up it will retain the heat more. I want to see what is going on inside my hub with the bearings, brake lineings, and all brake parts, that's why I tear it down. Over the years I have seen so many folks broke down along side the road with fried wheel bearings or screwed up spindals. Happy Campin..........Ron

I bet none of those people you see along side the road have the EZ lube system though.

[HOOK]

Wheel bearings do not usually fail suddenly. An infrared heat sensor, hand held (about $50), is sensative enough to deferentiate between brake temp and hub temp. Differing temps at wheels , brakes , hubs , or tires , is warning enough of an emerging problem. After storage , take a short shake down run and check temps, no variation in temps , no problem. Also check frequently at stops while traveling. Wouldn't be without mine. JMHO

[mhs4771]

OK, my experience with wheel bearings: Have burnt one bearing (on a TT), happened within a month of haveing them all pulled, cleaned, and hand packed. One brake contaminated with Grease (on our Monty), came directly from Dexter/Keystone that way. So far no problems with our SOB.
So to me it looks like a crap shoot, you can have a problem no matter what you do.