Wheel Bearings

[pineranch]

Getting ready to do the 2 year repack. Do you guys replace the rear seal or just slap some grease on the rear bearing and call it good.
Mike

[HamRad]

Mike,
After cleaning thoroughly we look and feel for any defects. If all is good (and thus far they have been) we simply slap in the new grease and reinstall. Our old rig was ten years old and still rolling freely. But since you have the thing apart you might just want to install all new stuff.

Our bearings looked as if they had just been manufactured. Good luck. Dennis

[swanny]

got it apart, replace it. nothing worse than I should have.

kevin

[camper4]

I pull apart, clean, inspect, grease and put a new seal on. Cheap insurance.

[1retired06]

I never reuse a wheel seal. Replace with new. Just did mine, $10.00 a piece for four. A bad seal usually brings really bad news down the mileage road.

[pineranch]

Now as Paul Harvey says, "the rest of the story". DW informed me that because we had a $100 coupon, we let CW do a bearing repack last year. I needed to see for myself what was going on inside the drums so I took them off.
1. Front axle all was well.
2. Rear axle brake problems. PS had no brakes, wires cut with no evidence of wire clips ever being on actuator arm. Spliced wires and ops checked OKay.
DS, magnet actuator arm missing metal grommet that spreads brake shoes. Little or no braking action taking place.
Good news: Called Dexter, they are sending LH and RH complete kits. Since we are out of warranty, they cannot pay for labor. Put Dexter down as a company to do business with.
Mike

[dieselguy]

I agree on above posts ... if you went to the trouble of pulling the wheel, it would be foolish not to clean and repack the inner bearing and replace the seal. The seal is a 10-36 (ID 2.25 / OD 3.376) at least on my 2011 and can be had on etrailer.com for instance at 2 seals for $3.90 or about the same at any local trailer parts store. They can be had direct from Dexter for about 3X the price. It's the same seal from China, just different packaging. As with any grease seal, the lip always points toward the grease.

[1retired06]

doesnt sound like camping world did a good job; Brake inspection part of the job

[jackel1959]

If your doing the job....do it right.

r,
Jack

[Phil P]

quote:Originally posted by 1retired06

doesnt sound like camping world did a good job; Brake inspection part of the job

Agreed

So far the only competent repair facility I have found was not a new RV sales facility. They make there living repairing the RV's not selling them. This gives them the incentive to do it correctly.

Phil P

[1retired06]

Good dealers are out there, but you have to select carefully.

[mhs4771]

Phil P, I'm with you. Bought from CW but in our area their service leaves a lot to be desired. I too found a Service Center that only does repairs and complete make overs if desired. So they don't rely on sales of new or used unit to make end meet, they have to do a good job to keep their customers coming back.

[h2ojocky]

Why is it that we don't have time to do things right the first time, but we do have time the second time? These items are so inexpensive, we should check/replace often. I just bought my 2005 2955RL last year from CW and have not checked them yet. I will definitely check brakes, regrease bearings, and replace seals prior to 7 Feathers rally in June.

[kylec2]

If you take the time to repack the bearings then go ahead and replace the seals. Seals are cheap, but rework is inconvenient.

[Phil P]

quote:Originally posted by kylec2

If you take the time to repack the bearings then go ahead and replace the seals. Seals are cheap, but rework is inconvenient.

If you do remove the inner bearing I always replace the seal no matter how long ago it was last replaced.

Phil P

[rafael33155]

rule of thumb if you take it out replace it you'll never have to worry about your inner voice telling you should have

[psitracy]

New member here.

Purchased a 2003 Montana 2980RL in Sept of 2013. We are prepping the unit for the spring season. In the process of repacking the wheel bearings and inspecting the brakes I ran across a dilemma:

I am finding discoloration on the inner cone of the bearings and the underside of the spindles. I would normally suspect excessive heat/bearing spinning on the spindle, However, there is no wear marks or lips on the spindles and the rollers on the bearings are bright, shiny, and flawless. All bearings had plenty of grease (probably too much IMO). I am stumped

Has anyone else run across this or something similar ?

In the end I repacked all the bearings, replaced the seals and cotter pins, reinstalled all components and re adjusted the brakes. I am confident in my mechanical work. However, I cant help thinking I might be missing something. I don't want problems on the road. Any suggestions ?

[jlb27537]

quote:Originally posted by psitracy

New member here.

Purchased a 2003 Montana 2980RL in Sept of 2013. We are prepping the unit for the spring season. In the process of repacking the wheel bearings and inspecting the brakes I ran across a dilemma:

I am finding discoloration on the inner cone of the bearings and the underside of the spindles. I would normally suspect excessive heat/bearing spinning on the spindle, However, there is no wear marks or lips on the spindles and the rollers on the bearings are bright, shiny, and flawless. All bearings had plenty of grease (probably too much IMO). I am stumped

Has anyone else run across this or something similar ?

In the end I repacked all the bearings, replaced the seals and cotter pins, reinstalled all components and re adjusted the brakes. I am confident in my mechanical work. However, I cant help thinking I might be missing something. I don't want problems on the road. Any suggestions ?

Did you happen to make a record of the bearing numbers? Then double check with the axle maker and determine the proper number for your axle. Just a thought.

Jim

[campfishhavefun]

Just a thought....

Previous owner may have mixed different greases. Are they EZ-lube? Someone with experience in the consequence of mixing greases may chime in. I would guess your still getting somewhat lubrication but the underside load pressure point could take on some color...?????

Blessings,

[psitracy]

I wanted to thank everyone once again for your input and advice. It was a great help. I ended up taking it in and having having the service guys pull it apart and inspect it. They gave it a green light and suggested that the discoloration was due to some moisture/water that had found its way into the system.