Wheel Bearing Maintance

[PeteandJoan]

Originally Posted by Montana Man

Lucky guy, better knock on wood.

I agree. I am definitely not an expert on these RV's but I have to say I have encountered only a few Techs that I would say knew a lot more about my problem then I did. I shiver and cross my fingers when I have to let one work on mine. Maybe the best one was a young lady tech in Creed, Colorado. I always try to be looking over their shoulder just to see if they know what they are doing, also a good way to learn for myself just in case there is the same problem down the road.

[Slow Hand]

Biggest problem is tightening the nut properly. To tight and you burn up the bearing. To loose and they wear out to soon. I see absolutely no reason to grease bearings every 1,2,3, years. I travel with mine and I greased them 5 years ago when I replaced the bearings and I don't plan to do it again. As a matter of fact I replaced my bearings because i was afraid they would fail on the road. What a waste of money and time. There was nothing wrong with the bearings in there in the first place.

[PSFORD99]

Originally Posted by Slow Hand

Biggest problem is tightening the nut properly. To tight and you burn up the bearing. To loose and they wear out to soon. I see absolutely no reason to grease bearings every 1,2,3, years. I travel with mine and I greased them 5 years ago when I replaced the bearings and I don't plan to do it again. As a matter of fact I replaced my bearings because i was afraid they would fail on the road. What a waste of money and time. There was nothing wrong with the bearings in there in the first place.

As said in my previous post,way over maintained. That peace of mind spends a lot of peoples money.

[footz1941]

Croft Trailer in Lee’s Summit is an excellent company that has been in business a long time. I used to live in Grandview Now full time but spend our summers in Belton

[GAinaMontana]

First and foremost, do what you are comfortable with. I agree with PSFORD99.

[Jester]

Originally Posted by rohrmann

I use the level up for all my maintenance chores. The one thing I do not do anymore is pump grease into the axle zerk fittings because the first and only time I ever did it, three of the four seals leaked grease onto the brake shoes and cost me $500 to replace all the backing plates and had to have all the drums turned. For not much more than $40, I can pack the bearings and not worry about leaking seals. Also, how do you intend to check the brake shoes for wear and verify that the brake mechanisms are still intact and working if you don’t pull the drums?

When you pumped the grease , did you spin the wheel as you were greasing?

[Jester]

I guess you didn’t read what happened to me when I asked the dealer to repair my wheel bearings .
The fact is, if you can not see them actually doing the packing, they didn’t do it. Ur wasting your time and money.

[Jester]

Dexter axle recommended way to regressed wheel bearings.
. Dexter has advised trailer manufacturers of wheel offset limitations associated with standard, oil or E-Z lube bearings. ... While rotating the hub, pump grease slowly into the fitting. The old displaced grease will begin to flow back out the cap around the grease gun nozzle.

[Dave10]

I would not recommend easy lube which intended for boat trailers that submerge the wheels when launching a boat. Those axles are intended to have the housing full of grease to prevent water intrusion. And they still recommend repacking at intervals. RV manufacturers adopted easy lube for marketing reasons. I would use Timken bearing recommendations for servicing trailer wheel bearings. The main thing is to used high-quality grease to pack the bearings while never filling the space inside the drum more than 1/2 full to prevent churning while traveling at high way speeds. Also the bearing preload should always be set properly. If the pre-load is too high or loose, plan on a failed bearing. Timken web site offers recommendations and instruction to service trailer roller bearings. If you use an independent make sure they are reputable and it is advisable that they explain how they service the bearings. I went through 3 so-called reputable service centers before I found one that I trust. My first question is how are the mechanics trained; my second question is the bearings cleaned and inspected; my third question is what kind of grease is used; my fourth question is the preload set, and my 5th question is the suspension/brakes inspected. Don't assume anything when going to a service center....

[shovelhead86]

There is no such thing as pre load on wheel bearings. I was instructed as a young teenager a Loooong time ago and I don't think it has changed. Anyway I have never had a wheel bearing fail.
The procedure is to tighten the nut till you feel drag while turning the drum. then back off to the next position you can lock it at. At his time all the drag should have disappeared and there should not be any play when you try to wiggle the drum. works for me

[Dave10]

Originally Posted by shovelhead86

There is no such thing as pre load on wheel bearings. I was instructed as a young teenager a Loooong time ago and I don't think it has changed. Anyway I have never had a wheel bearing fail.
The procedure is to tighten the nut till you feel drag while turning the drum. then back off to the next position you can lock it at. At his time all the drag should have disappeared and there should not be any play when you try to wiggle the drum. works for me

Just because you never heard of pre-load it does not mean it does not exist. End play is the same thing. Timken recommends checking the end play for 0.002-0.005 of an inch at the hub using a dial gauge. If you are using a tang washer or cotter pin backing off the nut like you are doing is close enough for proper preload. If you are using the Dexter spring clip you can get to that recommendation a little better. Preload and end play of bearings bearing is a terminology that manufacturers and folks in engineering used to describe how the bearing is installed. BTY after you travel at high way speed for a while and the hub are getting overly warm to the touch the bearings pre-load is too high. Here is a method to use

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81zHRycNa8s

and here is Dexters maintence video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnH-h3W9XvI

[laverdur]

The origin of the E-Z Lube axles was for boat trailers so that it was easy to be sure there was grease in the bearings to help keep water out. I would never consider using E-Z Lube on my RV. Sure, its easy and fast, if you don't use too much pressure or grease and blow past the seal and ruin the brakes. Also, Dexter axle states that bearings should be inspected and repacked every 12,000 miles. You can't do an inspection if you don't remove the drum/disc and remove and clean the bearings to facilitate a physical inspection. Regarding maintenance procedures on a TV vs. a towable, the rear wheel bearings on a truck are lubricated by the differential lubricant. The front bearings are packed with grease like the towable. The difference is that if a wheel bearing on the TV fails, you are likely to know it due to noise. If the same kind of failure occurs on a towable, there is a good chance you won't know it until the bearing overheats and seizes resulting in axle failure. I'm all for saving money where it makes sense but this is not one of those cases.

[Cpob06]

First off use a top of the line grease, no cheap on sale stuff. Second you should only be squeezing that trigger on the gun 2 maybe 3 times. Of course if you pump pump pump pump you will blow out the rear. I have boats,trailers, toy haulers, and a fifth wheel..... a lot of toys. Been greasing all of it through the bearing buddies my entire adult life.... never had a problem. The issue is folks try and ram as much as they can in there...... then it goes everywhere. My 2 cents

[Cpob06]

Install a tire monitoring system, then you will know.

[Dave10]

I forgot to mention that always do what the mfg recommends. The annual or 12k miles is recommended for very good reasons. Unfortunately, manufacturers very seldom explain why they make those recommendations which open the possibility for buyer errant speculation. Yes, some go years without servicing the bearings like a TV, but remember an RV is not a TV and therefore is not used like one. First, an RV generally sits in one spot for a long time allowing the oil in the grease to leach out, and the TV bearings are engineered better. Also, based on my experience axels that use the spring clip retainers instead of cotter keys or tang clips have been known to loosen the bearing end play which will cause premature failure. The bearing needs the proper pre-load to allow for heat expansion, but when they become too loose they will Gaul.

[Slow Hand]

Originally Posted by Dave10

I forgot to mention that always do what the mfg recommends. The annual or 12k miles is recommended for very good reasons. Unfortunately, manufacturers very seldom explain why they make those recommendations which open the possibility for buyer errant speculation. Yes, some go years without servicing the bearings like a TV, but remember an RV is not a TV and therefore is not used like one. First, an RV generally sits in one spot for a long time allowing the oil in the grease to leach out, and the TV bearings are engineered better. Also, based on my experience axels that use the spring clip retainers instead of cotter keys or tang clips have been known to loosen the bearing end play which will cause premature failure. The bearing needs the proper pre-load to allow for heat expansion, but when they become too loose they will Gaul.

RV bearings are made better. they are designed to carry a heavier load than truck bearings. I don't believe they use different metals regardless of what they are used for. I have cars that sit for months at a time and I never give tires or bearings a thought. I do check the air from time to time but never repack any bearings. I do it once and that all it gets. If the wheel is not lose on the axle than the bearing is good to go. I only have cotter pins in my axles no spring clips or gizmo like that.

[richfaa]

I always pulled the wheels and checked everything in there until 2 years ago. I now can not do it anymore and our dealer does it.