lost an entire wheel and drum

I lost a wheel assembly a few years back. Mine was pulling down the interstate at 65 MPH with my boat in tow behind my 5er.

Anyway, my problem was attributed to either improper torque on my lug nuts, or bad lugs.

If the bearings are never properly inspected, how do you know if they are good? They are surely old enough to be bad.

I had the same issue in Idaho with my 2012, but I caught it just before the wheel came off. I've since changed my wheel checking to include arriving at a camping spot as I would have noticed the heat the night before instead of seeing the wheel/tire almost in flames at a rest stop 45 miles down the road. The end result was two weeks in Mountain View, Idaho waiting for a new axle.

I drove the hole-in-the-rock road the other day here in Utah. It has a lot of washboard. We passed a pop-up trailer on the side of the road and the axle was sitting behind it. It had completely fallen off.

I was amazed how easy it was to not only lube by hand, but also remove, clean, repack and replace the bearings. Of course, I only have two wheels. Those with the big trailers and 6+ wheels, I could see it being an all day affair.

Superbee Jim wrote:
My Dexter axle was ruined and I had to replace the entire axle because of lack of lube to the bearings. I just helped 2 of my friends grease there bearings and if you only pump a few times, it will not lube the outer bearings. After you use the bulk of a tube of grease and fill the entire hub cavity and see it coming out the end by the outer bearing, will you know that both bearings have been greased. Both my friends didn't realize that just a few pumps wont do it until grease comes out by the outer bearing. That is what Dexter recommends.

^^x2^^

For Dexter axles you need to lift the tire off the ground and spin it while hand pumping grease into the zerk. Once grease comes out then you know the job is done. Using a pneumatic grease gun or just pumping grease in without spinning the tire "might" blow the grease seal.

You may have another issue going on for why the wheel came off though other then grease. You may have had a faulty bearing/race or something completely different like loose lug nuts or undersized engineering.

Using a grease gun to grease wheel bearing has always been, despite Bearing Buddy and all the other's claims, a poor way to grease wheel bearings. The problem is that as Jim said, the entire cavity must become filled before grease reaches the far bearing. From then on, each time more is pumped in, what greases the far bearing is the old grease that's been drying out in the hub cavity. Far better to go the extra mile, remove the hub, and hand pack both bearings, allowing you to actually inspect the bearings for rust or other damage. Seals are cheap and a new one at the same time assures water and dirt will stay out until the next time you service the axle. Pumping grease in until it oozes out also runs the risk of dislodging the seal. In addition, with the cavity fully packed with grease, as the hub warms up, grease and trapped air will expand pushing more grease out making a mess of the inner sidewall of the tires (and brakes) and causing confusion as to whether the seal is really bad. Properly hand packed bearings and fresh seal will result in clean tires and a timely warning (leaking grease) if something is amiss with the axle. A real problem is that adjusting wheel bearings is becoming a lost art. Most upcoming mechanics are only familiar with sealed bearings now that virtually all autos and most trucks are equipped with sealed bearings on all four wheels. You can read all the books you want but nothing takes the place of an experienced mechanic teaching you by letting you feel the difference between too loose, too tight, and just right bearing adjustment. Sadly many current wrench turners never got that memo.

In my RV experiences I have had issues with bearings on 3 occasions, it's always a bearing issue. Once the drum super heated due to a bad bearing and another time a Dexter never lube axle bearing failed, I caught it due to noise and wheel wobble on turning.

Final piece of advice on those lube zerk fittings, if you over lube them you can blow the grease seal and put grease all over the brake shoes which trashes them. Our last RV came from the factory that way! Better to re-pack the old fashioned way.

My Dexter axle was ruined and I had to replace the entire axle because of lack of lube to the bearings. I just helped 2 of my friends grease there bearings and if you only pump a few times, it will not lube the outer bearings. After you use the bulk of a tube of grease and fill the entire hub cavity and see it coming out the end by the outer bearing, will you know that both bearings have been greased. Both my friends didn't realize that just a few pumps wont do it until grease comes out by the outer bearing. That is what Dexter recommends.

My guess is whoever installed the drums/hubs did not preload the castle nut properly. Most likely too tight. The bearings could have been damaged or failing also. Lots of variables.