I was working today near the KOA in Annapolis md , when we went for lunch , I decided to go look at the campground I have passed for 20 years , but never went down the road. I went in and looked , it was nice , on the way out a guy was stopped with his new Ford and his new trailer . Right next to it was his trailer tire on the rim with the brake drum attached . The nut and cotter pin was still on the spindle , there was grease , it was a 6 month old trailer . HE HAD JUST GOT OFF THE INTERSTATE 1 MILE Before it fell off . I had my work van , helped him load tire in his truck , told him where a local rv shop was 3 miles away , and told him he would be ok to drive slowly to get in the campground . PS .. this has nothing to do with they type of tire , they were all fine . The damage was minimal compared to what could have happened if he were driving on the highway .

What a lucky family. Thankfully they were not on the highway. He was lucky you happened to come along at three right time to offer assistance.

hddecker wrote:Did the drum break?No , the drum was still bolted to the tire , it was hot but not broken. The outer bearing was gone , inner was there , the nut was still on with the cotter pin . That was the first time I saw that happen , it was a 8 lug aluminum wheel , it took 2 of us to pick it up and put it over the side of the truck .

Another sad RV quality story. Thanks for helping

So the outer bearing disintegrated and let the drum come off the spindle past the washer, nut, and cotter pin? I have never heard of that happening, I guess I officially have not seen it all yet!

One lucky rv'er , it could have been worse. | Good Sam Community

14 Replies

myredracer
Explorer II
Aug 23, 2014
Why automatically blame something that's made in China without knowing any facts? TT's are known to occasionally come from the factory with insufficient grease. I don't think many bearings would survive that regardless of where they're made and that would be one of my first guesses.

Our dealer says they always check the bearings/grease during PDI but to make another guess, I would say not many dealers do. I know our first TT dealer sure didn't. We had serious brake issues that took over a year for them to diagnose and fix. Pulling just the drums off would have revealed the problem in the very beginning. The cause was the factory's failure to do something.
dodge_guy
Explorer II
Aug 23, 2014
Wasn`t there a recall about a year ago for no grease on one of the axle manuf. axles? if there was no grease then I could definitely see that happening!
SprinklerMan
Explorer
Aug 23, 2014
Doug33 wrote:
I stayed at that CG last summer. Was this person on his way to this CG or just passing through on the interstate?

he was from new Hampshire , staying for 3 days ( probably more now)
hddecker
Explorer
Aug 22, 2014
Makes me wonder where the bearing was made.

I went to the parts store awhile back to buy some new hubs for my TV, parts guy comes out with the hubs. I took one look and told him to go find me a set made in NA, I won't buy hubs made in China.

Cost me an extra $50 a hub, but they be American made.
bobbydalebob
Explorer
Aug 22, 2014
Yep, it happens ! ! Believe it or not I had it happen TWICE on a trailer about 1 1/2 years old. Well greased etc, just bad chineese bearings. Had to get new axles each time.
BurbMan
Explorer III
Aug 22, 2014
The drum could be junk too if the bearing trashed the race when it came apart...
CavemanCharlie
Explorer III
Aug 22, 2014
BurbMan wrote:
So the outer bearing disintegrated and let the drum come off the spindle past the washer, nut, and cotter pin? I have never heard of that happening, I guess I officially have not seen it all yet!

We've had it happen on the farm to grain wagons. It probably was running to dry without enough grease. Makes a mess of everything when it happens. He may get lucky and keep his spindle but, quite often it will wreck that too. Everything else is junk now and needs to be replaced. Well, not the wheel, tire, and break drum obviously.
Doug33
Explorer
Aug 22, 2014
I stayed at that CG last summer. Was this person on his way to this CG or just passing through on the interstate?
93Cobra2771
Explorer
Aug 22, 2014
I have a hard time imagining that happening, what a freak occurance. I a picture would have been great.

For the record, that would be on the axle manufacturer, as I'm sure they come to the tt manufacturer as complete assemblies.
BurbMan
Explorer III
Aug 22, 2014
So the outer bearing disintegrated and let the drum come off the spindle past the washer, nut, and cotter pin? I have never heard of that happening, I guess I officially have not seen it all yet!

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One lucky rv'er , it could have been worse.

14 Replies

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