Bearings and bad decisions......

[PNW_Steve]

A cautionary tale of wheel bearing tragedy....

Learn from my bad decision.... I was doing my pre-trip walk around this morning as we prepared to get back on the road. I noticed a missing wheel bearing cap. I looked it over and did not see any evidence of bearing grease escaping so I decided to wait until we reach our destination tonight to address it.

Now I am sitting on the side of the road waiting for the tow truck. That will be $375-$500. Probably looking at a $1000 repair bill.

Shame on me........

[Learjet]

one thing to consider...when I put my new disc hubs on...I bought American Made Timken bearings....found them on Amazon.

I've seen the made in China bearing have issues in the past for no apparent reason

[fj12ryder]

So you're saying your bearing packing job was good for only two low mileage years? I think you're wise to leave it to someone else to do now.

[humblerb]

Replaced two axles on our old TT a couple of years ago.
Started off inspecting/repacking them every year.
A couple of years, we only traveled a couple thousand miles.
The second year, I decided to go two years between inspection/repacking.
Noticed a missing hub and jacked up the axle to "take a look".
Wheel wobbled like loose lugs as soon as the weight of the trailer was taken off the axle.
Strange for so few miles.
But, I am a believer.
We have a very good independent (not Trailer Sales Company) RV repair shop close by.
I now take the 5th Wheel in every year.
In the state of Texas, you now have to have a safety inspection in order to get registration renewed.
I take it in to have it inspected and have them do a general look-around while it is there - including checking bearings and repacking.
Good money spent on "Therapy".

[laknox]

time2roll wrote:
Maybe get an "ez lube" center cap for access and good looks.



https://recstuff.com/wheel-accessories/center-caps

My old Komfort had rubber center caps instead of metal.

Lyle

[SailingOn]

Dexter recommends inspecting the bearings once a year. You can't inspect the bearings without taking them off, so they get repacked.
We tow 6-10 thousand miles a year since 2011.
In that time, I've found, on separate occasions:
- brake wiring on one wheel worn bare by rubbing against the frame, easily corrected.
- pieces of brake lining bouncing around inside one hub; replaced the hub assembly.
- one bearing clearly scored; replaced.
Thousands of towing miles with confidence in the rig.

[time2roll]

JRscooby wrote:

time2roll wrote:
Maybe get an "ez lube" center cap for access and good looks.

Might be ok, but I once stopped for a boat trailer. Guy in a 2nd vehicle had seen the wheel wobble. I popped the cap off, saw pin missing, and nut backed off. Jacked up, tightened nut, pinned, and followed them to a parking lot. With that cap, the wheel would need to come off.

Yes the wheel would have to come off to do any adjustment. Access would just be for the laser temp reading.

[Dave_H_M]

jmhartley11 wrote:

I repack the bearings on my 2008 Keystone Sprinter 5th wheel every spring regardless of how many miles I put on it the following year. I have a gooseneck cattle trailer I bought new in 1992 and only greased the bearings once which was last year. That's 26 years, and countless thousands of miles

I don't get it either. My flatbed has been basically all over the country, and I am sure it was babied by the folks I loaned it to. :B Because of all the info gleaned here, I got paranoid and yanked the hubs at about the 15 year mark. good as new in there. New grease and new seals and I am not planning on going there again.

When MY fifth wheel hit six years, I yanked those hubs. All was well in there.

It is all a mystery to me. :h

[JRscooby]

tomman58 wrote:
Our main mileage is during the late fall to early spring .... Jayco recommends a bearing inspection 12,000 miles or once a year. I don't care to do that kind of work anymore so for the last 12 years I* drop off my TT at the dealer and they go over the whole unit. Sure it costs a few bucks but guess what they have prevented bad things more than once and a few bucks is spent in the positive direction for a problem free trip.
As I drive across the USA there are many spots far away from a dealer and not where I want to be along side of the road thinking if I woulda or coulda.

We also travel that time of year. I would enjoy more about "guess what they have prevented bad things more than once"
And I agree the side of the road is not a place to be, I never have depended on others to keep me away from there. And over the years, I know people have been afraid of me when I stopped to help. Nowadays I'm kind of worried about what that fear can do.

time2roll wrote:
Maybe get an "ez lube" center cap for access and good looks.

Might be ok, but I once stopped for a boat trailer. Guy in a 2nd vehicle had seen the wheel wobble. I popped the cap off, saw pin missing, and nut backed off. Jacked up, tightened nut, pinned, and followed them to a parking lot. With that cap, the wheel would need to come off.

[time2roll]

Maybe get an "ez lube" center cap for access and good looks.



https://recstuff.com/wheel-accessories/center-caps

[tomman58]

Our main mileage is during the late fall to early spring .... Jayco recommends a bearing inspection 12,000 miles or once a year. I don't care to do that kind of work anymore so for the last 12 years I* drop off my TT at the dealer and they go over the whole unit. Sure it costs a few bucks but guess what they have prevented bad things more than once and a few bucks is spent in the positive direction for a problem free trip.
As I drive across the USA there are many spots far away from a dealer and not where I want to be along side of the road thinking if I woulda or coulda.

[JRscooby]

dryfly wrote:

JRscooby wrote:

2oldman wrote:
What I don't get is how do you just readily view a grease hub? Aren't those usually covered by the rim or something like that?

When I first got my camper it had silly little chrome cups over the center of the hub. Had to pull the wheel to get to the hub cap. Chrome don't get you home.

I thought most all aluminum wheels had the chrome caps covering the wheel grease dust caps??? It would look pretty bad running the wheel without the chrome, but granted, give better access to measuring heat.

IMHO shinny paint on hub and cap looks fine at 50 MPH. If you don't like what you see, turn your head.

[dryfly]

JRscooby wrote:

2oldman wrote:
What I don't get is how do you just readily view a grease hub? Aren't those usually covered by the rim or something like that?

When I first got my camper it had silly little chrome cups over the center of the hub. Had to pull the wheel to get to the hub cap. Chrome don't get you home.

I thought most all aluminum wheels had the chrome caps covering the wheel grease dust caps??? It would look pretty bad running the wheel without the chrome, but granted, give better access to measuring heat.

[Cummins12V98]

Yea that little voice!

[PNW_Steve]

Unfortunately I was not surprised in the manner I had hoped.

$1514 for the repairs and $541 for the tow...

$2055 due to a failed wheel bearing.... Now come the medical bills... I think I may have pulled something while kicking myself in the butt for deciding to continue instead of Finding a shop to look at it.

[JRscooby]

2oldman wrote:
What I don't get is how do you just readily view a grease hub? Aren't those usually covered by the rim or something like that?

When I first got my camper it had silly little chrome cups over the center of the hub. Had to pull the wheel to get to the hub cap. Chrome don't get you home.