Grease seals/ Axle issues

[goukcats]

I know several have had issues with grease seals leaking onto brakes & damaging brakes.

Found this on the Columbus RV Group FB page today. Seems the NHTSA has given Lippert and FR until May 9th to provide ALL the documentation regarding this VERY SERIOUS ISSUE!
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/acms/cs...4008-59099.pdf
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/acms/cs...4008-59098.pdf
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/acms/cs...14008-6919.PDF
If you've had any issues & haven't filed a compliant with the NHTSA, it's not too late! Please go to their website and file, even if you have had the repairs done, it is imperative that we get ALL the information out there to hopefully force a recall and prevent someone from getting seriously injured and/or worse, killed. THANKS!

[time2roll]

memgrove wrote:

goukcats wrote:
I know several have had issues with grease seals leaking onto brakes & damaging brakes.

Found this on the Columbus RV Group FB page today. Seems the NHTSA has given Lippert and FR until May 9th to provide ALL the documentation regarding this VERY SERIOUS ISSUE!
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/acms/cs...4008-59099.pdf
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/acms/cs...4008-59098.pdf
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/acms/cs...14008-6919.PDF
If you've had any issues & haven't filed a compliant with the NHTSA, it's not too late! Please go to their website and file, even if you have had the repairs done, it is imperative that we get ALL the information out there to hopefully force a recall and prevent someone from getting seriously injured and/or worse, killed. THANKS!

I know this is a few weeks old But we were just denied warranty help from Dutchmen/ Keystone AND our extended warranty coverage by Cornerstone.... I need help getting these links to the documents to work. I have tried using Google to search and I have tried to get the search on the nhtsa site to find them and I just don't seem to have any luck. Any help would be appreciated, thank you

Did you look on the Columbus RV Group FB page?
I don't do FB or I would look.

[2yung2rtire]

rjsurfer,You can take the cheap Chinese seals to a bearing distributor such as Motion Industries and they can measure it and get you a SKF or National seal. Possibly the seals are not fitting the axle stub firm enough thus the leak. I usually mic the stub and take the measurement along for reference.

[wandering1]

Every time I used the zerk fitting the pressure broke the seal and grease would go into the hub and cover the brakes. After having the brakes replaced the dealer se4rvice rep told me not to use the zerk fitting to grease the bearings and the problem stopped.

[memgrove]

goukcats wrote:
I know several have had issues with grease seals leaking onto brakes & damaging brakes.

Found this on the Columbus RV Group FB page today. Seems the NHTSA has given Lippert and FR until May 9th to provide ALL the documentation regarding this VERY SERIOUS ISSUE!
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/acms/cs...4008-59099.pdf
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/acms/cs...4008-59098.pdf
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/acms/cs...14008-6919.PDF
If you've had any issues & haven't filed a compliant with the NHTSA, it's not too late! Please go to their website and file, even if you have had the repairs done, it is imperative that we get ALL the information out there to hopefully force a recall and prevent someone from getting seriously injured and/or worse, killed. THANKS!

I know this is a few weeks old But we were just denied warranty help from Dutchmen/ Keystone AND our extended warranty coverage by Cornerstone.... I need help getting these links to the documents to work. I have tried using Google to search and I have tried to get the search on the nhtsa site to find them and I just don't seem to have any luck. Any help would be appreciated, thank you

[rexl]

We just got our 2006 Cardinal fifth wheel back from a very reputable garage. The axles had been set a half inch off side to side and welded in place at the factory. One tire wore badly but it took awhile (very good tires) and was otherwise barely noticeable. But when we had it checked sure enough the axles were off, and we had to have new axles, this is a 2006 fifth wheel, we are very disappointed and out almost twelve hundred dollars. We are very diligent about the maintenance of this trailer, and only drive to Montana from Phoenix and back most years.

[45Ricochet]

B.O. Plenty wrote:

allimax wrote:
Using the fittings is a time-saver, but what a mess. I did mine today the old-fashioned way and the entire hub between inner and outer bearings was full of grease. My brakes were clean, though.

The grease that you pump in goes into the backside of the rear bearing. Between the bearing and the seal. It then goes through the bearing and into the cavity between the fron and rear bearings. From there it goes through the front bearing and out the cap next to the zerk. In order for this to work correctly it has to fill the cavity between the bearings. I prefer to do mine the old fashioned way every couple years. I could probably even stretch it to once every 4-5 years. I've never found that my bearings were anywhere close to dry.

B.O.

Just to add it is VERY important to have the wheel off the ground and spinning when pumping grease in. They will take close to half a tube per wheel the first time.

[B_O__Plenty]

allimax wrote:
Using the fittings is a time-saver, but what a mess. I did mine today the old-fashioned way and the entire hub between inner and outer bearings was full of grease. My brakes were clean, though.

The grease that you pump in goes into the backside of the rear bearing. Between the bearing and the seal. It then goes through the bearing and into the cavity between the fron and rear bearings. From there it goes through the front bearing and out the cap next to the zerk. In order for this to work correctly it has to fill the cavity between the bearings. I prefer to do mine the old fashioned way every couple years. I could probably even stretch it to once every 4-5 years. I've never found that my bearings were anywhere close to dry.

B.O.

[rjsurfer]

I agree with all the previous posters about not over doing the greasing and advantages of hand loading the bearings, my 08 Cougar had soaked linings from day one. I tried cleaning them a few times but once they are soaked forget it. I purchased new self adjusting brake assemblies and never looked back.

Since then I have still noticed slight grease leakage past the seals on a few of my wheels.

Has anyone looked at those cheap Chinese seals? Maybe part of the problem is the seals themselves? Are there any USA made seals of better quality?

Since the design of those bearing assemblies require a bit of "free play" when tightened down, those cheap deals can't seal properly when there is a bit of axial play.

Thanks

Ron W.

[allimax]

Using the fittings is a time-saver, but what a mess. I did mine today the old-fashioned way and the entire hub between inner and outer bearings was full of grease. My brakes were clean, though.

[jwakeman]

And here I thought it was me. I had to replace 3 out of 4 brake assemblies last summer.
I had been using the Zerk method since 2001 on 3 different trailers and did not have a problem until last spring.

I talked with Cedar creek customer service and once I explained my experience of the past. I was sent 3 brake setups and I returned the failed seals to them.

Based on this I will probably get a hand pack done next time.

[Dave_H_M]

How do you determine if the fabled Timken bearings are made in the US? Is it stamped on the cup and race?

Also I would bet a dollar to a doughnut that the zerk is not used initially at the factory. That would be much grease and a big risk of going past the seals.

[billmac]

My 2005 Cardinal would not stop very well so I took off all the wheels and found the brake shoes and drums covered with grease. I replaced everything and never used the Al-ko axle grease zerts again.

A couple of years later, I took off the wheels again to do an inspection and brake adjustment. I found one wheel still had some grease on the brake shoe.

It is my opinion that the advice to not use the grease fitting or fill the center of the hub with grease, is exactly right. I would further add that thin chassis grease tends to flow too much, even if it says ok for wheel bearings. Therefore I intend to use disk brake thick grease that is used for boat trailers.

I also like to check the hubs for heat on long trips. A laser thermometer is perfect for this chore. I took off the decorative center caps on my wheels to better check for temps and more air flow. I think this wheel bearing/brake issue is as important as checking the tires.

[Rvpapa]

All info on greasing wheel bearings says to NOT fill the center of the hub with grease. When done properly a small amount is left in the center and this space sort of acts like a reservoir to allow a place for excess grease to go when it heats up and will go to either of two places, the space that you left in the hub or through the seals and into the brake area.
I realize there are people who seem to love the grease gun method, but hand packing every few years seems a lot better to give a chance to inspect bearings and races.
Doing this every year is a bit of overkill, provided you have quality bearings and do a proper job in the beginning. I personally don't think of Chinese bearings in that context. I could get bearings at a general price of 15 to 20 $ per wheel. I can also get genuine Timken made in the U.S. For 52.35 per wheel. (comes with peace of mind included ;).
As to the frequency of greasing, the heavy duty schedule in the shop manual for my dually Ram lists front wheel bearings to check and repack at 48,000 miles. I would think that there are only a very few RV trailers that would fit that category for yearly maintenance.

Art.

[memgrove]

We are currently having this issue with our 2013 Dutchmen denali 311bh...
I just picked the trailer up from the repair shop after having all new brakes installed to the tune of $850.00 ish !!! Due to the seals leaking grease into the drums and impregnating the friction surfaces.

I will be adding to the complaints as soon as I grab my VIN number from the trailer.

We are less than 2 months out of warranty but are in contact with Keystone (now running Dutchmen) about getting some or all of this covered.

Please fix your links in the original message so we can find the documents you have found. I think they may be helpful for my case.

Thanks