Greatest fear finally reared its ugly head

[Bob_Vaughn]

In my 50+ years of owning and using an RV my fear raised its ugly head. We left a camp ground in the Mountains of North Georgia and as I would go around really sharp curves I could see the wheels on my 5th wheel from the side and noticed that the rear wheel on the driver side was tracking different than the one in the front. When I got to the bottom of the mountain and the road was straight we had gone a few more miles and smoke started pouring from the axel assembly. I was able to pull off the road and hit the hub with the fire extinguisher. I had had disk brakes installed a couple of thousand miles ago. Luckily a passerby stopped and directed me to an rv place a couple of miles down the road. I was able to limp into their lot. After pulling the tire it was determined that when the installer had installed the new bearings he had not tighted the nut enough and the bearings had wobbled on the spindle. It got so hot it melted the plastic dust cap which is what caused all the smoke. Luckily it was in the day light, had it been dark who knows when I would have found out I had a problem. About 20 years ago I lost a wheel towing in the dark so I said no more...just day light towing. We had to leave our camper until the new parts come in. The longest 11 hour drive I ever made having to leave our home on the road in some one else's care.....

[JimK-NY]

I am glad a bad wheel bearing is your worst fear. Much, much worse can and does happen. Enjoy your good luck.

[naturist]

I'm glad it was no more serious than that. No one injured or killed, damaged goods minimal. A pain in the keister for sure, but manageable.

To be certain, all the other bearings are now suspect, glad you already planned to have 'em all checked.

A while back I discovered one missing wheel bolt on my daily driver. Since I'd just had the tires rotated the week before, it was a tossup whether they forgot to tighten one, or to install it, or what, but after putting a new bolt in, I checked the torque on all of them. All were good, but you never know. Much better to find the problem BEFORE a wheel falls off.

[time2roll]

This old school stuff (wheel bearings) seems a bit lost at times as the mechanics seem to focus on learning the electronic controls of so many systems. This is one of the few spare parts I actually carry just in case it is late on a holiday weekend. Serpentine fan belt is the one other part I carry.

May as well have them all checked and repacked. As long as no one is hurt these are easy problems.

[Bob_Vaughn]

B.O. Plenty wrote:
Good luck Bob, Might be a good time to check those other wheel bearings too.

B.O.

That is what I am going to have the place that I left it at do. They have a floor jack that is the biggest I have ever seen...

Wheel bearings you are at the mercy of the installer....

[B_O__Plenty]

Good luck Bob, Might be a good time to check those other wheel bearings too.

B.O.

[darsben1]

Make sure you review the place that did the bearing install at
rvservicereviews.com