Hub Leak?

[mrgrim007]

Noticed one my my wheels has “gunk” all over it. The cap on the end is missing (already ordered a replacement). But, I’ve never dealt with this sort of thing before.

Do I need to add more grease?

Thanks

[mrgrim007]

mapguy wrote:

mrgrim007 wrote:

Lynnmor wrote:

ChuckSteed wrote:
you need to take your RV to a qualified place

Do not take the RV anywhere till you have jacked up that wheel and checked for excessive play and roughness. If you find that, have it repaired on the spot.

If you would have removed the wheel and pried off the hub cap, it wouldn't have been damaged so much.

Thanks for all of the responses. I’m going to leave it where it’s at (next to my house) and inspect it there. I picked up some red grease from HD. I’m not sure how to tell if anything is bad and needs replacing, but I’ll Google it or post back here with more questions.

Hopefully, the red grease you mention is Lucas Red-n-Tacky. If so -that is a great grease for trailer wheel bearings.

It’s not Lucas, but looks about the same. It’s “B’laster Extra Tacky Red Grease”. Says it’s High Temp, Anti-Seize, Extreme Pressure.

[mapguy]

mrgrim007 wrote:

Lynnmor wrote:

ChuckSteed wrote:
you need to take your RV to a qualified place

Do not take the RV anywhere till you have jacked up that wheel and checked for excessive play and roughness. If you find that, have it repaired on the spot.

If you would have removed the wheel and pried off the hub cap, it wouldn't have been damaged so much.

Thanks for all of the responses. I’m going to leave it where it’s at (next to my house) and inspect it there. I picked up some red grease from HD. I’m not sure how to tell if anything is bad and needs replacing, but I’ll Google it or post back here with more questions.

Hopefully, the red grease you mention is Lucas Red-n-Tacky. If so -that is a great grease for trailer wheel bearings.

[fj12ryder]

Fulltimer50 wrote:
I would like to know how you people can say anything about the bearings from the pictures shown.

Yeah me too. It's very likely with the hole in the rubber cover that water has gotten in there and washed some grease out onto the wheel. I would definitely replace the rubber cover and check out the condition of the bearings. It's possible, albeit unlikely, that the bearings have gotten hot and liquefied enough grease to run out and coat the wheel. Whatever the problem, deeper investigation is in order.

[mrgrim007]

Lynnmor wrote:

ChuckSteed wrote:
you need to take your RV to a qualified place

Do not take the RV anywhere till you have jacked up that wheel and checked for excessive play and roughness. If you find that, have it repaired on the spot.

If you would have removed the wheel and pried off the hub cap, it wouldn't have been damaged so much.

Thanks for all of the responses. I’m going to leave it where it’s at (next to my house) and inspect it there. I picked up some red grease from HD. I’m not sure how to tell if anything is bad and needs replacing, but I’ll Google it or post back here with more questions.

[Lynnmor]

ChuckSteed wrote:
you need to take your RV to a qualified place

Do not take the RV anywhere till you have jacked up that wheel and checked for excessive play and roughness. If you find that, have it repaired on the spot.

If you would have removed the wheel and pried off the hub cap, it wouldn't have been damaged so much.

[mike-s]

Lynnmor wrote:
That metallic color looks like a serious problem.

Looks like specular highlights in a flash picture to me. But I won't assume. The OP can tell us if it's metal.

[Fulltimer50]

I would like to know how you people can say anything about the bearings from the pictures shown.

[ChuckSteed]

I’d say the bearings haven’t had any grease in a long t8me and it looks like it’s been overheated... and don’t use the EZ lube feature now...you need to take your RV to a qualified place to remove, clean, inspect r@ces, bearings, and brakes... and most likely this is not in your wheel house

[Dave_H_M]

looks like someone hacked a hole in the outer cover/seal to get to the grease zerk?

Are the other wheels in the same shape with the hole in the cover/seal?

You need to yank that puppy apart and bring it up to spec and install a new boot.

I don't know what the deal was but i had a fifth wheel that someone did that to the cover. It turned out to be OK, but you never know.

BTW, I just wandered into s trailer shop and they had oodles of those seals in stock in various sizes.

[Lynnmor]

mrgrim007 wrote:
Took the cap off and this is what I found:

That metallic color looks like a serious problem. Unless a grease with an ingredient causing the color was used, the bearings have failed.

Just do a complete cleaning, inspection and repair as needed. These things need to be serviced the day they are purchased and regularly thereafter. Consider using quality bearings such as Timken.

[midnightsadie]

and use a high temp grease.

[byronlj]

You probably have two or more different types of grease in your hub that are not compatible with each other. The grease tends to liquify and leak. Try cleaning out all the old grease and repack your bearings.
Dave

[mike-s]

It's pretty common for it to leak out around the edge of the dust cap. I always run 3-4 layers of electrical tape around the seam after cleaning it well. You could run a bead of caulk instead.

I suppose it could come out of the hole with the bad plug, but that's unlikely unless it's overfilled with grease. The grease would need to overcome centripetal force to do that. And it didn't, looking at the pictures. It would let dirt in, though.

[mrgrim007]

Took the cap off and this is what I found: