Wheel Bearing Maintenance

[2KC Seattle]

Wow, how nice and reasonable! Hope to find such good shop here in NW as you found in N.Carolina.

[Daubsy]

Picked up my 19' from camping world today. Everything checked out, except when I was hitching up I could not get my Prodigy RF brake controller to connect. So when I went to inspect I discovered that the unit had been destroyed by what appeared to be forklift damage. I almost lost my cool, but they were able to replace the unit with a brand new one on the spot, no questions asked. It wasn't a great experience but everything is good. The trailer feels much smoother and the calibration of my brakes and controller is soooo much better!

[Bill and Earline]

After just finishing a bearing re-pack and seal replacement, I thought I'd give a report for those who need to consider this work. Our 21' has about 29,000 miles and is coming up on two years, and has had no wheel service other than me rotating all five tires a couple of times. The bearings seemed to be in perfect shape, but two seals had leaked somewhat, but not quite onto the shoes. Cleaned all that and replaced all four seals. I wish I had read back through this thread to remember Dave's double socket push method. Using my 18" pry bar, is much too exciting. I can confirm that the old Dexter Fusion-loc part number is 010-019-00. I bought a full set of brake shoes thinking I'd install them at the same time. When the new shoes came in, I noticed their linings were not much thicker than what I have now, so postponed that chore. All wearing evenly, but very little. I had forgotten how much thinner shoes tend to be than pads. I did adjust the brakes for the first time and am looking forward to seeing how that does.
In summary, I would recommend pulling the drums and checking for seal leaks, and more frequent brake adjustments. And for anyone getting your bearings packed by someone else, make sure they do both inner and outer bearings and that you get new seals.
Any thoughts on getting a set of rubber dust covers for the adjustment holes?

[cpaharley2008]

What about new tires? How are the originals holding up?

[Iowa Dave]

Bill, good to hear from you. When I did my bearings in the spring I looked at some floor demonstration Dexter setups at Midwest Wheel. I noted the thickness on the new shoes and compared them to what I had left and even with about 45,000 on the trailer, knew I could run the season easy enough. My backing plates came with dust plugs so I haven't had to look. I guess I'd go to a small town, family owned greasy old garage and ask. 9 times out of 10 old guys, older than me, will pull open a drawer that has what I need. When I was a kid, we sold them off a stand up card with holes in it. They were a nickel or a dime but that was 55 years ago. I'll let you know if I run across them. Midwest wheel in Cedar Rapids. Is a real good shop. In Minnesota tonight, Manitoba tomorrow night at Adrian's . On the way to St Malo.
Iowa Dave

[Bill and Earline]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

What about new tires? How are the originals holding up?

Jim,
Using a five tire rotation, all are at 6 to 7 32nds. I plan to still run them for a while. I may get a little more wear, now that I've adjusted the brakes. 48-50 psi

Dave,
Glad to hear you're on the move. Looking forward to seeing you at the Mississippi River rally. That'll be our next trailering.

[LeonW]

Bill,

My recollection is that when rotating tires on the car, you just move the front to the back on the same side. I think it is good to rotate the spare onto the wheels, but what is the pattern you use? Since the weight is pretty equal on the tires, do the front or rear tires of the trailer get more wear? I thought the reason one rotated tires on a car was because the ones in the front got more wear.

I can tell you on a bicycle folks rotate the tires because the rear one gets more wear -- but that rotation patters is so simple even I can understand it :-)

Thanks for any enlightenment!

[padlin]

FWIW, when I asked Reace about rotating, he suggested just front to back. Nothing about the spares came up.

[2KC Seattle]

Wow, quite an undertaking - impressive work! I guess I'll stick with a local RV service place to check out our wheel bearings and brakes. Thanks for advice on what to ask to be covered in such service.

[Bill and Earline]

Originally Posted by LeonW

Bill,

My recollection is that when rotating tires on the car, you just move the front to the back on the same side. I think it is good to rotate the spare onto the wheels, but what is the pattern you use? Since the weight is pretty equal on the tires, do the front or rear tires of the trailer get more wear? I thought the reason one rotated tires on a car was because the ones in the front got more wear.

I can tell you on a bicycle folks rotate the tires because the rear one gets more wear -- but that rotation patters is so simple even I can understand it :-)

Thanks for any enlightenment!

Hi Leon,
After the first 20,000 miles I had noticeable wear on one pair of tires, either the front axle or the rear, I can't remember which. I attribute this to the Andersen not being set up correctly in the beginning. I rearranged the Andersen,(including re-locating the bars on the trailer frame rails per factory specs) then put the fresh spare on to the most worn location, gave the most worn tire a rest and did a front to back switch for the driver's side. I have a pretty decent tread depth gauge, so at the following rotation, the most worn tire gets a rest again, and the others go front to rear depending on wear. I'm thinking the front axle wears slightly faster, but not sure. All is well now, and all fairly evenly worn. Torque at 90 lb/ft.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by LeonW

My recollection is that when rotating tires on the car, you just move the front to the back on the same side.

There have been a couple of recent discussions of rotating tire placement. Without rehashing them, but to address one specific point...

The only reason that many cars follow a tire rotation pattern which keeps a given tire on the same side of the vehicle is that they have tires with a directional tread pattern. The "vee" pattern is obvious in the tread, and the sidewall has an arrow marking which indicates the correct direction of rotation. "Trailer tires" (ST tires such as the Carlisles used by Escape) do not have a directional tread pattern, so this doesn't apply.

[Ditchrider]

I repacked the bearings on my 21 last week for the first time, 18 months and 8700 miles after picking up the trailer at Chilliwack. I did not use the EZ lube feature and the Dexter 010-019-00 grease seals were all in good shape. Three of the eight bearings showed light scoring on the cups and rollers. By light I mean the scoring is clearly visible to the eye but difficult to feel with a fingernail. I haven't figured out what caused the scoring. Maybe some grit found its way into the grease used at the Dexter factory or perhaps there were some metal shavings in the hubs. Or I suppose it is possible that there were defects in the Chinese bearings Dexter uses.

Perhaps light scoring doesn't hurt anything but I played it safe and replaced the scored bearings with new cups and bearings I had on hand. The new ones looked good, but were also made in China. I now have some Timken bearings on order from Amazon and hope to have "made in USA" bearings on hand next time I repack the bearings.

A search for "Brake Backing Plate Plugs" on Amazon will turn up several brands of the rubber plugs for the brake adjustment slots.

[Iowa Dave]

Maybe it's just me but I replace the seals each time I pack the bearings. Also important is a tight fit on the metal hub cap. I do one wheel at a time and do not mix the bearings up from the races they have been married to. Everything gets fully degreased so errant sand grit or machine shavings are not a factor. I'm picky on bearings but have not had problems with offshore components.
Dave

[Rossue]

Adjusted brakes today that were grabbing some a few days ago. Used my Trailer Aid, which is also very useful in some side- to - side leveling. Anyway when going to the 3rd wheel on the driver's side the wheel was moving considerably in & out! First thought was the lugs were loose, but turned out to be a loose spindle nut. Pulled the hub off and the inner bearing was able to be rocked some so got concerned it might be bad. Pulled the wheel next to it to compare and it was same.

A week before we left I had the wheel bearings re-packed by a reputable shop I've used before. This time they were busy and did the job at 4 PM (had it there by 8 AM) so I would not have to leave overnight. Feel lucky I caught this. Susan had said a day earlier that a tire wasn't moving when levelling up but I ignored her. No more.

Pros make mistakes too.

[Iowa Dave]

It's a fortuitous thing that you detected the loose nut. A "hot box" out on the road is no fun for sure. I installed new bearings last week. I was able to get Made in USA Timkens for about $ 13 a pair. 8 and 5 and a couple bucks for Dexter Seals.

[Rossue]

Looking back that's what I should have done Dave, although that had nothing to do with this situation.Thanks for the Timken reminder. Will do a complete replacement next service. Some would argue overkill, however they are a lot less than a new axel.

[padlin]

I see there are a couple bearing specialty shops in Springfield Ma. Do you bring an old set it to have them matched or do they go by an axle number or some such?

[Iowa Dave]

On the side of the bearing is a universal part number. Once wiped down it is ususally visible. So you can take the bearing with you and they will read it
And match it. Or, they look in the book or on the computer to match up the bearing with the spindle if they know the axle make and model or weight.
Same is true with the seals.
If your bearings are still serviceable, you can clean them up and put them in the boxes the new ones came in and have a couple emergency spares. Then if you had a problem on the road you could fix it or get it fixed if you could not find a shop open.
Dave

[Iowa Dave]

Here's a couple of pictures. I walked down to our shop to take them. Normally I would like you to think this was a monumental effort . However with crisp dry air. A
clear blue sky, birds singing everywhere and the scent of blooming apple trees heavy on the still air, the pleasure was all mine.
The bearings are L68149 and L 44649 on our 2010 19 ft Escape. The 68's are inner the 44649 is the smaller outer. Don't forget New seals.
Dave

[thoer]

Dave how many beers are you going to charge me for each wheel when I bring mine down?