Horrible tire wear on one tire @4k miles

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Sean Murry

Interesting. I was told that the Dexter axles do not have any way in which to adjust alignment. Is this in fact true?

That is true. While there might be some play in the mounting holes to get the axle/suspension assembly square to the frame, there are no adjustments with the suspension. If toe or camber need correction, all that can be done is to bend the square tube crossmember... which is already arched up in the middle a bit from the factory.

[Woody62]

Sounds the same as my current situation. Left rear tire. I as also able to move the wheel assembly even with the tire on the ground. Checked the bearing nut and found it too loose. tightened as per the Dexter manual and use the spare to travel home. Everything looks good now.

[Iowa Dave]

I have posted numerous times that the owners first maintenance checks in my opinion after taking delivery from either the factory or in a previous owner situation, should be to check the pressure the spindle nut is exerting on the thrust washer so that the bearings are correctly seated by pressure on the thrust washer and that the center nut torque is proper. Personally I crank that king nut down pretty tight with the proper socket after removing the spring steel retainer or the cotter key depending upon the age of the camper. Then I back the nut off till I feel it come free of contact and retighten lightly and reinstall the clip or cotter key. Probably ten pounds of torque or so. When you spin the tire and wheel there should not by any grinding noise, no excessive resistance to spinning and when off the ground, no side to side or top to bottom PLAY when you grab the tread edges on the tire and attempt to give it a good shaking.
That’s how I was taught a long time ago and it still works for me today.
Iowa Dave

[SageRpod]

I recently posted that earlier this summer, I was seeing abnormal wear on the outside of the passenger side front tire but not on the other 3 tires. Before our most recent trips I reset the proper torque on the spindle nut on all four wheels by tightening down and backing off until the wheel rotated freely much like Iowa Dave recommends. Today, after about 500 miles of travel, I measured the tire wear with my trusty Pirelli tire tread depth gauge and the abnormal wear seems to have subsided. Visually it hasn't change much from the pictures I took when I first noticed it.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

I have posted numerous times that the owners first maintenance checks in my opinion after taking delivery from either the factory or in a previous owner situation, should be to check the pressure the spindle nut is exerting on the thrust washer so that the bearings are correctly seated by pressure on the thrust washer and that the center nut torque is proper.

I think that's a good point - I have seen several reports of bearing problems that clearly indicate that the bearings were never properly seated.

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

Personally I crank that king nut down pretty tight with the proper socket after removing the spring steel retainer or the cotter key depending upon the age of the camper. Then I back the nut off till I feel it come free of contact and retighten lightly and reinstall the clip or cotter key.

If the bearings have not been properly seated, just tightening the nut is not sufficient - it needs to be tightened while the hub is being turned, as Dexter instructions always explain. Then, yes, back it off and adjust for operation. Dave, I suspect that you do this and just forgot to mention it.

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

... Then I back the nut off till I feel it come free of contact and retighten lightly and reinstall the clip or cotter key. Probably ten pounds of torque or so. When you spin the tire and wheel there should not by any grinding noise, no excessive resistance to spinning and when off the ground, no side to side or top to bottom PLAY when you grab the tread edges on the tire and attempt to give it a good shaking.

The checks all sound good, but 10 lb-ft of torque sounds like a lot. The idea is for the nut to retain the bearing with no free play, but no more contact force than required.

[Iowa Dave]

Thanks for your comments. As you might expect after about 60 years of servicing bearings some things are automatic. As I mentioned when I turn the tire and wheel when I’m done I don’t want to hear any rumbling. My torque wrench starts at 30 Ft lbs and I think I read that 5 to 8 lbs on the nut is desired. I used to have a pretty strong grip and wrist back in the arm wrestling for beer days and probably cranked things down a little stiff back then. In my non competitive years I’ve lost some torquability ( my word) so I’m probably being overly optimistic at 10 lbs, but some days I feel better than others. I usually work by myself, I go pretty methodically from one thing to the next and think about what I’m doing without conversation with others. Same thing on brakes, wiring, winterizing, propane connections etc. As you indicated I like to relay the process and procedure but probably leave out the “automatic” and the “second nature” steps that have come over the years.

Around here somewhere I have a 50 or 60 year old can of “Fiber Wheel Bearing grease from Standard Oil. We used to use that stuff all the time on trailers, automobiles, and stuff up to and including dump trucks. How I ever got those tire and wheel assemblies speared back on the studs is a mystery to me. Probably couldn’t do it now.

I remember trying to open a differential plug on a dump truck one time hanging on that 25/32 nds wrench like a monkey and couldn’t turn it. My dad walked up, took ahold of the wrench and broke it free like nothing. As he walked away I heard him say “Send a boy to do a man’s job and what do you get? Not a hell of a lot.” It was tough love but it was love, none the less.
Have a great rest of the summer and a good fall.
Iowa Dave

[Bill and Earline]

I always wondered why I have an inherited 25/32nds wrench. I've never used it.

Now I know.

[Iowa Dave]

Hi Bill
Every once in a while I have occasion to use or handle or just look at things my parents owned and used frequently. It’s my link to where I came from and reminds me of how fortunate I’ve been over the last 3/4 century.

Here’s a trio of American steel that links me back to my Dad and Grandpa.
The long dark wrench has the cast in Ford script that’s kind of hard to see. The shiny one is the aforementioned 25/32 we used in the filling station. Hasn’t been used in over 56 years. And the bottom wrench a Model T job that came out of grandpa’s barn. It’s dated 1917 as you will note. The size is a number 1 and a number two.

Hope all is good with you and Earline. Sure has been a long hot summer up here. There’s a pretty good blush on the Cortlands already but a lot of early drop with the wind and the heat.
Take Care
Dave

[Camp@Home]

Wheel spun well, no noise and was not wobbly so do not suspect castle nut setting. Couldn't figure out how mine comes apart anyway. Dexter is sending new axle and 1.5hrs labor paid. Ketlesen will repair next week. They call it 'good-will gesture' and (dis)claim many environmental or usage/setting scenarios could cause this problem (NOT!). Have to eat the tire damage, but it's on spare now.

[Ron in BC]

Holy cow, I thought that the 25/32 was going to turn out to be the one size that I didn't have. But, no.

Don't know what the purpose of the other wrench was with the pry bar end.

I can understand Dexter saying that. I wondered if some of the roads in Baja had contributed to my axle needing replacement. It's great that they're so good with the replacement. I still wonder why we're seeing many more of these claims on newer units now then in the past.

Ron

[brroberts]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

I still wonder why we're seeing many more of these claims on newer units now then in the past.

Ron

Wonder if it was / is a combination of COVID demand and quality plus more options and Gen two weights. My E19 is 4650lbs for long trips. Just a thought, no evidence.

[Iowa Dave]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

Holy cow, I thought that the 25/32 was going to turn out to be the one size that I didn't have. But, no.

Don't know what the purpose of the other wrench was with the pry bar end.

I can understand Dexter saying that. I wondered if some of the roads in Baja had contributed to my axle needing replacement. It's great that they're so good with the replacement. I still wonder why we're seeing many more of these claims on newer units now then in the past.

Ron

Hi Ron
We had open ended wrenches some six point box end models when I worked in the grey iron foundry and put the sand moulds together. The pointed or prying end we used to line up the iron frames and drop a bolt through and nutted them down. Iron workers use those pointed jobs to line up I beams and h beams. They usually have a pretty pointed end and an open end crow foot on the other. I had a couple but haven’t seen them in a while. I found them in a creek after they built a new bridge over my muskrat creek when I was a kid. Must have dropped them into muddy water and in the fall when it was low and clear I was there in hip boots and happened onto them.
Iowa Dave

[CharlesinGA]

Wrenches with a point on one end and a box or open end on the other, are "spud" wrenches and designed to be used for steel erection, the point being used to align holes in two pieces of steel being bolted together.

19/32 and 25/32 sizes went away during WWII to cut manufacturing cost by reducing the number of different bolt sizes. There was never any good need for them. I have several different wrenches and sockets in those sizes and one socket was in my travel tools for the motor home (Sprinter chassis) because a 25/32 and a 19mm are close enough to work on the belt tensioner.

Timken Bearings says that bearing end play should be one to five thousandths on everything from semi trailers down to small utility trailers. Most of the factory shop manuals I have for my vehicles and others I have been given, have a little greater tolerance than that for front bearings on cars and 2wd trucks (such as my '91 Ranger).

If you have a axle nut that has only six slots for a cotter pin (if it uses one) its quite possible to be well out of the range Timken specifies. Axle nut threads are 1"-14 threads. One turn of this nut causes it to move .0714 of an inch, in or out. Divide this by 6 and you get .0119 of an inch. If you hit zero play just before reaching a slot/hole alignment, then backing it off to the next slot could easily be .008 or .009 of an inch.. Dexter nuts are now 12 slot, part number is the same DEXTER 006-176-00 – NUT SLOTTED JAM 1"-14, 12 CASTELLATION, If you have the EZ-lube axles with the metal clips/tabs, you are out of luck. If you get the 12 slot nuts, clean them throughly as they tend to have a lot of manufacturing burrs and debris on them that could contaminate the grease or damage/jam threads. These nuts fit everything Dexter or Lippert up to 8000 lb axles.



Dexter has a history of poorly greasing bearings that they install in hubs for complete axles. The Bigfoot forum has a number of stories since about 2018 of early bearing failure due to lack of lubrication. First order of business should be to disassemble and repack the bearings with good grease, and even better is to discard all bearings and races and install new Timken bearings and races obtained from a reliable source. This is what I did when I bought new hub/drum units with six lugs for conversion of my trailer to six lug wheels. China races went in the scrap bin.

Timken Tricks of the Trade: Trailer Wheel Bearing Maintenance

Note that at 2:40 he says, the hub should only be half full of grease, too much grease causes churning in higher temperatures, think about this as you use your ez-lube fitting to pump the entire hub full of grease (which centrifugal force will separate into solids and liquids.)

Proper Tapered Roller Bearing Installation in the Hub Assembly l SLS Partner Timken

Charles

[NoSOD]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

Thanks for your comments. As you might expect after about 60 years of servicing bearings some things are automatic. As I mentioned when I turn the tire and wheel when I’m done I don’t want to hear any rumbling. My torque wrench starts at 30 Ft lbs and I think I read that 5 to 8 lbs on the nut is desired. I used to have a pretty strong grip and wrist back in the arm wrestling for beer days and probably cranked things down a little stiff back then. In my non competitive years I’ve lost some torquability ( my word) so I’m probably being overly optimistic at 10 lbs, but some days I feel better than others. I usually work by myself, I go pretty methodically from one thing to the next and think about what I’m doing without conversation with others. Same thing on brakes, wiring, winterizing, propane connections etc. As you indicated I like to relay the process and procedure but probably leave out the “automatic” and the “second nature” steps that have come over the years.

Around here somewhere I have a 50 or 60 year old can of “Fiber Wheel Bearing grease from Standard Oil. We used to use that stuff all the time on trailers, automobiles, and stuff up to and including dump trucks. How I ever got those tire and wheel assemblies speared back on the studs is a mystery to me. Probably couldn’t do it now.

I remember trying to open a differential plug on a dump truck one time hanging on that 25/32 nds wrench like a monkey and couldn’t turn it. My dad walked up, took ahold of the wrench and broke it free like nothing. As he walked away I heard him say “Send a boy to do a man’s job and what do you get? Not a hell of a lot.” It was tough love but it was love, none the less.
Have a great rest of the summer and a good fall.
Iowa Dave

In contrast, I have never once serviced bearings! I have had similar issues with excessive and uneven tire wear though (posted about that elsewhere on the forum), and recently got my axles aligned at Standens, plus replaced the worn tires. Now I am worried that my bearings might be the problem, so I've read about that, and come across the term "end-play". I imagine that with your experience you can judge this by feel, but I cannot. I believe I have the Dexter EZ-lube system (2019 21C). I have seen numbers for end play expressed as thousandths per inch, but I still don't know if this applies to my axles, or how I could measure it. I can move the top of the tire on the wheel that had the badly worn tire in and out a little bit, perhaps the outer part of the tire moves a millimetre or so, but is this within the limits of "end-play" or outside? Incidentally, I did get the bearings re-packed by pros last year, and assumed that they did it correctly.

[SRS]

Originally Posted by NoSOD

In contrast, I have never once serviced bearings! I have had similar issues with excessive and uneven tire wear though (posted about that elsewhere on the forum), and recently got my axles aligned at Standens, plus replaced the worn tires. Now I am worried that my bearings might be the problem, so I've read about that, and come across the term "end-play". I imagine that with your experience you can judge this by feel, but I cannot. I believe I have the Dexter EZ-lube system (2019 21C). I have seen numbers for end play expressed as thousandths per inch, but I still don't know if this applies to my axles, or how I could measure it. I can move the top of the tire on the wheel that had the badly worn tire in and out a little bit, perhaps the outer part of the tire moves a millimetre or so, but is this within the limits of "end-play" or outside? Incidentally, I did get the bearings re-packed by pros last year, and assumed that they did it correctly.

Attached is Dexters bearing replacement and adjustment instruction for both cotter pin and retainer nut style. This should give you a good idea of what to do. If it were me, I would pull the hubs off, inspect, clean, and lube the bearing and properly adjust the bearing per the instruction. The first thing I did when I got my trailer home after delivery is pull the hubs to make sure the bearings had sufficient grease, were properly adjusted, and the inner seal hadn't leaked. I was lucky, and it all looked good.

[NoSOD]

Originally Posted by SRS

Attached is Dexters bearing replacement and adjustment instruction for both cotter pin and retainer nut style. This should give you a good idea of what to do. If it were me, I would pull the hubs off, inspect, clean, and lube the bearing and properly adjust the bearing per the instruction. The first thing I did when I got my trailer home after delivery is pull the hubs to make sure the bearings had sufficient grease, were properly adjusted, and the inner seal hadn't leaked. I was lucky, and it all looked good.

Thanks for that, SRS. Not sure I have the confidence or space to do that myself, but could return to Standens. The instructions don't talk about end play in the EZ-lube axles. Should there be any at all when properly adjusted according to those instructions? I ask this because this is something I can quite easily check myself without disassembling the hubs and getting into trouble.

[SRS]

Originally Posted by NoSOD

Thanks for that, SRS. Not sure I have the confidence or space to do that myself, but could return to Standens. The instructions don't talk about end play in the EZ-lube axles. Should there be any at all when properly adjusted according to those instructions? I ask this because this is something I can quite easily check myself without disassembling the hubs and getting into trouble.

End play as measured by jacking the wheel off the ground and pushing-pulling on opposite sides is one way to detect end play that might suggest overly loose bearings. But what really matters is following the instructions and insuring the bearing are pre-loaded then back off the nut as specified. Although I've serviced wheel bearing since I was a teenager, when cars/trucks had drum brakes, It's not terribly difficult. When I checked my trailer, I didn't have the correct size socket for the nut so I just used a 12" crescent wrench or maybe channel locks and tightened the nut as best I could, spun the wheel, backed off the nut to release the pre-load and then finger tightend. This spring I checked by jacking up the wheels and did the free-play check as above and I don't remember any movement but I can't remember for sure. Your trailer is old enough and depending on mileage, I'm guessing the bearing should be cleaned, inspected, and re-greased or replaced, if that hasn't been done recently. With too much free-play the bearing and bearing races may be wearing unevenly.

[CharlesinGA]

Originally Posted by NoSOD

In contrast, I have never once serviced bearings! I have had similar issues with excessive and uneven tire wear though (posted about that elsewhere on the forum), and recently got my axles aligned at Standens, plus replaced the worn tires. Now I am worried that my bearings might be the problem, so I've read about that, and come across the term "end-play". I imagine that with your experience you can judge this by feel, but I cannot. I believe I have the Dexter EZ-lube system (2019 21C). I have seen numbers for end play expressed as thousandths per inch, but I still don't know if this applies to my axles, or how I could measure it. I can move the top of the tire on the wheel that had the badly worn tire in and out a little bit, perhaps the outer part of the tire moves a millimetre or so, but is this within the limits of "end-play" or outside? Incidentally, I did get the bearings re-packed by pros last year, and assumed that they did it correctly.

Originally Posted by NoSOD

Thanks for that, SRS. Not sure I have the confidence or space to do that myself, but could return to Standens. The instructions don't talk about end play in the EZ-lube axles. Should there be any at all when properly adjusted according to those instructions? I ask this because this is something I can quite easily check myself without disassembling the hubs and getting into trouble.

Depending on the "pro" is probably not a good plan. I am shocked that Standens didn't insist on a bearing pack/inspection as the beginning of the alignment process. Excessive play would screw with the alignment process.

Watch the two videos in my previous post to understand what end play is and how its checked. Having been packing and adjusting bearings on car hubs (back before unit bearings became a thing) since I was about 15 or so (and I'm 68 now) I've set my share of axle nuts on my cars, truck, trailers, and both general aviation and heavy transport aircraft.

Ez-Lube axles set bearing play exactly the same way as any other, they merely have a different method of locking the nut after you make the adjustment.

Charles

[HABBERDABBER]

I was surprised to learn that the grease seal on my 2016 vintage Dexter assembly was GLUED into place. All manner of tools and effort were used and it wouldn't budge. A heat gun did the trick and it popped off. Residual glue was visible on the seal. I'd ruined the bearing trying to remove the grease seal, so new races and bearing were replacements.

I'd done plenty of grease seals on trailers in the past, and never ran across this glued in place seal.

[Dave Miller]

This thread made me panic. I just checked my 2023 E19 tires with around 3500 miles and they look good. I’ll add a tread check to my air pressure and lug nut torque check procedure.

How often do folks check/repack bearings? For may other trailers it’s when I replace tires. (Utility, waverunner, pontoon)