Wheel bearings

[PlayersZ28]

Originally Posted by jasonmiddlebrooks

I am not a fan of mixing grease types in wheel bearings especially. If you don't know what is in there wait and break them down and repack. I like the idea of repacking, inspecting, and cleaning every 10,000-15,000 miles. It is not a hard job to do and is one less thing to worry about while traveling.

I am in the middle of doing mine now. Unit has 10,000 miles on it and is 1.5 years old. They have not been done since the factory. From the looks of the grease it was time. The grease was not holding its shape good, what I call getting a little "runny", and some was weeping out of the dust caps. The hubs already had the double lip seals on them so I had no grease contamination on the breaks. Good thing I went through them because on my rear left, the back shoe was warn down to nothing, but all the others were worn evenly. Got the replacement breaks (for the rear left and right) in today so the back two wheels will go back on so I can hit the road this weekend.

My axles call for Lithium NLGI #2 so I am using Lucas X-TRA Heavy Duty Grease: https://lucasoil.com/products/grease...vy-duty-grease

Attached are some pictures of the worn break shoe.

Did you change everything when you did the shoes? Looks like brand new parts everywhere.

I use the grease nipple every other fall. Pump slowly while rotating the wheel. Mine were broken down and cleaned and hand packed after 2 yrs which was about 15,000mi ago. Considering tearing down and replacing the bearings this fall.

[Route 66 Traveler]

Check and see if you have the Dexter EZ Lube hubs...my 2017 does. My manual specifies Lucas Red N Tacky #2 for lube.


E-Z Lube System


Red "N" Tacky Grease

[Rock]

Here is why I am canning them. If your drum goes out of round even slightly they will stay adjusted to tight and overheat melting your seals. These are made to adjust everytime brakes are applied. This is my second set of this junk and warranty is now up. All u here is about leaking seals and I will bet this is why. U hardly heard a complaint before these came out. What is the big deal to jack and adjust Manuel ones once or twice a year. Good luck having a hot hub and trying to back off the adjuster on self adjusting brakes. All my years having center lube hubs on boat trailers never had leaking seals with drum brakes. Now everyone is blaming center lube hubs on leaking seals
Rock

[Rusty Nuts]

I check mine every year and that way you get a look at the brakes too. Red and Tacky is the best grease I have used and we use it on all of our heavy equipment trailers, boat trailers, etc. I pull the bearings out and look at them closely. If you see even a hint of brown or blue discoloration, replace them. It is cheap insurance! This is especially true if you tow a heavy trailer like mine, the Eagle Premier. I lost a wheel bearing on a trailer years ago and you do not want that kind of problem believe me. Mine had the brakes on fire but luckily another driver behind me let me know before it completely locked up! Nevertheless, it cost me a new axle but fortunately not my life.

[GraftonGuns]

Hi CC. You should have the EZ lube system on your rig. I would not add any grease especially at only 9 months old. Miles? Although Jayco recommends Yearly maintenance. I would just inspect the seals etc. for leakage.

Keep the shiny side up!

[blammo]

Originally Posted by Cajuncamper

Fellow Jayco owners. A quick question about wheel bearing grease. My 2018 Pinnacle is 9 months old, and has been pulled locally camping for about 1500 miles. We are going to Branson in a couple days. Do you think I need to add grease, or leave it alone? Secondly, I understand it has Dexter axles , and that they use Lithium Complex grease . If I do add grease, can I use any good Lithiumcomplex grease rated for bearings? Your thoughts on this matter will certainly be appreciated.

I do my trailer bearings as soon as i can on each used trailer i buy. Our 2011 Pinnacle, had three blown wheel seals and I believe it came from the factory that way. none of the dust covers were marked up from normal bearing servicing either. We also have hub caps on the wheels, so it wouldn't be all that easy to just add grease either. you would need to remove the wheels.

My break pads were more than half gone, but because there was grease on everything, it was a lot easier to just replace the complete backing plates. seems it's easier to purchase the parts thst way too, although, I didn't try real hard to find the parts separately.

bobb

[robert9999]

Originally Posted by jasonmiddlebrooks

I am not a fan of mixing grease types in wheel bearings especially. If you don't know what is in there wait and break them down and repack. I like the idea of repacking, inspecting, and cleaning every 10,000-15,000 miles. It is not a hard job to do and is one less thing to worry about while traveling.

I am in the middle of doing mine now. Unit has 10,000 miles on it and is 1.5 years old. They have not been done since the factory. From the looks of the grease it was time. The grease was not holding its shape good, what I call getting a little "runny", and some was weeping out of the dust caps. The hubs already had the double lip seals on them so I had no grease contamination on the breaks. Good thing I went through them because on my rear left, the back shoe was warn down to nothing, but all the others were worn evenly. Got the replacement breaks (for the rear left and right) in today so the back two wheels will go back on so I can hit the road this weekend.

My axles call for Lithium NLGI #2 so I am using Lucas X-TRA Heavy Duty Grease: https://lucasoil.com/products/grease...vy-duty-grease

Attached are some pictures of the worn break shoe.

Did you have to have the drums cut?

[Sunflake]

Overgreasing is murder on bearings

[jasonmiddlebrooks]

Originally Posted by PlayersZ28

Did you change everything when you did the shoes? Looks like brand new parts everywhere.

.

I did just replace the whole assembly. Etrailer.com has the left and right in a set for $124. I know just shoes would be much cheaper. But something did not seem right with the magnet mechanism on the one that had worn so bad. My philosophy was to replace it all and have some spare parts in case i need them down the road sometime.

[jasonmiddlebrooks]

Originally Posted by robert9999

Did you have to have the drums cut?

I did have the drums turned on the two brake assemblies i replaced. The guy that turned them said he was surprised how out of round they were.

[woolgather]

Soon after purchasing our eagle 5th wheel we found the brakes not working properly and took back to dealer. They checked the brakes and found them covered in grease—blown seals. They found 2 colors of grease?
We had never touched them, but no one—dealer, Jayco, or Lippert would own up to it or cover it. We had to pay over $300 to get our trailer back with promise from dealer they would research it and try to get us our money back. We’re still waiting.

[rsday75]

Originally Posted by woolgather

Soon after purchasing our eagle 5th wheel we found the brakes not working properly and took back to dealer. They checked the brakes and found them covered in grease—blown seals. They found 2 colors of grease?
We had never touched them, but no one—dealer, Jayco, or Lippert would own up to it or cover it. We had to pay over $300 to get our trailer back with promise from dealer they would research it and try to get us our money back. We’re still waiting.

Lippert knows about this!!!!!
had the same issue on all 4 wheels on my 2016. Grease was on the wheels, and I noticed almost no braking...took it to my dealer, and Lippert paid for all 4 backer plates to be replaced, and drums turned. Also, 1 of the 4 hand never been wired up, so never had brakes on that wheel. Stops much better now.


Cause a fuss. Make them pay up.


Some links that may help....
Lippert addresses reports of leaking RV axles | RV Daily Report


Grease seal failures on Lippert Chassis

[bdreinv]

And folks pay high dollars for this garbage they push out on the consumer.The suspensions Lippert put out are unsafe and dangerous!Wrote letters to Jason Lippert and President of Jayco. No response, see there no big dog out there watching out for the consumer!

[Bill Foster]

Does anyone know the torque spec for the wheel bearing nut?

[ttavasc]

Originally Posted by Bill Foster

Does anyone know the torque spec for the wheel bearing nut?

The procedure I use to pre-load during reassembly is as follows:

1. While slowly turning the hub tighten the nut to 50 ft. lb. The hub should tighten up and stop turning.
2. Without turning the hub further, back off the nut a quarter turn
3. Re-tighten the nut by hand and reinstall the cotter pin/nut lock. If it doesn't quite line up then loosen the nut just enough for the cotter pin/nut lock to slip in place. Don't tighten it further to get it to line up or the nut will likely be too tight and cause issues.
4. Check that the hub spins freely. A little tiny bit of play is fine. If there is any resistance when spinning check that the brakes/magnet aren't dragging.