Bearing failure while on road

bono · 10-26-2018, 10:11 PM

Hello!

I was on the way to campground when somebody waived me on the highway and said the there is smoke coming from one of the wheels. I was surprised as I have TPMS and all the temps were normal.

I stopped and saw this.

I moved to quiet street, waited for a mobile mechanic four hours (thanks Good Sam!). He found out that the bearing and the drum need to be replaced. I had the bearings repacked around 600-700 miles ago.

I am a bit concerned about the scratches on the axle. Should I worry about this?

Finally, how to prevent such failures in the future? I did the service not long time ago. Is it possible that the shop did something wrong? I guess it is difficult to answer, but I am wondering potentially, what could they do wrong, so I could inspect those things after the service.

I also noticed inner part of the tire is worn.

The mechanic needs to buy the parts tomorrow in the morning and install them. Estimation is 3-4 hours (driving, getting parts, labor) @$145 plus parts. RVins is expensive...

Thanks!

DonaandDon · 10-26-2018, 10:25 PM

You are lucky that it didn't blow the drum completely off. From the picture it will be alright. The only way to be sure of the bearing repack is to inspect. Most center caps will pop off to see if the shop did a good job. Clean grease is easy to see. I repack my own after the manufacture failed to pack my bearings properly.

Duke4857 · 10-26-2018, 11:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bono

Hello!

I was on the way to campground when somebody waived me on the highway and said the there is smoke coming from one of the wheels. I was surprised as I have TPMS and all the temps were normal.

I stopped and saw this.

I moved to quiet street, waited for a mobile mechanic four hours (thanks Good Sam!). He found out that the bearing and the drum need to be replaced. I had the bearings repacked around 600-700 miles ago.

I am a bit concerned about the scratches on the axle. Should I worry about this?

Finally, how to prevent such failures in the future? I did the service not long time ago. Is it possible that the shop did something wrong? I guess it is difficult to answer, but I am wondering potentially, what could they do wrong, so I could inspect those things after the service.

I also noticed inner part of the tire is worn.

The mechanic needs to buy the parts tomorrow in the morning and install them. Estimation is 3-4 hours (driving, getting parts, labor) @$145 plus parts. RVins is expensive...

Thanks!

The bearing has its own race to run on, the spindle would not affect the bearing wear or bering temp. The spindle just needs to be able to hold the proper preload on the tapered roller bearings. (If they are tapered) Improper preload can cause bearing failure in the form of tire wobble if it is too loose or overheating if it is too tight. There is no way for me to tell what caused the failure. The old bearing may have had a pit in a roller or in the race and that could also have caused a failure. Small pits are very hard to see when repacking the wheel bearings. Sometimes different brands of grease will not mix together. I hope that whoever worked on your trailer knew what brand of grease to use or cleaned the old grease out. I would have to look at the spindle to see and touch if I would run it or not. Your mechanic would be the best judge of it. You would be surprised what some of the shafts look like that we run 16 hours a day 5 - 6 days a week at the plant I work at. Some of those are high speed bearings like I would say your trailer bearing is.

**norty1** · 10-27-2018, 05:13 AM

Count your blessings, you could have seized up and ruined the spindle and been stranded. It's hard to say but maybe they did not inspect the bearings when they repacked them? The scratched should not be a problem. Many replace the seals each time the bearings are serviced.

us71na · 10-27-2018, 07:01 AM

First off, your TPMS measures tire pressure and tire temperature. Tire temperature would have little effect on the bearings.

Your likely cause of failure was an over tight bearing since it occurred within 700 miles from servicing. Many people do not know how to properly set up a bearing after repacking. It is a good idea to check the bearing temps after repacking after driving a short distance. A over tightened bearing gets hot pretty quickly.

bono · 10-27-2018, 07:05 AM

Thanks Guys! Just after the repack I was in Yosemite. I really feel lucky that this happened 20 mins from my house.

Where to buy the spare parts? The mobile mechanic is very difficult to work with. Did not want to commit to the time when he shows up, did not want to tell me where he is going to buy the parts.

I want to check availability of the parts myself, as soon as they open the store and maybe find another mechanic (which will be probably difficult).

I googled and it appears that NAPA Auto Part maybe have trailer parts? O'Reilly Auto Parts?

Thanks!

Dskyward · 10-27-2018, 09:01 AM

NAPA had my grease seals for Lippert 7k axles. 2.78 ea, made by Dexter. But Be Careful, I went to 4 NAPA stores to find these as 2 of them quoted $30/ea for different brand seal.

bono · 10-27-2018, 02:26 PM

The mobile mechanic fixed the bearing and I arrived to the campground. However I noticed that after the fix the trailer brakes are much weaker. I am setting around 8 gain on my controller. When braking fairly hard I used to see over 5 on the controller. Now I noticed around 2.5.

Could he mess up somwthing with the brakes, i.e. Did not properly connect the brake on the wheel he was working?

I called him but he didn't care. I need to figure out this and then will do chargeback if this was his fault.

Duke4857 · 10-27-2018, 02:59 PM

He might have had to back off the adjuster to get the drum off. One of your books that you got with the trailer should tell you how to adjust them. You should adjust all the wheel brakes at the same time to make them work together better. It takes a jack and a brake spoon or flat screwdriver. You might need 2 screwdrivers if you get the brake too tight. It takes some time, you do not have to remove the tire and wheel. Just take out the rubber plug on the back of the backing plate. The axel book should tell you how to adjust them.

This might help:

https://www.google.com/search?q=how+...TF-8#kpvalbx=1

GarlicDude · 10-27-2018, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DonaandDon

You are lucky that it didn't blow the drum completely off. From the picture it will be alright. The only way to be sure of the bearing repack is to inspect. Most center caps will pop off to see if the shop did a good job. Clean grease is easy to see. I repack my own after the manufacture failed to pack my bearings properly.

Curious about the middle picture, was that the factory grease? I popped the caps off of our TT and noticed that they had packed the wheel bearings with what looked to be a moly type grease and not the "stringy" wheel bearing grease that I am used to seeing.

skids · 10-27-2018, 03:59 PM

I used all purpose grease that had moly. It said on the tube it was for wheel bearings. I hope this was the right stuff.

DonaandDon · 10-28-2018, 12:18 PM

I don't know if your repair man only repaired the one wheel? I would have a complete inspection to all wheel bearings and brakes soon. If the original mechanic over tightened or worse, used the wrong grease?

I have a manual brake control installed with my trucks trailer brake to see if the trailer will stop itself. If it will slow you down on a crawl then you should be safe.

However a full inspection is warranted. Soon..

vwprostock · 10-29-2018, 08:04 AM

I may have skipped this part, and nobody else asked...but...

Is that exactly how you found it in that pic once you pulled over?? i.e. where in the heck did the dust cap go? Bearing will fail quick if dirt is getting right into it.

As others have said...something wasn't right to fail in that short of time...I wouldn't go far without a full re-check of the other 3.

Another tip...save your old bearings and seals, clean them up real good and look for the numbers on them. May need a magnifying glass, or get the number off the other axles "good" parts when they get re-packed. They are a super common size and you can get the full sets to carry for emergencies from any reputable auto parts store.

bono · 10-29-2018, 08:22 PM

The mechanic checked the other wheels before I took off. I found out that one of the wheels has a bit more play than it should, but nothing dramatic. Funny enough, this was the wheel from which I lost the dust cap a couple weeks back (this was on the way from Yosemite, 90-100F, a few hours constant drive).

My theory, bearing on this wheel maybe is getting hot as well… I will ask for inspection of all bearings this week. Does it make sense to change the bearing at least on the wheel which has a bit play? If this is minor cost, I prefer to do this now than to stop somewhere in the middle of nowhere.

I was planning to get a spare bearing and the drum hub. This does not take that much space and in the middle of nowhere may be useful.
The most important issue for me is the fix the brakes. However, I need to say that on the way back from the campground, I had a feeling that they worked better.

Oh, by the way. I had the dust cap in the wheel which failed. I lost it after max 20 miles driving when the bearing failed.

sirrealone · 10-31-2018, 11:21 AM

Dumb question, I'm sure, but why do bearings fail so frequently on RVs but not on cars/trucks? What's different, and then, I guess my real question, why are they different?

bono · 10-31-2018, 11:25 AM

I do not know the answer to this question. But mine is related - what are THE BEST bearings for RV? I guess you may have Chinese cheap stuff and more robust proper stuff. I would like to change at the one that currently have some play, as this may be weakened already and I would like to avoid surprises on the road.

Thank you!

GarlicDude · 10-31-2018, 11:52 AM

I've been a machinist for 50+ years and have always had good luck with SKF, Timken, or NSK.

When buying bearings I would avoid RV places and go to a bearing house or an automotive supply outfit. Tapered wheel bearings are a very standard item as are the grease seals, any auto supply or bearing house will be able to supply them. Since they are a very common item buying a top quality made in the USA product isn't much more dollar wise compared to the peace of mind.

DonaandDon · 10-31-2018, 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sirrealone

Dumb question, I'm sure, but why do bearings fail so frequently on RVs but not on cars/trucks? What's different, and then, I guess my real question, why are they different?

In my experience?

The weight vs the size.
- Autos weigh 3k-5k, RVs weigh 10k-20k
- Auto bearings are larger/beef'r.
- Lippert assembles EZ lube style. However, they do not always pack the hub as required by their publications?
Finally:
- Quality control.

Keep them axels greased, those tires pumped up and lug nuts tight!!!

michaelkies · 11-03-2018, 01:45 PM

This is almost certainly the result of the spindle nut not being adjusted correctly after the first mechanic serviced the wheel bearings. It was overtightened, then left tight rather than loosened as described in the service manual. All other potential causes would not have led to bearing failure in 700 miles.

One tip is to drive the first 30 miles or so, then stop and put your hand on the bearing caps at each wheel. You’ll know right away if one is running hot. Do this after servicing the wheel bearings and at the start of the first long trip of the season.

JackMroz · 11-03-2018, 01:52 PM

I repack my coach's bearing myself using a product called Wolf's Head Long Fiber wheel grease. This company has been around since the late 1800's. When you put a dab on your fingers, and pull them apart, it stretch's like gum. I love this stuff.

This is a link to what I use: RED GREASE

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