Missing Hardware

sharmulst

member
Upon disassembly to pack wheel bearings for the first time on our 2006 BH3500RL, I found that (4) of the (5) bolts which secure the backing plate (upon which the brake components are mounted) were missing on the front r/h wheel. (2) of the (4) nuts fell out when drum was removed. What happened to the other (2) , I have no idea. I don't see how they could have gotten out (if they had ever been there in the first place). (1) of the (5) bolts securing the backing plate on rear r/h wheel was missing and the loose nut fell out upon removal of drum. 2000 miles previous, when mounting new tires, the dust seal cap which cover the spindle nut was found to be missing on one wheel. I guess we are fortunate as we have pulled the coach 12,000 miles to date.
 

Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
That's pretty scary. I'm hoping mine are OK because I just repacked my bearings and replaced the seals. Had I known that a potential problem existed, I would have checked the backing plate fasteners. I guess I'll keep my toes crossed. I suppose I could also check from the outside of the backing plate and try to determine if anything is loose. Thanks for the heads up though.
 

slaytop

Well-known member
Steve,
Thanks for your post. I would say too that you are fortunate not to have the front r/h wheel give you trouble. It's good that you took the time to do the service work and not let it go longer.

Was the final bolt on the front r/h backing plate still tight?
Did you find any loose bolts & nuts in the other backing plates that had not separated?

I wonder if any one else has found this to be a problem.
Larry
 

Pulltab

Well-known member
Thanks for the heads up. I will check mine. After we got our RV home the first thing I did was put Goodyear tires on and good thing because when I pulled the wheels off one of the hubs needed the nut adjusted over a turn to tighten it up! It rocked bad when raised off the ground, so it never hurts to check once in a while. Of course this came from Lippert (or whoever installed the axles) that way as it probably only had 300 miles in transportation miles on it.
 
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