Landmark - wheel bearing - wheel lost

DougS

Doug S
Today we lost the wheel off our RV and we could not find it. I watch my wheels often, and as soon as I saw the rear road side tire of RV at a strange angle, I pulled over only to find the wheel missing. I unhooked the RV and looked for two hours, tire was not found. I had to drive on a winding road for 13 miles to the nearest town with only three wheels.

I am in Cloudcroft, NM, waiting to hear back from Lippert. Lippert said they would get back to us tomorrow morning. Plan is, they will overnight parts in, and someone from Lippert should come in from Arizona on Tuesday, so we are stuck.

This is my second bad bearing and wheel loss in one year. My first bearing was at 6,000 miles on a brand new Landmark. I had parts replaced and made it home, 6,000 miles. Lippert sent someone to my home with two new axles. Now 6 months later, and about 3,500 miles later, a wheel bearing goes bad again and now i have lost the wheel as well.

We love our Landmark, but I don't have a clue about what to do with the bearings. The kicker to the whole thing, in June, I am having my 7K axles upgraded to 8K at the rally, if we ever get there.

Stuck in New Mexico and trying to remain positive.
 

Yellowreef

Well-known member
Sorry to hear about your troubles. Good thing you're remaining positive. Hope you at least get to stay at a nice place while you wait. Good luck!
 

DougS

Doug S
I was thinking this morning if Dexter is the way to. I think I'll look for USA bearings when and if I get on the road, and try to get away from China bearings. I wonder if any bearings are USA made?
 

bdb2047

Well-known member
Hi Doug met you in Fl at rally,sorry hear you are still having issues.Just for info I have Dexter axles on mine.I purchased a set of Dexter bearings to keep as spares,they are made in China.Good luck w/repairs.
 

lwmcguir

Well-known member
Most bearings are made overseas now. I did recently change some Timkens that were still made in the US. I watch the temperature closely at each stop and use the recommend wheel bearing grease at 6000 mile frequency (greasing them on the hub). A lot of times a small amount of overload or mis alignment can put a lot of pressure on one wheel bearing. Most of our trailers have foreign made bearings and so far they have held up very well. Sure hate to hear your story, would be very frustrating. We did change the axles on our Landmark after towing it 200 miles. Noted some post on the forum and went to look and we had short axles with shocks about to rub the tires. The 8K Lipperts have performed very well.
 

DougS

Doug S
On my axle, the bearing gave way. The only thing left is the nut, the part of the bearing that slides onto the axle and the brakes parts, wheel with hub are lost. As for the temperature, I always feel the wheels at stops, and have not got burnt yet. As for grease, the axles were replaced 3,500 miles ago, too new for service.
I guess this being my second set of bearings, besides the axles, is the luck of the draw, and I won or is it I lost. I am at a loss of what is happening. I keep my speeds on the super roads to 63 MPH. Other then using the RV, I don't feel I have done anything wrong now and the other 28 years of RVing.
I wish I could get past this run of bad luck, my wife and I are becoming discouraged.
 

Birchwood

Well-known member
Our Landmark has around 10000 miles and the wheels have been fine.Something is going on with your axles and I hope you still have warranty and get the problem resolved.I talk with people that have 100K on their fifth wheels and have not had a problem with wheels.
Never know what goes on with these trailers during delivery or at dealerships but thats why there is warranty.Seems most of these RV 's have issues but the drive train is the most important
and can inconvenience you the most.
 

caissiel

Senior Member
What kind of hub do you have on your trailer. Are they the maintenance free style or not.

Most 7K axles with the regular bearings are all made equal, the one I have on mine are of the best size and strenght.
When I was working in the paper industry we used the anology that a bearing never fails, its the environment that cause bearing failures.

Such things like over greasing, under greasing, excessive side pull, misalignment , failed seals, improper maintenance and improper installation.

I have never had bearings over heating and only pack them when I do brake maintenance, and that is not often.

P.S. I would never have the wimpy maintenance free units, they are on my truck and I hate them.
 

DougS

Doug S
"Such things like over greasing, under greasing, excessive side pull, misalignment , failed seals, improper maintenance and improper installation."

I guess this was done in the factory since all I did after new axle installation was check wheel torque and tire pressure. Driving from FL to NM does not require any other maintenance. Also, the hubs are Easy Lube.
 

caissiel

Senior Member
All my 4 axle hubs were not greased properly and the seals were pushed out on the hubs. It caused me trouble on the first long trip on the way to Florida. I was lucky to have discovered the problem before ruining my brake shoes. I blamed it on the greasing method used at the dealer if they did the maintenance check on my unit.

But that would not have caused the bearings to fail. Just the chance of ruining the brakes, as I had brake problem when I checked it.

There is a lot of sloppy work at some dealers also as my unit was a transfer from one dealer to an other when we bought our unit. So I proceded to do my own check up and noticed the axles were all loose on the springs and one was slipped back by one inch on one side with a broken center pin.
 

TravelTiger

Founding Texas-West Chapter Leaders-Retired
Sorry to hear of your troubles, but Cloudcroft is a wonderful area to get "stuck" in! If you can, visit White Sands National Monument, Valley of Fires Recreation Area, or take a scenic drive on the Billy the Kid scenic byway. Ruidoso has some great shopping, and a few casinos if you enjoy that.
 

RSIG

Active Member
Doug.
Met you at the Florida rally. Hope things get squared away so you can make the rally and get the axles changed. Enjoy the remainder of your trip.

Ed & Diane
 

lwmcguir

Well-known member
"Such things like over greasing, under greasing, excessive side pull, misalignment , failed seals, improper maintenance and improper installation."

I guess this was done in the factory since all I did after new axle installation was check wheel torque and tire pressure. Driving from FL to NM does not require any other maintenance. Also, the hubs are Easy Lube.


Boy, I sure agree with you. Somthing was apparaently wrong with the bearings in a big way. Would be very discouraging and scary. Hope they get you fixed up and it is the very last issue you have with hubs.
 

caissiel

Senior Member
I have seen many newer trailers in truck stops with failed bearings and hubs and most of the time the owners tell me the lack of grease seam to be the reason. Of course the grease will burn right out with the bearing failure and it will appear that way. But when they check the other hubs on the same trailer they are hardly greased and seam dry due to improper greasing. Most of the failures are with the Easy Lube units and I still say the method of greasing the bearings seam to be the cause. I have read only on one site where the proper greasing procedure is explained. All of my friends put a few shots of grease in the hubs occasionaly and I try to explain to them that its absolutely the wrong way and very dangerous. I am ready to bet that the dealers tell them to do it that way and its wrong. Its the procedure for boat trailers to prevent and push the water out of the bearings.

The wheels have to be off the ground and rotated fully during the greasing until the grease comes out the bearing, and you only do it rarely not to ruin the seals. Grease is good until excess heat is found and the hubs will be burning hot when heat becomes a problem. Onces full of grease problems should not occure on bearings.
 

DougS

Doug S
Thanks for the good thoughts.
I have been on the phone with Lippert this morning. Parts are coming tomorrow at noon and RV Tech about the same time. Lippert has stepped up to the plate. Lippert is sending an axle, two hubs with bearings attached, and one full brake assembly with parts. I hope to be on my way before 4 pm Tuesday.
Searched again for my lost tire and hub with no luck. I was able to buy a new steel rim today and had a used good 614 tire installed on it to be used for a spare, the new spare tire goes on the axle.
I might still get my Grand Canyon to the Grand Canyon yet.
 

DougS

Doug S
On the road again! UPS showed up at about 11 am and Julio from Lippert showed up 30 minutes later. Three hours later, axle and bearing on and we continue our trip to the Grand Canyon.
 

Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
That's good news Doug. Let's hope it stays put this time and the remainder of your trip is a good one. Safe Travels to you folks.
 

Bob&Patty

Founders of SoCal Chapter
Doug, Julio is a good guy. He came to our home to repair a spring problem. Was his dad with him?? His dad is a funny guy.
 
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