Bearings/hubs preventive maintenance (PM). Horror story avoided!

We bought our Cyclone 4100 in September of 2012 and have less than 5,000 miles on it. Last month (August 2014) we parked it in our driveway after a fairly short trip, and after leveling the left side (driver's side) front and rear wheels were off the ground. As I walked by I idly spun the tires and just happened to notice that the rear tire seemed to have a lot of play in it.

I'm over 60 and not a master mechanic by any means, but I've done lots of maintenance on lots of vehicles/trailers for many years. I hadn't paid attention to the recommended annual maintenance of bearings/hubs/brakes, because that stuff is supposed to last for lots of miles and long times, right? After reading many forums, most of them right here on Heartland, found out that TTs don't get near the wear out of bearings that most vehicles and other trailers do.

Long story short, when I pulled the grease cap (Dexter EZ lube by the way), there was no retainer for the spindle nut! Holy crap! After a thorough checking, the bearings looked good, the grease looked fine, etc.

As near as I can figure out, the spindle nut must have backed off near the end of our last trip. While I do a walk around at almost every stop checking for whatever and would hopefully have found any problems early on, Thank God it didn't happen in the middle of nowhere and with the probable loss of a wheel and who knows what kind of damage!!!

I checked all the other five hubs and they were fine.

I contacted Dexter, and their customer service was great to work with - after chewing me out very nicely for not following the recommended PM; they sent me six new retainers and grease seals.

Needless to say, I will be a lot more rigorous in all my PMs!

HI PALTeam,

Welcome to the posting side of the Heartland Owners Forum.

Glad you found the problem before it became a really big problem.

Jim M

WOW, glad you found it before something really bad happened. I check the bearings every year no matter how many miles its been pulled. I either do a bearing pack myself or have it done. Jacking up one of these big/heavy trailers is a stinker because you should not jack them up by the axles. BTW, you can bend an axle if you put a jack in the wrong place. OH yea, never jack up one side of the trailer unless it hooked to your TV.

Thanks Jim & Bob.

Bob, not sure what you mean about jacking up one side or other without being attached to TV. Explain, please. We have a Lippert leveling system, and I use that to raise/lower the trailer as necessary.

Use the lippert, it works just fine, if you are in a position where you cannot use the lippert, use the bottle jack in your TV to raise the axle enough to change a tire or examine and lube your bearings.

There is a school of thought that some members promote that says you can't lift a rig without lifting the whole side of the trailer by the frame and that it must be hitched to do it. It centers around an obscure statement in the owners manual that really does not apply to removal of one wheel at a time.

No single wheel on my BC3650RL weighs over 2800 lbs. lifting that single wheel off the ground 1 inch at the spring is not detrimental to your axle tube as it never comes into contact with the tube and is well within the capability of a simple bottle jack, if your spring is on top of the tube its no matter because the spindle that is welded into the tube extends past the spring anyway.

It is not necessary to lift the rig by the frame for any work that we are capable of. If your were changing out the entire axle assembly and or installing new springs and bushings, then you would want to get some house jacks and raise the entire trailer equally and support with stands!

This subject has been discussed many time in the forum, do a search and find out what has been said.

Don't let those bearing get away from you again, lest one pass you on the freeway. LOL. BTW I'm shocked that you were missing a retainer. Now I must go examine mine which I was hoping to avoid.

PALTeam said:

Thanks Jim & Bob.

Bob, not sure what you mean about jacking up one side or other without being attached to TV. Explain, please. We have a Lippert leveling system, and I use that to raise/lower the trailer as necessary.

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In the first year of my ownership of my Bighorn, I picked up a nail in my tire as I pulled into an RV park. I had the tire service advertised in the park's map come out to take care of the tire. I was unhitched from my truck. Well, the guy jacked the trailer up enough that the landing gear telescoping leg pin on the other side sheared, slamming the telescoping landing gear down. A couple of years later, I found that the thrust bearing in that landing gear leg was frozen (after having a lot of problems with the landing gear). At the time of the incident, I had some heavy duty landing gear pins with me, but installing them required drilling out all of the gear leg pin holes to a bigger size. If the 5th wheel hitch had been hitched up, this landing gear collapse would not have happened.
People with the leveling systems on their trailers do not have to worry about hitching up while servicing tires

Thanks, Jim A.

One thing my dealer emphasized was not to jack on the axle tube, and explained why; so it stuck.

Dexter was pretty shocked, too, BTW. I figure only one in a million, give or take, retainers get missed. May have been a bad day on the line; or end of the shift, or, or, or. All in all, "stuff happens".

Believe me, I'm a believer when it comes to checking/maintaining wheels/bearings/etc. I am one happy camper with lots of guardian angels that there wasn't more, much more, of a problem.

In almost 65 years I've driven lots of miles on everything from a go cart, through farm equipment, to semis to many military vehicles in my Army days. But you know what? I still manage to learn something new almost every day!

Hitching during service is a good idea, and it is certainly doesn't hurt. I cannot think of a more ideal support for the front of the trailer as the hitch, especially since the hitch rolls as needed. Most likely you would be hitched anyway. But had the axle been lifted enough to fit the wheel, no problems would have ensued. This is such a simple task, I cannot understand why it must be complicated by such myths as lifting by the frame to lube a single bearing or replace a single wheel.

Jim.Allison said:

I cannot understand why it must be complicated by such myths as lifting by the frame to lube a single bearing or replace a single wheel.

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What Dexter, Lippert and Heartland recommend is easily researched. Here's a quote from Dexter:

"Is it okay to jack up my trailer?
Dexter recommends that you do not jack up the trailer on the suspension components because there is always the potential for damage. Bent hangers, leaf springs, or axle tubes can cause bad axle alignment with bad tire wear resulting. Also, many trailer builders do not use Dexter hangers and we have no idea how strong these hangers may or may not be. Therefore, we take the conservative approach and recommend jacking up only on the trailer frame. "

Everyone is free to jack things up any way they see fit. For those seeking advice from the manufacturers, the information is readily available. Myth or reality? If in doubt, look it up for yourself.

Thanks, all. Thanks, Bill, for your explanation.

What I'm hearing is that there are lots of variables: type of equipment, problem, location, etc. There ain't no 'one size fits all' solution. Most of all, apply common sense.

Of course, as Voltaire said, and is especially true in my case: "Common sense is not so common."

The 'repack wheel bearings every year regardless' is nothing more than a way for the manufactures and warranty companies to get out of warranty coverage . . . plain and simple!

There is absolutely no reason whatsoever that one shouldn't expect to get two or three years . . . or 10,000 miles (which ever comes first), other than cheaply made parts, inferior materials or shoddy manufacturing.

Thats my story and I'm sticking to it . . .

JohnD said:

The 'repack wheel bearings every year regardless' is nothing more than a way for the manufactures and warranty companies to get out of warranty coverage . . . plain and simple!

There is absolutely no reason whatsoever that one shouldn't expect to get two or three years . . . or 10,000 miles (which ever comes first), other than cheaply made parts, inferior materials or shoddy manufacturing.

Thats my story and I'm sticking to it . . .

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I certainly agree with that

Everyone gets a choice of whether to follow the manufacturer's maintenance schedule, or not. But you also get to own the results.

I wish Lippert and Dexter would design and manufacture axles that didn't need annual maintenance. And when I consider the high cost of getting bearings repacked every year, I'd be happy to pay more up front for a low-maintenance axle option.

But for now, I have to make a decision every year about whether to do the maintenance, or risk getting stuck on the side of the road.

I have to agree with Jim on this one. Jacking a wheel up 1" off the ground by placing the jack under the U-bolt is not going to bend anything. The manufacturers have to assume that we are all dummies and make blanket CYA statements such as this. There's no way I am going to jack up the whole side of the trailer on the side of the road to change a flat, nor would I do it to re-pack the bearings. Less is better and too many bad things can happen with the whole side of the trailer up in the air and all the tires off the ground, such as the incident Bill described.

Been doing it that way for 24 years. Sure feels safer but be warned that the axle is round and possibility of slippage is possible. Be careful placing the jack. Also do not jack inside the spring supports.

Who here gets their oil changed every 3000 miles . . . ?

3K on gas 5K on diesel

We change all the new engines based on the computer. All the ranch vehicles get changes at 5K unless we are having dust storms then it is 2500 miles. The 5K is simple and a glance at the odometers keeps you on track. All the Diesel skid steers, tractors and so on get changed via the hour meter from 200-500 depending on the engine warranty and filtration system. It is a waste of money and resources to change the oil of any hi-way vehicle at 3K. The only reason would be is to keep the brother in law working at the oil change place. Many large engines get the oil changed once per year. We do use quality air and oil filters.

The 3000 mile oil change is a myth, and needs to die.

I wouldn't call it a myth - maybe legacy would be more appropriate.

The 3,000 mile oil change was from an era when oil as well as fuel, was of questionable quality, air filtration was mediocre and the filter themselves were relatively poor quality. Engines were built with more tolerances and fuel systems allowed vehicles to run a less then ideal air fuel ratio. And it certainly was not unknown for carbs to leak fuel into the crankcase.

Cars and trucks prior to the 90's are no comparison to the modern vehicles.

The schedule you follow needs to match the equipment.

When we had our big boat the oil got changed mid season at 125 hours, and then again at the end of the season, even if it was only 50 hours. And that was a 20 gallon oil change! Always conventional oil.

My bike (kind of a high end bike) gets the oil changed whenever convenient between 4,000-5,000 miles, always with synthetic, either Mobil 1 or Redline.

The truck, usually around 7,000 with whatever is on sale at the time, Shell Rotella, either of the blends. Sometimes the blend or synthetic is about the same price as the dino oil.

Deb's car, once a year. In the 6 1/2 years she has had it she only put on 25000 miles.

Trailer genny, every year at the end of the season, regardless of the hours.

All of the household equipment (generators, pressure washers, etc) get changed before the winter regardless of engine run time. Snow blowers get the oil changed in the spring, regardless of run time.

Any IC engine that will sit any length of time would benefit from seasonal oil changes. The crankcase oil accumulates contaminates including acids that are detrimental to the bearing surfaces. So changing the oil is beneficial for an engine that will sit all winter. And even that recommendation may be less of an issue with modern equipment and oils. But, I will continue with it.

I would say if you are comfortable with using just the oil change indicator supplied on your vehicle - go for it. The manufacturer installed it so it must be good.
For me, the approximate 10,000 mile oil change on the truck is too much, so I will stick with my average of 7K.

BTW, years ago when the manufacturers went from the 3,000 mile oil and filter change schedule to the 7,500 oil, 15,000 oil and filter recommendation it had nothing to due with engine quality or oil formulations. It was strictly based on "cost of ownership" estimates.