"Check trailer brake wiring" and "trailer disconnected" messages + one hot wheel hub

ajones305 · Jun 12, 2019

Hi all, we were trying to troubleshoot the trailer messages and we knew we had one hot wheel, last wheel 3rd axle passenger side. We thought it was a wheel bearing. When we took the wheel off, we discovered a brake pad retainer spring sticking out from the drum assembly. When we spun the drum assembly there was a terrible grinding noise. Once we dropped the drum all the guts fell on the ground. The brake adjuster had been sheared off and the pads came loose. Destroying the magnet and shorting out the power to the brake. Essentially, this caused us to be riding the brake on that one wheel. We are replacing the whole assembly even though the wheel bearing is good. It will go into the spare parts bin. We think this will fix all issues listed in the title. I will update the post with success or or partial success after we get it installed and take it down the road. I am attaching photos and maybe a short video if allowed. We had searched the forum when investigating our issue and found many suggestions, we thought this could help others too. Be safe

!

2015 Ram 3500 Dually 6.7 with 4.10 rear end
2019 Heartland Road Warrior 427

danemayer · Jun 12, 2019

Replace both outer and inner bearings.

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NYSUPstater · Jun 12, 2019

Wehad a some kind kind of brake part failure last summer 1/2 way to FL. RR rim was VERY warm to almost HOT compared to the other 3. Jacked up rt side and removed RR wheel/drum and like you, brake parts were falling onto the ground. Magnet, and plastic melted......otherwise, NOT GOOD. Couple phone calls to friends at 730-800am and ended up removing the whole brake parts entirely. Replaced drum and outer bearing, castle nut and went on our way. Called HL when we got back to see what they thought/might be able to do (coach just over a year old) and advised to call Dexter. Called Dexter and explained things to them. They asked that I take pics of VIN of RV and axle. Lo and behold, they sent me new bearings, seals, brake assembly, and drum. Honestly, I would have been happy w/ just the brakes but was told there was a chance the drum could have gotten warped so they sent one. WOW !!!! Seeing I didn't have any more issues rest of way down and back, figured I go the rest of the season w/o putting on parts and just wait till it went in for NYS inspection this spring and have shop do it then.

So perhaps OP you may wish to go the same route and see what happend if your coach is new or just over a year/2 old. Can't hurt.

ajones305 · Jun 12, 2019

NYSUPstater said:
Wehad a some kind kind of brake part failure last summer 1/2 way to FL. RR rim was VERY warm to almost HOT compared to the other 3. Jacked up rt side and removed RR wheel/drum and like you, brake parts were falling onto the ground. Magnet, and plastic melted......otherwise, NOT GOOD. Couple phone calls to friends at 730-800am and ended up removing the whole brake parts entirely. Replaced drum and outer bearing, castle nut and went on our way. Called HL when we got back to see what they thought/might be able to do (coach just over a year old) and advised to call Dexter. Called Dexter and explained things to them. They asked that I take pics of VIN of RV and axle. Lo and behold, they sent me new bearings, seals, brake assembly, and drum. Honestly, I would have been happy w/ just the brakes but was told there was a chance the drum could have gotten warped so they sent one. WOW !!!! Seeing I didn't have any more issues rest of way down and back, figured I go the rest of the season w/o putting on parts and just wait till it went in for NYS inspection this spring and have shop do it then.

So perhaps OP you may wish to go the same route and see what happend if your coach is new or just over a year/2 old. Can't hurt.

Thank you! I had called Heartland and they were not nice. I just reached out to Dexter and she sent me the form and told me the Tech can submit straight to her and she will pay him directly over the phone!!!! Too bad they don't make campers since they have excellent customer.

danemayer · Jun 12, 2019

ajones305 said:
Thank you! I had called Heartland and they were not nice. I just reached out to Dexter and she sent me the form and told me the Tech can submit straight to her and she will pay him directly over the phone!!!! Too bad they don't make campers since they have excellent customer.

Dexter warrants the brakes and axles, not Heartland. So Heartland probably referred you to Dexter, which is not what most people want to hear. Dexter is pretty good about fulfilling warranty on their parts. But if you called Dexter to ask for help on your entry door (a Lippert part), they might not be as helpful.

ajones305 · Jun 12, 2019

danemayer said:
Dexter warrants the brakes and axles, not Heartland. So Heartland probably referred you to Dexter, which is not what most people want to hear. Dexter is pretty good about fulfilling warranty on their parts. But if you called Dexter to ask for help on your entry door (a Lippert part), they might not be as helpful.

Thank you. The service advisor at Heartland did NOT refer me to Dexter. He only told me to submit the estimate and photos to him at his Heartland email address and then he would determine approval, if there was any. He was very rude about it. We are very new to RVing, as in this is our first, while not an excuse, I am now aware that we need to call each manufacturer of the moving parts instead of Heartland who put the whole rig together. We learn new things everyday about this lifestyle and we appreciate those that have traveled before us. We also want to share what we learn.

Thanks

danemayer · Jun 12, 2019

ajones305 said:
Thank you. The service advisor at Heartland did NOT refer me to Dexter. He only told me to submit the estimate and photos to him at his Heartland email address and then he would determine approval, if there was any. He was very rude about it. We are very new to RVing, as in this is our first, while not an excuse, I am now aware that we need to call each manufacturer of the moving parts instead of Heartland who put the whole rig together. We learn new things everyday about this lifestyle and we appreciate those that have traveled before us. We also want to share what we learn.

Thanks

Normally, in the RV industry, as required by the Limited Warranty Statement in your trailer manual, you would go back to the selling dealer for repairs. Or perhaps to another authorized dealer willing to do your warranty work. The dealer would handle all this without you knowing the details. The dealer would know to contact Dexter and as far as you know, it's just covered under warranty.

Sometimes getting to a dealer is not possible. In those cases, you can use a mobile servicer, or independent servicer, or even a dealer selling competitive products, as long as you get prior approval from Heartland. And once again, the repairer will usually do the work without explaining the details of who covers what.

When we choose to put ourselves in the middle in order to avoid the dealer turnaround time, or for some other reason, that's when all the complexities come to our attention. And compared to the auto industry, RV industry practices seem bizarre.

And to make matters worse, it sounds like you got a Customer Service Rep at Heartland who doesn't know his job very well yet.

"Check trailer brake wiring" and "trailer disconnected" messages + one hot wheel hub

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