Axle Bearings

[Willym]

My Landmark is only about 3.5 months old, but we have about 11000 miles on it after our Alaska trip. I decided to check and repack the wheel bearings just ahead of the 12000 mile requirement.

This was not a nice job as it appears that grease was on sale when my axles were assembled as all of the hubs were packed full of the stuff. They may have used the EZ lube fitting to fill them -who knows. There were signs of grease intrusion into the brake drum on 3 hubs (grease aorund the edge of the seal on the drum side), and a lot of grease in one drum, so much so that I suspect that the brake was not very effective with the magnet being so well lubed. Fortunately, it hadn't reached the brake shoes.

Another finding was a bad outer bearing on one hub - about 3 of the rollers showed pitting/mechanical damage. The other rollers were good and the raceway OK. I took no chances and replaced the bearing. My dealer will reimburse me for the part. I did notice also that the outer raceway for the outer bearing on 3 of the hubs was not a tight fit, it could be turned by hand. This made it easy to replace the bad bearing as it just tapped out of the hub.

I recommend that owners follow the Lippert maintenance schedule and inspect their bearings as opposed to just pumping grease into them. The grease ftting on EZ lubes is a bad temptation for some owners to not inspect their bearings and brakes. I also think that filling the hubs entirely with grease (which will likely occur when using the zerk fitting) is not wise. When the hub heats up, there is a good possibility that the grease will expand into the brake drum.

I also have some uneven tyre wear on 3 of the wheels, the inside shoulder is worn down significantly. I may have some alignment issues, possibly bent axles, which I'll turn over to my dealer to check out.

 

[caissiel]

I have been in the industrial maintenance dept for years and the advantage of grease over oil is that it will take more abuse then oil like water, dirt and heat. How else can you push out the old grease without the hub being full. And more grease assures the bearing is pumping well. A dried hub and bearing is also a chance to take. Thats why a properly installed greased bearing housing has a grease fitting and a vent. The vent on the Zirk style is the rubber flap that I see the grese comming out when greasing.

One thing we always did was to grease a bearing while the shaft is turning, that way the bearing pumps the grease through the rollers on to the outside race.

On my trailer, less then 4000 miles, I experienced the same grease on the magnets. I found out when the tires would lock as soon as I applied a little pressure on the truck brakes. I concluded that the bearing was grease thru the zirk fitting while the wheels were stationary... The proper procedure that works well is to rotate the wheel while the grease is absorbed by the bearing rollers and pumps it through away from the seal. If the wheel is not rotated the grease will take the easiest route and blow the seal because it will not move through the rollers that are stationary.

Also I found out that as you push the handle on the grease gun, while zirk greasing, it will feel harder at times, its then that I don't force and wait to feel the lighter pressure before continuing pushing grease to the bearing. At this time the bearing will relief the pressure while its turning, and if it is not turning, the only thing that will accept more grease is a busted seal.

There are so many people with zirks that just pump a few pumps at every trip, Grease does not cause any problem untill some other element creates it. New grease does help, but doing it right surely is better then not, might as well not do it if not done the right way, and repack the common proper way that is a mess for most of us.

 

[Vtxkid]

I have done nothing myself on my old TT but switch out the grease by way of the grease fittings. Never seem to have any problems but you have brought it to light that it in fact would be better to do a full inspection by way of pulling the hubs. That I will do myself when I feel its time.
Your not the first one to mention having problems in the alignment area also. Wouldn't think this would be a problem on these newer rigs...
Hope you are able to get your Landmark taken care of and back on the road soon!

 

[mikeandconnie]

I greased my bearings at 4000 miles with the fitting and rolling the tire and had no problems, However, I did notice made in China on the brake housing. I will pull the bearings and check them before my next trip. If the bearings are made in China, I plan to replace them before running 12000 miles before inspection. Does any one know if the bearings are made in China?

 

[lwmcguir]

I greased my bearings at 4000 miles with the fitting and rolling the tire and had no problems, However, I did notice made in China on the brake housing. I will pull the bearings and check them before my next trip. If the bearings are made in China, I plan to replace them before running 12000 miles before inspection. Does any one know if the bearings are made in China?

When you have the coach jacked up where you can roll the wheel while greasing the very first step is to grab the tire and see if there is any appreciable slack. If you can move the tire a few thousands of an inch then you need to pull the dust cap and inspect the outer bearing at a minimum. If it is OK usually you can adjust it and take out the slack. Then replace the dust cover and grease the bearings while rotating the wheel.

 

[Willym]

Good discussion.

The supplied bearings are marked "China". They are standard trailer bearings, just Google the bearing number to find a whole array of sources for them. I replaced the outer one with one from NAPA, labelled SKF on the box but marked "Japan" on the bearing.

I still contend that filling the hub with grease is not required and increases the risk of grease getting into the drum. The Lippert instructions just say to pack the bearings themselves with no mention of packing the hub. Sealed bearings in most automobiles also run with a minimal quantity of grease. Having packed the bearings yearly for nine years in my old travel trailer (they were chinese bearings) I noticed hardly any migration of the darker grease, in the bearing itself, into the grease in the hub - it was always the original colour.

If you grease via the zerk method then you have a lot of pumping to do to flush the old grease from the inner bearing all the way to the outside and through the outer bearing. In practice I doubt that the grease flows that well and when you see new grease arriving at the outside of the hub, there will still be a lot of the old stuff left inside somewhere.

I too have experience with industrial bearings but I have not seen a double bearing greasing set up like this before. I have only seen single bearings geased on line, with a vent to relieve pressure and vent the old grease.

The bottom line is that you really need to take the drum off to visually inspect both the bearings and the brakes. This means that you have to clean the grease off the bearings and then regrease them. Checking for movement will not show bearing overheating or pitting. As well, there may be some play in the bearing per design. This is because of the way you secure the hub nut - only finger tight and possibly backed off to align the cotter pin slot with the nut castellations.

 

[DougS]

Bill,
I also had axle problems this summer and had to have an axle replaced on a two months old 2011 Landmark. I also had a wheel come off at about 7,000 miles, three months old. Seems the wheel came off when the bearing gave out. I had the other bearings on that axle checked and the outer bearing was about to fail. I too had excessive tire wear to the inner tread, and the tires where unsafe to drive at about 5,000 miles. I now have excessive tire wear on my front axle, so I am sure that axle is defective.
I am trying to work with Lippert to resolve my axle problems and my have to bring my 2011 Landmark to Lippert in Elkhart to have an engineer look at the axles. I never expected to have axle problems on a 3 month old RV. I now have my new Landmark sitting on the side of my house until I can have my axle problems resolved.
DougS

 

[lwmcguir]

It doesn't take much of a pot hole to bend a light weight axle. If you hit one hard on one side of the coach that can do it. From all the spring, axle, and bearing post on the forums if anyone has unusual tire wear they need to check the bearings and then have the alignment checked. Very tight turns on pavement will move your axles and bend your hangers resulting in alignment issues as well. There is usually no warranty recourse on alignment issues because of all the road hazards. I have never had to have a Coach aligned but sure have had to have a lot of others have the axles straightened. On almost everyone it was a light weight 7K axle or smaller. I use the EZ lube feature for my 6K grease and then I pull the hubs for my 12K check up. Do the same thing on the stock trailers for years and it has worked well. On a similar note about all the tire blow outs we were traveling on I80 at 65 mph. Got passed by two Big Horns and one Big Country all going with the traffic at around 80 mph. They must have had high speed rated tires. Mine are only rated for 65 MPH.

 

[Vtxkid]

Ok guys, all the discussion about axle/ hub issues makes me want to check the condition of mine. Two questions!
1) Best location to place a jack around or under the axle(s). 2) Considering this is my first 5th wheel. Considering the two leveling jacks on the front, is it okay to jack the RV up with the leveling jacks supporting the front or should the truck be hooked up for a one point load?!?!?!

 

[jnbhobe]

Ok guys, all the discussion about axle/ hub issues makes me want to check the condition of mine. Two questions!
1) Best location to place a jack around or under the axle(s). 2) Considering this is my first 5th wheel, is it okay to jack the RV up with the leveling jacks supporting the front or should the truck be hooked up for a one point load?

Hook to the truck and jack from the frame.

 

[Willym]

Sorry to hear about your axle problems Doug. Was it the rear axle that was replaced, and now you have tyre wear on the front? Based on experience with my dealer, I don't expect to have any hassle getting my axles straightened or replaced if they need it. My previous sob (with Dexter 7000lb axles) also needed straightening.

I have also ordered a wet kit for the suspension. Yesterday when I tried to grease the Equaflex zerks, I was unable to get grease into one of them, either with weight on, or weight off. The actual zerk was OK though. I'll take this apart when I install the wet kit to investigate.

On the jacking side, Lippert recommends jacking only on the frame. I'm fortunate to have the levelling system and it can raise one side of the trailer clear if the ground. It sometimes does this during auto levelling. I can then place hefty wood cribbing beneath the frame to take to weight of the trailer side.

Bill,
I also had axle problems this summer and had to have an axle replaced on a two months old 2011 Landmark. I also had a wheel come off at about 7,000 miles, three months old. Seems the wheel came off when the bearing gave out. I had the other bearings on that axle checked and the outer bearing was about to fail. I too had excessive tire wear to the inner tread, and the tires where unsafe to drive at about 5,000 miles. I now have excessive tire wear on my front axle, so I am sure that axle is defective.
I am trying to work with Lippert to resolve my axle problems and my have to bring my 2011 Landmark to Lippert in Elkhart to have an engineer look at the axles. I never expected to have axle problems on a 3 month old RV. I now have my new Landmark sitting on the side of my house until I can have my axle problems resolved.
DougS

 

[Chainsaw]

One thing I would recommend is to check the hub tempwhen you stop. I use the lazer temp gun. On our first trip with our 2011 Landmark I noticed that the right rear hub was 20-30 degrees hotter than the others, then it started to get hotter. Talked to Lieppert and had it looked at, turns out the bearing was lose. This was with less than a 1000 km on the trailer other than being pulled up to my dealer from the factory.

 

[DougS]

Bill,

My bad axle was to the rear axle, and it had to be replaced. From what I have learned, axles should be bowed up, like a frown, mine was straight. Lippert sent a new axle and U bolts, no new bearings. Bearings were checked, and seemed ok and re-used. I watched the whole operation by RV Tech, and work was done right. About 1,500 miles later, wheel came off. Other bearing on that axle was checked, and was showing excessive wear, I had it re-placed.

As for hitting pot holes and other things, I have been towing for over 27 years, first time I ever had a problem with axles. Also, I had my friend following me all summer in his 2007 Everest, same roads, same speeds, but no problems with his axles.

I hope to have this resolved soon, I have to take my Landmark on a 200 mile trip in November.

As a side note, I believe Heartland is no longer using Lippert axles as of the middle August.

Don't get me wrong, my wife and I love our 2011 Landmark Grand Canyon, we just have to get our axle issues resolved permanently.

Doug S

 

[newbie]

Ok guys, all the discussion about axle/ hub issues makes me want to check the condition of mine. Two questions!
1) Best location to place a jack around or under the axle(s). 2) Considering this is my first 5th wheel. Considering the two leveling jacks on the front, is it okay to jack the RV up with the leveling jacks supporting the front or should the truck be hooked up for a one point load?!?!?!

When I jacked up and inspected my brakes last month I learned a few things. I hitched up the truck and raised the gear so as not to put too much weight on the gear (also helps prevent rolling). I put my bottle jacks on stable blocking (6x6's) and lifted the I beam (frame) just behind the wheels. If you put the jack to the rear of the wheels you can lift both wheels at the same time (easier to do from the back than the front) I also used a 12 ton air/hydraulic bottle jack which makes it sooooooo much easier than a straight bottle jack). You'll save a lot of time (and a sore arm doing all that jacking) lifting both wheels at the same time. Also, an impact wrench will make life much easier.

Good luck,
John

 

[Vtxkid]

Newbie, appreciate your response. I am real handy with tools but as I stated earlier, it is my first 5th wheel and I would like to do it right the first time. Thanks again!