This is not what you want to hear about

[traveler44]

Sounds like that tab got flexed too many times and a new one should have been used. Mine has the castle nuts and cotter keys and I install new cotter keys every time I pull a hub. That is just part of what I do every year. I get to inspect the brakes for wear when I service the bearings too. Somebody said it is cheaper to buy the whole backing plate with brake components attached than to just buy the shoes and magnets. The hubs seem to wear more than the brake components on mine.

 

[Nate_Asplund]

Just joined this forum, wish I would have done so earlier. I have a 2011 Bighorn 3800 BH purchased Aug 2010. Looks like I may have inherited suspension issues as well. In Dec 2011, the shackle on the left front axle failed, requiring dealer to replace springs, shocks, etc. Since HL warantee was out of date, I had purchased a Good Sam Extended Warrantee and luckily they covered all but $700.00....

This was not the end of it.. Last weekend, on my BH's second outing after getting out of the shop, the right rear bearing had a complete failure while I was towing 45-50 MPH in heavy rain. (all bearings were serviced and repacked Dec 2011). I lost the entire right rear wheel and tire, only thing that remained was the brake shoes and smashed up inside bearing assembly. When I'm unlucky, I guess I'm lucky because it broke down just a few miles away from a Heartland Dealer. This time, I'm going to work through recommended HL/Lippert warrantee to see if we can get to the bottom of this. Dealer thinks the bearing failure may be related to earlier axle mis-alignment that occured when the shackle (I think others call it the U Bolt) let loose. My BH is the bunk house / 2 bath model with 5 slideouts and GVW of over 16,000 lbs. I wonder if the Lippert components are up to the task of supporting this heaving of a trailer safely....

My paperwork is in the coach - is the Lippert Warrantee 2 years?

Thanks, Nate - Fort Worth, Texas

 

[Sonny]

We have a 4-month old Sundance and are presently waiting for a tow after a bearing grease fire necessitating a fire extinguisher. Couldn't 3-wheel limp it home. Frankly, from what I read and from experiences with dealer/service post-purchase, I won't go Heartland in the future. Rigs have great layout, but in the end we have been spending a lot on service. And now a tow. Ugh.

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

We have a 4-month old Sundance and are presently waiting for a tow after a bearing grease fire necessitating a fire extinguisher. Couldn't 3-wheel limp it home. Frankly, from what I read and from experiences with dealer/service post-purchase, I won't go Heartland in the future. Rigs have great layout, but in the end we have been spending a lot on service. And now a tow. Ugh.

Sonny, Sorry to hear of your issues with the Sundance but still, welcome to the Heartland Forum. Would you care to share the specifics of this or your other problems with your Sundance? Many times communications between dealers & Heartland are not what owners are sometimes led to believe. Believe me, we hear much more good than bad about Heartlands Customer Service. Often, the bad is sometimes dealer caused.
You can always call Heartland CS directly if you feel you're not getting the satisfaction you desire from your dealer. Have your VIN handy.

 

[sjs731]

Sonny,
I have always found it best to deal with Heartland directly during my warranty period (which ended yesterday). I have only good to say about their CS. Hopefully your opinion changes. I just repacked my bearings and found I had a seal out and one set of brakes full of grease, probably since new. I don't think there was appropriate amount of grease in mine. My wheels were super hot last trip and after a 4 hour trip yesterday they were just warm. Hopefully your fire wasn't caused by lack of grease.


Steve
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[wingfoot]

Looks like we are continuing to get new post on this topic...Here is an update on what I had done on my spindles. I had the trailer shop that does all my suspension work drill the spindles and use cotter pins..I had the "tab" keepers...I just don't like the tabs. Paranoia probably came in play..

 

[chad0425]

if you think all the stories here are bad let me tell you about my exp...Have I got a story to tell everyone. I have a 2011 north trail 32buds, with the wide track system. When I purchased this unit in April of 2010 on the first trip out of town about 500 miles from home I had the rear wheel hub fail. The wheel completely separated from the RV hub and all in heavy traffic in Houston Texas of all places. I contacted lipert and they replaced the rear axle on the unit. No problem right. I completed my vacation in 2010 and was all ways a little worried about how much the wheels seamed to CAM out on the unit every time I had to make a sharp turn. I was concerned that the wheel bearing might fail again do to this caming. SO I decided I would not pull this RV any more other than to the lake no more long trip vacations. Well this past month I decided to relocate from Texas to Cal. Worried about hauling the RV from San Antonio Texas to Bakersfield CA I made sure all bearings were packed and good to go. To make a long story short I had 3 wheel bearings fail during this trip twice the hub separated from the axel causing the wheel to take off on its own in traffic each time the hub and break unit was destroyed. As this trip was over a weekend I had no idea what to do except put idlers on the trailer as each wheel bearing failed. No fun going down the Mt on I-5 with no trailer brakes. I did contact Lipert after my arrival and told them what has happened they are willing to warranty it even though it is out of warranty by 3 months. My real concern is this RV is heavy even empty and I’m not sure I want to put a new set of 3200 lb axels under it just to have them fail every time I travel. I will post the after pictures if any one wants to see them the outer ring of the casting is destroyed every time and of course that leaves nothing to keep the wheel from coming off the axle. even with lippert replacing the axles with 3200 lb axles again now im stuck with having to pay for all the ext damage to my unit. the first time this happened in 2010 i ended up having to buy new finders and wheel centers no one would replace them and it wasnt enough to bother with insurance.

 

[TeJay]

There are a lot of different issues being discussed on this thread. They all revolve around the wheels, bearings, axles and springs. Here's my pennies worth of advice. I've discussed this before on other threads but I'll do it again. I've got 35 years experience in teaching and working on cars, trucks. This is how I approached these items. When I get a new TT before the first trip I take the china bearings off. I replace the china bomb tires. I replace the plastic bushings with wet bolts and when I do it again I'll probably use the newer composite bushings. I will purchase a good quality bearing here are 2 of my choices, Toyo and Timken. I replace the inner seal with the best I can buy. When installing the bearings I will hand pack with a good synthetic grease. I will put a thin (1/4" or less) layer of grease inside the hub. I will not pack it plum full of grease. Grease acts as an insulator which will help to hold the bearing heat inside the hub. Now that's a dumb thing to do. I will never use the E-Z-Lube grease fitting. The addition of the E-Z-Lube grease fitting is an easy way to promote lubricating your bearing every year or 12,000 miles. It makes the job easier. It also gives you the opportunity of doing unnecessary maintenance to your bearings and possibly blowing out the inner seal and ruining the drums and shoes. Why do I say it is unnecessary maintenance??? When we had RWD (rear wheel drive) and front wheel bearings on our vehicles we serviced those bearing about every 35-40 thousand miles. They DO NOT need service before that time. Every time you service something like wheel bearings you open yourself up to a technician making a mistake. If the grease will last 35,000 miles and you've gone say 8,000 miles why would you want to take it apart and do it again. Or pay to have somebody else do it before it is needed and hope that they get it right. What happened to the bearings that we all of a sudden need to service them every year or 12,000 miles??? I know the industry has recommended that you do it that often. Are they trying to find out if the china bearings have failed yet. If you've replace the weak bearing, packed it with a synthetic grease and adjusted the bearings properly then there's nothing to worry about. Why does the industry recommend it?? Here's my theory on that. It's a hold over from boat trailers. The E-Z-Lube is also a boat trailer item used by the TT industry. Most boat trailers don't have brakes and they are immersed in water so they need some way to force out the water. Travel trailers don't get that kind of treatment. They may get overloaded and that's owner error over which we do have control.
Some of you might say that TT bearings are carrying a greater load than a pick-up or car. They may be and if they are then the size of the bearing would be bigger to accept the greater load. Who determines the size of bearing?? The engineers who designed the unit. There are probably some government (DOT) agencies that oversee that part of the TT industry so they are safe. At least that's my hope. I don't know all the ins and out of that part of the industry.
There are millions of FWD (front wheel drive) vehicles on our highways with rear bearing hubs that are packed and sealed at the factory. They can't be serviced or repacked. I don't know for certain but if it's supposed to last for 70-100K miles I'm sure they use a synthetic grease.
Bearing adjustment is critical and if not done correctly can and will shorten bearing life. I like the idea of drilling the axle and adding a cotter pin if it has the tab method. Cotter pins assure that things are less likely to come completely off. Check my other posts because this post is getting long enough.

TeJay