DIY: Replacing Axle Seals and Brakes.

Chris, Administrator.
When this thread was opened almost a year ago it was stated that it was not to discuss manufacturers, so the only value was to discuss how all of us were going to fix the brake and seal problems we have, which is useful. That was fine but I noticed that today a new topic was opened titled "Lippert Frame/Wheel Hub Seal Failures/Grease on the brakes...Grand Design".
This topic seemed to suggest that it was time that Grand Design and Lippert to acknowledge and do something about the problem as it is a very big safety issue and it seems that the problem has not been addressed by either manufacturer. I noticed that the new topic questioning the manufacturer commitment to safety and correction of the problem was closed within about 6 hours. At what point should we consider that additional steps, other than just fixing our problems, need to be taken to at least get the new units coming off the line not have these issues.
 
Another Greased Brakes Replacement

Just replaced all all the backing plates/Seals on all 4 wheels, 3 of them because the brakes were saturated with grease on my 2015 Reflection 303RLS. Two of the seals were ripped and could have only happened at initial assembly. There was no wear in the drums at all by the brake shoes or the magnet so these brakes were never working except for 1. New drum/bearing/seal will be in today for the one that was working because it is out of round probably due to being over heated $60. New to 5th wheels and I thought the braking felt weak but I was thinking is just may have been because of all the weight... Now I know! Towed this back from Florida to California, I guess I'm lucky I am still in one piece. I worked as a shop foreman and Engineer for a trailer manufacture for a few years and never saw a warranty issue on the 100's of axles we used (Dexter axles and not EZ-Lube style) so I never imagined this seal leaking issue until reading on this forum. I was going to only check the bearings and adjust the brakes, no such luck!

* Replaced the backing plates with auto forward adjusting style, only $38 each :) . Lifting one one side of trailer by frame to adjust a brake cost me more than that in time.
* Initially cleaned done with 325 thinner (cleaning solvent) rinse with water blow dry. Cleaned with Denatured alcohol in brake drums until no residue or color on paper towels, then Berryman Brake Cleaner as final cleaning step to make sure no residue is left over.
* Hand packed all the bearings with Lippert spec. recommended grease. Will never use EZ-Lube would be just asking for trouble.
* Replaced seals Lippert 122088. Wiped a little grease on seal contact points before reassembly. Will see if these hold up.

My Opinions: (probably most people know this stuff but this is for the people who may not, or provide food for thought)

EZ-Lube: Using the EZ-Lube fills the entire hub cavity with grease except the area where the hub cap is and this is air. As the unit rolls down the road heat is created causing expansion of the air and grease. The hub is sealed and builds up internal pressure. As the wheel rotates the pressure can slowly push grease past the seal. See next comment....

Hub Cap Rubber Insert (for access to EZ-Lube Zerk Fitting): When reinstalling the hub cap I noticed the rubber insert push outward from the internal air pressure of the hub. Push on it and it pushes outward again from the pressure. Left it overnight and the pressure was still there, this verified that the hub was airtight. These rubber caps typically are flush and not pushed out. My solution to this was to use an awl or needle to poke a SMALL hole in the center of the rubber inserted from the inside out. The small hole will close up keeping contaminates out but if pressure builds up the hole will allow it to escape. If any grease comes out I would rather have it come out here than out the seal. The only potential negative I see to this small hole is potential moisture getting in, but the rubber self closes. The other reason I feel OK with this solution is that if you ever looked at your truck axle it has a breather and engines are not air tight etc. Use at your own educated risk.
 
I like your idea of a small hole, mine is in maintenance now because like many of you my controller is at 9.5 and its not adequate. Perhaps all I need is a simple adjustment instead of the dreaded brakes full of grease. Actually I rather install disk brakes ... but that's another discussion.

Thanks

P
 
Follow up on my 303RLS leaking seals, which i replaced myself.

Seemed to me that there was a burnt smell to the grease and it had a warm butter like consistency. Someone i know suggested to me the problem could be this: When contract drivers move trailers to and from dealerships some of them adjust their trucks trailer brake system to it's highest level. This helps stop their truck and saves on their brakes; but for the trailer it would overheat the brakes causing the grease to break down. Just something i heard, no proof.

During the the repair, i noticed 10 grease fittings (5 on each side) of the Equa-Flex suspension component. None of these had been greased.
 
redram said:
My dealer is running a $99.00 per axle wheel bearing service. What do ya think of this. Don
Click to expand...

Don - That sounds like a very reasonable price. Especially if they are inspecting the brakes while they have it apart.

Jim
 
I had unpleasant experiences in the past haveing vehicles/trailers serviced. I don't trust that the work will get done correctly, and ditto to Steve's comment about using a grease gun to insert grease after the seals are replaced (Not a Good Thing). If you trust the service department at the deal then this might be a good choice for you. I prefer to do whatever work i can, but i still own a house with plenty tools.

You could try calling GD service as this is an ongoing problem, maybe they will cover it.
 
Broda2675 said:
I had unpleasant experiences in the past haveing vehicles/trailers serviced. I don't trust that the work will get done correctly, and ditto to Steve's comment about using a grease gun to insert grease after the seals are replaced (Not a Good Thing). If you trust the service department at the deal then this might be a good choice for you. I prefer to do whatever work i can, but i still own a house with plenty tools.

You could try calling GD service as this is an ongoing problem, maybe they will cover it.
Click to expand...
I agree on service. Most techs are half fast
 
redram said:
My dealer is running a $99.00 per axle wheel bearing service. What do ya think of this. Don
Click to expand...

That sounds reasonable but I would insist on a clear description of the work to be performed. They should be taking the entire setup apart, cleaning, inspecting, hand packing the bearings and reinstalling with new seals. I am also a victim of a "wheel bearing special" where they merely pumped some grease into the zerk fitting and done.
 
Well, I just removed one of the six brake drums on our new 380TH and low and behold I too have the dreaded “greasy brake” syndrome. I won’t know for sure how bad the situation is until I get to remove the rest of brake drums, but for now I’ve ordered the grease seals. I may have lucked out on the amount of grease that spewed about, so far it’s looking like cleaning up the excessive grease and repacking the bearings fingers are crossed. I want to thank all those who contributed their experience and knowledge on this thread it has been extremely helpful.

My opinion mirrors that of AlanEdie Post # 68, having worked in a maintenance field and packing bearings on a regular basis I feel qualified in stating I too feel the lubricant is too thin/runny for this application..Mike
 
Getting ready to replace bearings, races and seals on our 337 with 4000 miles on it. No problems that I know of, but will feel better doing it myself. Priced out 4 Timken bearings #25580 @ $58.60, 4 races #25520 @ $53.20, 4 Timken LM67048 bearings @ $15.96, 4 races @ $11.96 and 4 National oil seals #412920 @ $77.96. That comes out to about $220 for all four wheels. Kind of expensive, but what is peace of mind worth?
 
Well we have now joined the ranks of having greasy brakes. When repacking the wheel bearings we found a tire with the steel showing. We now have 4 new sailun tires. I wanted to get new steel valve stems at the same time but the one's the tire shop had the washers were too big to fit in the hole in the wheel. After numerous calls to part stores, and a rv dealer no one had anything that would work. Does anyone know how others have gotten it done.

When taking the hubs off , 2 were real loose. One you could turn the castle nut 3 turns in by hand before it took out the play. After the first rally we took the trailer in to Lippert to have self adjusting brakes put on. 3 of the wheels the brakes looked good but you could see signs that the seals had leaked but was old. Probably from before we had the brakes changed. We did find a lot of little silver flakes on the cages of the bearings and between the bearings. So we are also replacing all of the bearings with the races. The last wheel that had the most play, the hub would move in and out by about 1/2 inch. From having that much play the grease was able to get by the seal and contaminant the shoes, enough so that we are now also replacing the brakes. The grease wasn't runny but it did appear to have to much grease applied.
The hub that was the loosest was also the one that the tire had the belts that was coming apart (mentioned in Cate&Rob's tire thread in the Reflection general section)
 
Thank you Colan for that info, that is a big help. When we had our tires mounted they told us of a new type of balance for the wheels (new to me) called DynaBeads. Liking the sounds of it I had them use them. Reading on line it sounds great, they were designed for trucks and large RV's. They move around in the tire and will move around to where they are needed to balance the wheel. So they are continuously balancing the tire for a smooth ride. My old tire did show just a little bit of cupping on the outside edges, but they had no weights on them so I doubt they ever were balanced.
 
Re: Valve Stems

Ran into the same problem when I got my new tires mounted (a few days ago). The clamp in all-metal stems that the tire shop had, would not fit the LionsHead rim holes. Please let us know if the stems recommended by Colan, fit your rims.

BTW, I went with new replacements of the "high pressure" metal & rubber truck stems as original. (but, I am still running 80 psi).

Rob
 
Looking on their web site I believe they will work. They're designed for RV wheels with the 5/8th hole in them with little clearance. Back to the brakes for a minute if I may. If others are getting as much grease on their shoes as what I had they should be thinking about replacing them. You can clean them off with brake clean, but that grease will have embedded itself down into the shoes. When they heat up from driving it will pull it back out. After cleaning them take a small butane torch and wave it over the shoe surface a few times and you will see the grease start coming out of the shoes. If you had what some people described as oily and the drums were saturated it could happen to them too. If the brakes were that bad it could affect your braking.
 
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