Tomorrow is bearing day!!!

[chris-MGRV]

we've hit 10K miles, and we're going to do the bearings on the trailer. My wife and I love to pack bearings. We're both old school hand packers. I picked up new seals today, and so tomorrow we'll tear it down and see what's going on with the brakes and the bearings. I'll post my findings.
Ct..

 

[TucsonJim]

Good luck Chris. I'm going to do mine in a week or two. I'm at 9000 miles on the Reflection. I'm really curious how your brakes are holding up.

 

[redram]

How do ya jack your fifth wheel up? i have been looking and cant come up with how i want to do it.Don

 

[TucsonJim]

I use a 6 ton bottle jack on the axle tube. Of course, I make sure I have it on very level ground and very secure so it can't move. Once I have it jacked up, I put a jack stand under the axle for added safety.

 

[overpolished]

Well... how did it go? Hand packing is the only way to fly in my opinion.

 

[chris-MGRV]

Hi gang,
I ended up postponing until this weekend. I picked up the seals last weekend - 6.99 a set. I will take pictures of what I find along the way. I'll use my floor jack to put one end up and then put the jackstands under it. Then pull the wheels, and the hubs off. I like to use the small cleaner cans with the built in baskets. They work well, and with an old toothbrush, it's easy to get them clean. I'm not worrying about the races unless they're scored. My fear is that my brake linings are glazed, which is why even though I've adjusted them, they're only so-so. I checked the current and was RIGHT at 12.2 amps, which was perfect. I guess I'll know soon. I'll let you guys know and take pics too.
Ct..

 

[Renee]

I was gonna suggest pics, Chris. Make sure you post them!
Chris, we may need a "how to section" on this forum so we can easily find tips and such from owners who do their own maintenance, etc. What do you think?

 

[Gsport]

I like Renee's idea..

 

[westie0506]

If you don't do this job yourself, where do you find someone that can repack the bearings? We are in the Elkhart area at the moment but heading to NC. Thanks

 

[chris-MGRV]

Right side is torn apart. I don't like what I see. I understand why my brakes are so poor right now. The rear seal leaked and contaminated the drum and the pads. You can see it in the pictures. I am going replace the backing plates with auto adjusting drum brakes instead.

If you've ever done hubs before, this is very standard. There is a rear seal on the drum, then the rear bearing, the rear race, the hub, the front race, the front bearing, the washer, the nut, and the cotter pin. The big surprise was that the axle does have a zerk fitting for lubricating the bearings. I need to investigate a little further where it lubricates, but it looks like it goes to the rear bearing.

The nut tension on the front axle was lower than on the rear bearing. Both rotated freely, but the grease in the rear axle was more "worn" thank the front. Definitely smelled worse than the front one. 10K miles is the right interval I believe. None of the bearings or races so far are scored.

Next, I'm going to pull the right side and verify a similar condition and start cleaning everything up. I'll need much more brake cleaner and paper towels than I had originally thought. I'll go ahead and bag and tag the parts until I can find the new backing plates, although the Tekonsha self adjusters are available on Amazon Prime. I'll call around to see if I can find them locally, and if not order them on Amazon. Technically, you can buy shoes and magnets to replace what's on there, but they're positioning the complete backing plates as a easy solution. I'm going to do the self adjusters just so I don't have to try and crawl around the underside of my trailer and then try to remember which way they go. If I wasn't doing that, I'd just do shoes and magnets and call it done.

You can see here the grease residue on the inside of the shoes, and coating the magnet.

Here is the front right side hub. You can see the grease around the outer edge of the seal indicating the leak. You can also see the grease on the outer drum that has caked on there. This all has to be cleaned out.

This is the right rear. More grease on the inside of the shoes that gets spun off from the hub.

The right rear hub. Again, look at the center, and the outer edge and see the grease.

Disappointing, but enlightening. If you are having issues with your brakes, then ensure you have this checked out.
Ct..

 

[chris-MGRV]

Any certified mechanic can do this. Camping World or any RV Service location should have the parts handy and get it done that day. Figure on $35-$50 per wheel, unless there are other issues.
Ct..

If you don't do this job yourself, where do you find someone that can repack the bearings? We are in the Elkhart area at the moment but heading to NC. Thanks

 

[chris-MGRV]

Thanks Renee, I'm going to steal that idea.
Ct..

I was gonna suggest pics, Chris. Make sure you post them!
Chris, we may need a "how to section" on this forum so we can easily find tips and such from owners who do their own maintenance, etc. What do you think?

 

[chris-MGRV]

The red arrow shows where the grease comes out that you can use the zerk fitting for. The yellow arrow shows where the grease broke through the seal most likely.

The left rear brakes.

Left rear drum

Left front brakes

Left front drum

They're all pretty consistent. No surprises other than the surprise of "No wonder my brakes don't work!". My guess is that they lubed the bearings through the zerk fitting at assembly of the axle.
Ct..

 

[TucsonJim]

Oh boy. I can't put it off any longer now after seeing that mess. What did you use to clean it up Chris?

 

[Justaguy]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[chris-MGRV]

For the brakes, I use brake cleaner, which is also good for doing the bearings as well. Gasoline or carb cleaner works well for the bearings. The nice thing about carb cleaner is that it comes in a can with a cleaner bucket. You can dip the bucket and work to get some of the grease off. The best thing for the hub is paper towel.
Ct..

 

[S.Mine]

When I had that much grease in my drums I used gas to clean them. It would take alot of carb cleaner to clean up that much grease. Good find. is there way way to put in a double seal on there? They are just a little wider but it is double the protection.
Great write up on this. Also nothing like the old school way of packing bearings only way to go !!

 

[chris-MGRV]

If you hand pack them you'll be fine. If you don't know how to hand pack, hit the www.lci1.com page and look it up under customer service videos. Hand packing isn't hard. Getting one of the mechanical packers is fine too. I wouldn't worry about double packing, just not OVER packing. Every 3K miles, I am going to pull the wheels, have them balanced, and put 2 pumps in the zerks. That will keep them maintained until you get back to them. My auto shop teacher taught me to put a bit in the middle between inner and outer to keep the outer fresh.

I am seriously looking forward to GREAT brakes this weekend. We're heading to Ouray from Albuquerque. Anyone who has towed the million dollar highway knows what I mean.

 

[photogent]

Just have 150 miles on my 369rl but this is wonderful information. I've done boat trailers and replaced the bearings due to water intrusion but resolved that problem with the installation of bearing buddies. I did the same with horse trailers and never had a problem with water or grease nor bearing failure again. Wish they would put disks on the rig just to make life a little easier.

 

[chris-MGRV]

Okay, so here's an update. I purchased 4 new backing plate assembly's from a local distributor today. They're Dexter, and made in the USA. The benefit of going with the backing plate assembly is that everything is set for you. You will still need to adjust the brakes upon installation but a much easier solution. New shoes - $34. New backing plates - $67. But they include new magnets and are all lubed up. Not that my previous backing plates were lacking any grease. (It's a joke son...a Ha Ha...A funny!) I am going to take the drums to NAPA and have them hot tanked. That's going to be the best way to get them cleaned. The grease is so impregnated into the magnet and the shoe surfaces, that I think this will be best.

I have the new seals, and will put the new backing plates on tomorrow. After pulling the seals and the inner bearings, there was a LOT of grease. My shop teacher always told us to grease properly, but not too much. Hard to say if this was too much or not.

For those of you that have reached a year or 12K miles, It's a good idea to do. If your's aren't as bad as mine, then you can probably get away with replacing the seals and repacking the bearings. I would recommend spraying brake cleaner on the shoes, wire brushing them, and spraying the inside of the drum, just to be safe.

I'll be taking more pictures upon re-assembly because everything will be clean. I will post them and put them into the first "How to" section post (Thanks Renee.) It will be easier to show in reverse than to try and use these dirty parts as the example.
Ct..