No doubt. We've never checked our "new to us" 2014 Jayco Jay Flight Swift SLX 184BH wheel bearing... and for some reason I doubt the owners before us did too. Even though it was in immaculate condition when we bought her. So this is something we definitely need to look into adding to our never ending RV Project list.
You have to over tighten the castle nut, then unthighten it to the point where it spins freely, with zero play on drum. Otherwise, it's a great video .
Thank you for taking the time to make these videos. As a non-handyman who aspires to become one, your resources are incredibly valuable. You do an awesome job of explaining things and I hope you continue making videos.
AWESOME video! Very thorough job and informative. I was USAF for 21 years and worked on F-16/ F-15/ F-22/ B-2 and MQ-9. I say all that because I am very apprehensive of working on our rig. Seeing how easy this is has more than assured me I can tackle this task. Thanks for the video.
Thank you and thanks for your service! One of our older boys is in the Air Force! And yes you can definitely do this job. Just bookmark this video as a reference for when it’s time 👍🏼
Thank you for posting this video. Your explanation was very clear and concise, which made it very easy to understand and reduce some anxiety of actually doing the job. Everything went just as you explained it. Thanks again
Ok. Yeah it’s not for everybody and it’s not too expensive to get done in the shop either. But sure, give it a try next time. It’s pretty easy ho early. As full timers I hate packing up and taking it somewhere for maintenance. Pain in the butt lol Thanks for watching as always. 👍🏼
Great video. The last time I did this was back in the early 80's when I worked at a machine shop for 6 years. I have 3 trailers, 2 are new (camper & boat) with one old cargo trailer. I will need to tackle this on my cargo trailer sooner than later.
I just subscribe to your channel. Thanks for taking the time to show how to perform this important task. I just purchased a used grand design 5th wheel & I need to know how to grease the bearings. I will be following your video step by step. 👍
Good information for sure! I’ve watched other videos on this before I have done it in the past and your video was a lot easier to follow. I have to adjust my brakes on my camper because I never have. That’s actually a project for the near future!
Great informative video. I have not messed with bearings since I was a youngster. Then during our Class A days of course I didn't mess with them. Now that we have a 5th wheel again so far I've just had a shop do them. Maybe I'm lazy lol!!
Naaaa it’s not for everybody and it’s pretty cheap at a shop to get them done. Just a pain in the butt packing up moving the camper to bring it to a shop lol
Just something I ran across today is the Brearing Buddy - etrailer stated in their video - and they have very good videos - "you don't have to ever worry about having to repack your bearing" - now that is bold. I am sure they did not mean that you do not have to worry about examining them for wear. My assumption is that the Bearing Buddy, is intended to allow easy access to lube your bearings, and it is supposedly designed not to allow you to overfill with grease to the extent that it moves out the back seal and into the brake area. - it will move out the front.
All done with your playlist! 😁 I will definitely try to go back and watch a few videos individually and comment. Good luck! I hope you get your hours soon! 😊
@@WhyWait Thank you so much. You are very kind. Please, no rush or anything. I know there are other channels that need it more. Hope you have a great week! 😊❤️
Thrifty Angela... that's exactly what we're doing now. Watching through the playlist. We need to get them those Watch Hours 😉! Don't forgot to keep watching...🧡
Also, don’t forget there are greece zurks on your leaf springs shackles as well. At least there is on my 2021 Solitude 310 GK. Great video by the way thanks for the effort.
Grease not greece lol…but yeah there are no zerks on my shackles or older RVs. Mine is a 2018. I know have the Roadmaster Comfort Slipper Springs! Appreciate you watching 👍🏼 BIG RV SAFETY UPGRADES (Why You Should Get This Done) // Performance Trailer Braking ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bSkom_C_vME.html
That’s awesome! Safe travels and tell everybody we said hi! All of our friends will be back there this winter including the our friends who will be the winter activities directors.
Thank you. Sometimes I feel like they are too long but I hate leaving the little details out. Figure people can always skip the crap they don’t want to hear 🤣 Thanks for watching 👍🏼
You are so handy and how nice you helped out with your friends also! Congratulations on 1K subs!! Great how to video again and this looked like a messy job- good call on the gloves! Chasing RV Sunshine 🌞 Joel, Deb & 🐕 Maya
I try lol, yeah my buddy Ron had foot surgery recently and I know they wanted to get theirs done so I did it for them. He was happy to help me film in return.
Great DIY video Chris. I carry a spare set of bearings and seals with me. Just in case. Old school packing the bearings. Nice. I buy a lot of my parts on E-trailer as well. 👍
I’m thinking the next time we attempt to grease our bearings, we will just track you down and hire you to do it 😂. Or better yet, maybe we should just follow you around the country, because our list of rv to dos is growing 😉 Thanks for sharing… but seriously we need help…so where will you be next month?! 😂😂
Haha I hear you, that list is ever growing and it never stops either 🤦🏻♂️ We are going to Savannah GA for the winter this year. We usually go to Texas.
If the brake drum comes off easy, the brakes are out of adjustment. Tighten them up when the bearing maintenance job is done, with the brake drum installed. There is a rubber plug on the back, remove it, and use a brake spoon to tighten them up. If you have self-adjusting brakes, adjust them manually using a brake spoon at least twice a year (if there is no resistance when you spin the drum by hand). The drum should never spin freely, when the brake shoes are properly adjusted.
I'm tracking - but pulled the breakaway switch - and the tires kept spinning. Battery is charged, Heading back to try and track the electrical from the breakaway switch; could replace it. Any suggestions? THANKS!
The electromagnet doesn’t pull back toward the backing plate when on. It magnetizes to the brake drumb as it rotates, pulling the arm it's attached to. Causing the brake shoe to go out toward the drum.
I want to do this on our 5th wheel before we head out on a 2 week trip this summer. The big question: Where do you jack it up? I'm getting conflicting answers. Would love your opinion. Thanks!
Depends. Here’s a good video where they talk about that. I use my hydraulic jacks like in the video, one side at a time and only an inch off the ground and only one tire at a time. All for safety reasons. If you want to take 2 off at a time or even all 4 I don’t recommend doing it like me. I’d jack it up and use jack stands. Using the frame if possible.
If someone has the same setup can they take the rubber grommet off and hook up to the Zerk fitting say in a bind or if they are out on the road and just want to make sure something is in there?
Hey Chris ! When you cover the spindle with the new grease, have you ever had problem with grease going in your drum and your shoes ? I mean while your driving.
No, not at all Steve and it shouldn’t. In fact I even just had new 8k Dexter axels installed yesterday and the spindles come from the manufacturer covered in Lucas Red n Tacky grease and wrapped in plastic wrap. 👍🏼 Plus since we just opened everything up for the new install everything looked fine as usual inside my drums. Thanks for watching.
Hello, just watched your video on re packing the hubs. A few questions about jacking up the camper. I have self leveling as well, how do I lift up only one side? Do I take the camper to hit hitch height where only the first 2 feet are on the ground? When you lift the side you are working on won’t there be too much stress on the opposite feet? How an I find all the links to the products specifically the bearings and seals, thanks
Bearings and seals are rig specific. You’ll need to find those on etrailer. They are great at answering questions and helping you find the right ones. www.etrailer.com/ Obviously there are Amazon links to the other stuff in the video down in the video description. For leveling go to manual mode on the control panel. There you can adjust each individual jack or side of the camper. You just raise up the side you are going to work on first, just till the tires are up off the ground. Do like I said in the video and leave one tire on if it makes you feel more comfortable, if a jack malfunction the camper is only coming down one inch until the other tire hits the ground. And no that’s not more stress on the other jacks on the other side…those tires are still on the ground remember. That’s where the weight is.
Great video! Just curious, is it really a problem if I install say, the front driver’s side bearings set and rotor where the rear driver’s side bearings set and rotor goes? And vice versa? They look exactly the same. I may have done it accidentally and they went on and seem to work fine. (Not talking about switching the inner bearings with the outer). Just an honest question. So helpful answers wanted only.
No it really shouldn’t be a problem but that’s why I always do one set at a time. I just always feel more confident putting the same set and parts back on where they came from. Just in case something has sort of worn or got set in it’s way on that certain wheel in that spot. But that’s just being anal. It really shouldn’t matter and it’s no different than installing a brand new set of bearings or new rotor on said wheel. 👍🏼 Thanks for the bud words and appreciate you watching!
Hello, I have one question. Is there any specific way on how to use the auto level system on manual to jack one of the sides to take the tire off? Is there any wrong way? Would there be too much stress on the other side? TIA!
Hi, I have got the same GD Solitude. Contacted etrailer and asked them which grease seal to get. They said to take the hub off and measure. Are you using the GS-2250DL grease seals?
@@WhyWait That one did, I think, the rest were fine. We traveled from Ohio to the West Coast this summer and we should have had them repacked before we left but you know... COVID. 🤦🏻♀️
You know I’m not too sure off the top of my head and I’m not at home but here’s a link to the socket set I’ve been traveling with and it’s great for lots of things. I think I use the 19mm out of this set. Appreciate you watching 👍🏼 amzn.to/4485tud
Thanks! I was quoted $100.00 per axel. I am going to do this myself. I do not have a zerk fittings on my hubs, what is your opinion of installing bearing buddies? My travel trailer is a 1998 22H Artic Fox with 2 axels.
Nice! It’s really not too hard of a job and good peace of mind knowing you’ve checked everything out inside there. I can’t comment on Bearing Buddies, just not familiar with them and never heard of them. Good luck with the project and stay safe out there!
Wheel bearings and seals are all different depending on your RV and axles. I would go to etrailer.com to buy these. They can help you out with finding the right ones for you. They are very good at answering questions and letting you know what’s right for your truck or trailer.
Hello, I need your opinion on that, I did brakes and bearings this week-end and I thight the castle nut to 50 pound torque and loose it and tight it by hand until it stop. I did a little road test and find out a bit of a play when I jack the wheels to see if I have play. Do you recommand to have realy no play when you push on your tire rignt to left and top to bottom ? Thanks you very much for your help.
Check wheels for side-to-side looseness - There should be a very slight amount of play in the wheel, typically 1/8-inch or less. Really should be much movement at all. If the wheels are pretty loose or spin with a wobble, the bearings must be serviced or replaced.
@@WhyWait Chris when you put your tire back on did you find some play by just tightning the castle nut the way you did it ? When you push your tire side to side and up and down. Thanks again.
@@stevebeaulieu2617 I didn’t have any play but everybody’s setup will be different. I hate the cotter pins because I have to back off the castle nut so I can line up the hole so the cotter pin can go through. I prefer those push on tang washer or cage castle nut keys I believe they are called. But yeah really tighten that castle nut down as tight as you can to seat. Rock the hub and push in to make sure the hub is fully seated onto the spindle. Then tighten the castle nut a little more. Then back it off just a hair. Here’s how etrailer.com recommends it… Look to see where the cotter pin hole lines up with one of the notches on the nut. Then back the nut off one notch, so that the cotter pin will fit through the castle nut. Install the cotter pin and then spin and rock the hub. When you rock the hub you should feel the hub barely moving front to back. Try experimenting by loosening the castle nut one more notch to feel the difference in the play in the hub. Then install the wheel and rock the hub again. On the outside edge of the tire, the movement should not be more than 1/4" inch. Any play should be barely noticeable.
So you probably have the quick grease zerks fitting where you could do that but I never recommend it. Like I say I’m the video too many times people pump too much grease into there and blowout the seals. I’ve seen it a few times then you have grease on your brakes. Plus opening these things up and looking inside when you repack by hand gives you the chance to inspect everything. Inspect your brakes, the moving parts, make sure no seals have blown out. Plus by repacking by hand you get all of the old grease out when you do that. 👍🏼
Few ways. I looked mine up on my RV manufacturers part list for my specific RV. Also when you pull the seals out the number is on them. You can also measure everything, based off your old seal, measuring outside, inside diameters and width. At this point you have everything opened up anyways and should be able to read the numbers on the old seals anyways. Go to Etrailer.com and order there, you can also ask exact questions with them and they are excellent at finding the exact parts you need. That’s the best route to go. Www.etrailer.com Hope this helps.
I looked mine up on my RV manufacturers part list for my specific RV. Also when you pull the seals out the number is on them. You can also measure everything, based off your old seal, measuring outside, inside diameters and width. At this point you have everything opened up anyways and should be able to read the numbers on the old seals anyways. Go to Etrailer.com and order there, you can also ask exact questions with them and they are excellent at finding the exact parts you need. That’s the best route to go. Www.etrailer.com Hope this helps.
One more comment - per Lippert: the 3500# and 4400# axels have the same parts for the wheel bearings - and their kit is #333948; it does not list the #4400 axel when trying to find the right part on their webpage, so I called. Also found on Amazon and etrailer via the same part number; it is not a one size fits all - just a one number seems to fit all..
I looked mine up on my RV manufacturers part list for my specific RV. Also when you pull the seals out the number is on them. You can also measure everything, based off your old seal, measuring outside, inside diameters and width. At this point you have everything opened up anyways and should be able to read the numbers on the old seals anyways. Go to Etrailer.com and order there, you can also ask exact questions with them and they are excellent at finding the exact parts you need. That’s the best route to go. Www.etrailer.com Hope this helps.
Wheel bearings on most modern cars and trucks are a sealed unit to the wheel hub. The bearings on a trailer are not considered a "sealed unit". Which is why a wheel bearing on a car is $150+, and a set of bearings/seal for a trailer is $20. That’s why vehicle bearings are better quality, better sealed and in most cases, have lower rotation speed (larger radius, lower rpm, less heat) than trailer bearings. Also most trailers are much closer to the weight limit of the axles than cars are, which the bearing heat stresses the grease more and lastly grease does not do well sitting around once its used. Many people only use the trailer once a year. I think it’s just an overall good practice and checking everything out inside there to find any potential problems before a major problem happens…👍🏼
Every trailer I have had had ez lube axles. I just pump and spin tire until I see new grease. I don’t know why here in 2021 they can’t design a single axle bearing that’s sealed that you can change like a pistol magazine and keep it moving. Their on cars and trucks.
All is good except the bearings need to be tight. If there is any slop the bearings will self destruct due to the hammering from going down the bumpy road. Tighter is better than loose.
Yes, they are, you are correct sir. 👍🏼 I realized that after making the video. I will actually be switching over to the electric over hydraulic brakes next month.
Those EZ lube fittings are worthless and just cause a mess without really repacking your bearings. Too much grease in your hub can lead to high preasure in the hub which can lead to poping the dust cover off or worse the inside seal failing. Save grease and your brakes and just pack the bearings good, a lite coat inside the hub, race, and spindle.
No, just NO on backing off the nut a quarter turn after just snugging the nut up. Timken/ tapered bearings are meant to have no end play. That means all the load bearing rollers are sharing the load evenly. Any end play allows weight to be concentrated on fewer rollers shortening bearing life.
When you stated to back off the castle nut a quarter turn you already had too much end play, then you loosened the nut more yet to get your cotter key in. If you are going to turn the nut looser then at least only do it from a no end play position. There is a lot of people concerned with what they consider too tight as far as tapered bearings are concerned but actually a very slight preload on that style of bearing is desirable. That will allow for a little bearing wear and ensures proper load distribution of weight. Every trailer bearing and some other vehicle bearings are so loose that the wheel moves when you grab it. Trailer axles are made so cheap that they don't provide a system that allows a more accurate way to adjust the nut properly. They only provide a castle nut which allows only six positions for the nut. I usually drill an extra cotter key hole in the axle which provides twelve nut positions. In other cases I install thin shim washers to allow the castle nut to be positioned in new positions. I have trailers i have owned for over twenty years that have no loose or bad bearings the whole time when I test the wheels for that. Have a good day. 😊
You are Absolutely 💯% Correct. That is way to loose for that style of bearings. Tighten it while turning the hub until you can't move it and back it off just enough that it comes free.
@James Glenn. I don't like to turn the axle nut loose to find the correct preload on bearings. Once the bearings/races are seated by over tightening, I loosen the nut completely and turn the nut tighter to find the exact point that you can feel resistance on the nut indicating no bearing free play, then I slightly tighten the nut to preload the bearings.( and not finger tight-just slightly more with a wrench) It is more accurate to find the exact point where there is no bearing free play by tightening. Loosening is more guess work. After all, torquing anything else is done by tightening as a rule. Have a good day! 😊