I started working as a Mechanic's helper when I was 14, and put myself through college working as a mechanic. I would have washed those bearings with a good degreaser, to remove all dirt and contaminants. The inspection would have noted not only color, but spinning to feel any irregularities or excessive looseness in the bearing. I would have hand packed them to make sure that the bearing was fully impregnated with grease. I would tighten the castle nut to the point where the wheel would not spin to properly seat the bearings, then back off 1/4 turn, and check to make sure the wheel spun freely, If there was excessive drag I would back the nut off more in 1/16th of a turn increments until the wheel spun freely, than put in a new cotter pin and finally the cleaned cap.
Don’t gob the spindle up with grease before putting the hub on, you’re defeating half the purpose of the seal. He just pushed all that grease on the spindle back into the brakes, where you don’t want any grease, hence the seal that keeps dirt out and grease in, away from the brakes. You don’t want the inner or outer bearing race to turn or spin on the shaft so they don’t need grease between the bearing race and the spindle any how.
Gerard Trigo Bravo! And this how it was done! Old school learning was the best by far. If you are going to do a job, you do it right the first time! The BEST to you Sir!
It's a drum. Invented by Frank Olds of Oldsmobile. Fantastic video. Thank you. Just blew my back seals out not knowing any better and have to fix it now.
Usually I pull the outer bearing out, put the castle nut back on, and pull the drum towards me and down real fast. That removes the rear bearing and seal all in one motion and quickly. Cheers
Darren, you're like the Scotty Kilmer of RV's. Showing us how to fix and maintain our RV's ourselves. No nonsense, no bull just straightforward advice, and how to. I am about to undertake repacking the wheel bearings, changing the seals and brake assemblies in the next couple of weeks. God Bless you man! Thank You!!!
Thanks for releasing a video as to how you do this. The video gives others a chance to comment/ augment with their learnings. That’s the beauty of these videos.
Great video, I would add how to adjust the brake shoes using the star adjuster accessible through the hole in the backing plate. That will ensure that all 4 brakes begin applying force at the same time.
Thanks for another wonderful video, Darren! I'm about to tackle this job for the first time, and I watched several RU-vid contributors that I trust, but yours was the most informative, as usual. I'm sure you've heard this a lot over the years, but each of your videos provides a great resource for the rest of us trying to tackle these jobs ourselves in our driveways. It must be nice to know that the videos you have made continue to help people even years and years after you have made them. Thanks again, and best wishes.
Great Video and throughly enjoyed the audio and explanations. Thanks to all of the helpful comments which added value and constructive criticism to the content!
Brake drum is what you're looking for. Rotor is fine, but more for disk brakes. Hub is what the bearing assembly and wheel retaining hardware are called.
Sir, I’ve worked on a lot of trailers, and watched a lot of you tube folks’ videos on this topic, and you have the best video I’ve seen on the subject. Clear instructions and explanations as you go. Very well done. Scott
Yep, I give him credit for the gadget and having the idea or knowing how it works, but lacks technical/mechanical knowledge; the jack lifting the axle was the first clue because it is a big no-no, the bearings should have been new with new drums, but if there was a need, then not reused without degreasing first and repacking manually to make sure they get it. I was horrified with all the grease on the end of the spindle before sliding the drum (with only one bearing), which can end up in the brakes. There is no need to do that since the spindle will grease up when added AFTER the drum with the rear seal is in place. And, they needed to be tighten and then backed 1/4 turn. Anyhow, any DIY guy out there has a responsibility to research from different youtubers and brainstorm, especially because he make sit clear he is not a mechanic when he stressed he did not know the name of the drums (asked for those of us who know to correct him) and decided to call them rotors, so people show know to verify and still consult their books and friends, but this can be a tad scary if it heats and breaks on the road.
that is a great video!! I feel very confident to replace my Argosy brakes now :] Your intuition is correct. My Dad explained to me when I was a lad, that reusing "torqued" bolts over is "bad practice" because you actually stretch the bolt when it is originally torqued down.
This was very helpfully, it is the most thorough description I’ve seen so far , I’m new to RVing and not much of a mechanic but I actually think I could do it based on this video , thank you
Master Tech here….always clean your bearing before repacking. It’s much easier to see hot spots and pitting when the bearing is clean. In the field, brake clean works well. 😎
Great video. I found playing it at 1.5x worked great for a quicker experience. I did this on mine and replaced the bearings on my 5.2K lb axles with 7K lb bearings. It doesn't make my trailer rated for 14K, but it gives me a slightly higher safety margin. Thanks for the tutorial.
Not sure how I got here, but I learned a lot -- if I ever have the occasion or need to do something like this! (Clever little tool you made to do the on/off brake testing!)
Great video! I’m interested in your 2 second on and off device that energizing your breaks. Could you provide a list of items needed to make one? Timer wiring schematic and everything I’m very familiar with brakes on a car and wheel bearings on trailers. However I just purchased my first tandem axle trailer with brakes. And I feel your 2 second timer will be greatly helpful for me while serving each year Thanks
Great video. I've been needing to do some inspection (probably repairing/replacing something, too) on my new-to-me toy hauler RV brakes and bearings, but didn't really know what I'd be getting in to. Now, I do. Thanks. Subscribed!
Nice video, as a class 8 truck/trailer mechanic I’m going to throw in my two cents. The part he removed is a one piece hub/drum. Depending on the number of miles on the trailer, if you are replacing the hub, I would have replaced the bearings as well. Used bearings on a new race may last forever or it may not, new bearings are not that much more, food for thought. The claw hammer works, but they make a seal puller and driver. This next part is pretty important. I would not reinstall the hub in the manner he did at 21:20. I would have the outer bearing already packed with grease and slide the hub on the spindle SLOWLY. As soon as you are able to slide the outer bearing on the spindle, put it on and push it in the hub. This ensures the hub and seal are perfectly aligned with the spindle. Then as soon as you are able, put the castle nut on and use it to push the hub and seal on to the spindle until it bottoms out. If you notice he only had the rear bearing in when he slid the hub on. This allows the hub to wiggle around and could potentially tear your new seal and allow grease to escape onto your new brakes. Once the hub bottoms out, then you can make your tension adjustments on your castle nut. You should really use a dial indicator to check “wheel end play” for maximum bearing life. The brake applicator he made was really cool. I’ve seen some of this guys other videos on electrical trouble shooting. He is very good at that and I would love to work with him to learn more on the electrical side
How much excess grease is required within the cavity? I’ve heard ‘half full’ but doubt that much is required. From my small experience, grease seems to stay in place anyhow, so the grease packed in the bearing is what will lubricate it until the next change.
C C On my 16 ft utility trailer, one of the four wheels lock up when I go in reverse. It's ok going forward. I thought it was an electrical short in the brakes so I unplugged the 7 prong plug to make sure. It's mechanical in nature, but again won't spin backwards. Is it the bearings, or something else that is locking it up? Thanks C C
@@lostinmyspace4910 I don’t think it’s a bearing. A bearing failure would cause a problem in both directions. It’s probably in the electric brake on that particular wheel. Even though you unplugged it The magnet inside there may be messed up and causing it to grab when the wheel rolls backward. Depending on how old the trailer/brakes are I’d probably just replace the whole brake assembly. if you don’t know, you can just unbolt the whole assembly from the axle and put a new one on with new shoes, magnet, ect. Hope this helps, good luck
Adding one more tip, since the new drums come with bearing races already installed in the center hub, its not advisable to run the old bearing. Bearings tend to get micro grooves and or just grooves in the rollers. If your replacing the drum replace the bearings too. Otherwise a possibility of old bearing creating a wear pattern in the new race. The race again is in the hub portion of drum. This was another great video just wanted to add this for all you diy people.
I would never reuse bearings if replacing the hub/drum! New bearings relatively cheap so why take a chance! Also I always repack my bearings by hand like my dad taught me so I KNOW they are properly greased! Thanks for the great video though I learned a lot!
Also note that brand of wheel bearings as some are junk. The following normally are good bearings- Timken and Moog. I’m sure there are other good bearings but watch out for cheap china knockoffs.
Thanks for a great video. The infrared scan was the icing on the cake ! I’d love to see the difference of heat between a bad bearing and a new bearing.
Fantastic video. Now I see what I need to do to convert my trailer from hydraulic to electric brakes as well as other maintenance items in the process.
Darren,thank you so much for this informant video, this will be my first drum work on my 6,000 lb trailer. I’ll be able to do this job with a great confidence. Thank you for Sharing your knowledge.👏👏👏👏👏👏👏🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🍺🍺🍺🍺🍻🍻🍻🍻☮️☮️
I started my mechanic's carear with going thru aircarcft an maintaice tech school. This wasn60 years ago and the basic bearing service is the same on aircraft of all sizes. I learned how to pack bearing by hand, no fancy bearing packer
Good job on the brake assembly and wheel bearing re-packing. You know, a lot of viewers are not going to have the bearing packing tool, it would have been good to also show how to repack the bearing by hand without the tool. I was taught by my dad back in the 1960's and it has proven quite useful over the years. Thanks for the video tech tip.
The easiest way to get the inner seal off is pull the first bearing and washer out then screw the castle nut back on a few threads then just yank the drum off with slight downward pressure. your inner bearing and seal should be sitting there on spindle. by the way love your videos, they have helped me so much in understanding how my RV works.
When I was younger,these types of bearings were common front and back,I have never seen a zero fitting like that and pressurizing the grease inside the hub,all we ever did was clean the bearings and repack them.and the old trick,putting the outer nut back on to remove inner seal always worked well for me,you can even reuse the seal and bearings,as it won't hurt it.i don't see a reason to do anything but pack your bearings, especially if your checking them every year,good video Darren,we appreciate the help out here.
Yes brake drums! Also a tip with drum brakes is before installing the drum to extend the adjuster using the adjuster tool and coat the threads with grease, these tend to freeze with corrosion and make it hard to adjust them periodically as they should be. Also galvanized backing plates for electric brakes are available which will last longer and work better than painted brakes if you are in a humid area. Also as noted if you get new drums install new bearings at the same time. When installing seals measure the part of the axle that the seal rides on to make sure you have the right ones; there are different seal sizes for both 1750 lb spindles and 6000 lb spindles. I tighten the spindle nut till good and snug (but not binding) while spinning the drum then back it off by hand with the socket. Then just hand tighten with the socket by hand. You may have to go a little looser to get the cotter pin to line up. Doing it this way I don’t have play at the edge of the tire when rocked from side to side. When adjusting the shoes I adjust them so there is basically no drag only light scraping noises. The advantage of doing it this way prevents the brake shoes from freezing to the drum due to condensation induced corrosion. My boat trailer sits for 5 months in a humid climate but the brakes are not locked up in spring. The last thing I do with hydraulic surge brakes is to cycle the actuator once a month this helps prevent corrosion from forming inside the wheel cylinders.
Excellent video. Found my brand new trailer had the castle nuts so tight the spindles turned blue. The dealer replaced the entire axle last summer. Just for sh*ts and grins I pulled a wheel off this summer. Low and behold there was about one ounce of grease on the new spindles. Once again a rush job that would have wither dropped my trailer on the highway and/or cost the dealer another 2500.
Hi Tom, We are so glad to hear that our videos were able to help you! If you would like to support us please consider becoming an "RV Community Supporter" on our Patreon site: www.patreon.com/myrvworks Happy Camping, My RV Works Media Team
Thank you for sharing your videos. Armature/Drum - The armature is cast as an integral part of the drum. The magnet maintains light contact with the armature at all times.
This is exactly what I needed. I think I need to add electric brakes to my Travel trailer, but now I’m wondering maybe I could have them but they are faulty. It is a 2001 manufacture date. Guess I’ll see when I take it apart. But you’re a great teacher.
Glad I took a few minutes to get some information. Just getting ready to do a light flatbed trailer w/brakes and never-lube axles. Confidence oozing out of me all of a sudden
Oh great, I've been putting off checking my travel trailer brakes for a couple of years now. Your video is making me want to check them. As others have said, too much grease is not good either which is the reason I don't use that zerk fitting in the hub. I had a boat trailer that I pumped too much grease into the zerk fitting and it blew all the grease out of the inner seal (axle side). What a mess!
Wheel HUB (what you called rotor). And the new unit you purchased was a new wheel hub assembly (the insides and brake shoes). Good job though...I love all of your tech and spec and explanations through your vids. Cheers!
Thanks for helping me with that. I think I mentioned in the video I wasn't so much a mechanic as I am electrician. When you get stuck on the electrical questions shoot them over I should be able to know that LOL
I would imagine you get yourself a 7 way truck end socket.. a hazzard or turn signal flasher.. some wire (one to brake one to ground).. and you could connect it to a 12v source.. a motorcycle battery... a 12V a/c d/c power source.. or you could feed it from your truck's connector.. even use the 4 flat socket and use the tail light circuit for power.. which would be the ground and the location next to the ground. that would be the only male and the first female socket next to it.
@@ilovemyevo556 thanks for this idea, I have a spare truck 7 pin connector, I have a flasher and a 12 volt battery and necessary wire and spade connectors. I’m having trouble visually trying to understand how to connect it all together. Is it possible you could explain how to run the wire. I know where the brake circuit and ground pin are on the connector. Edit: I have a two prong and a three prong flasher.
I'm going to try to just patch in Speaker wire terminals or banana clips at the breakaway wiring and have two leads reach back to the wheels with a switch. Pretty sure I can get the same results, just manually, but be able to actuate the brakes while I'm spinning the wheel 👍
I really enjoyed your repair video so much that I had to write to you. I have a 2017 Grand Design 303 rls and had a leaking seal on the rig. Had been looking at videos for awhile when I came across your video. Just didn't think that Lippert would be using bearings made in China. But the nice thing is that because of stumbling on to your video and another gentleman's video I changed out the leaking seal and clean out the grease that came with the axles and replaced with a better grease. I'm lucky that the rig doesn't have a lot of miles on it so the brakes and hubs so far are in good shape, only got two done today, But that was because of running into your video, the other two are going to be done tomorrow, hopefully no surprises . All the others were not showing enough to make me feel comfortable in attempting the repairs. Finished up today but had two more that were leaking and no signs of it. Also the last one that I did seems to have a short in the magnetic brake some where. It wouldn't stop the tire before I took it off but after removing the hub and jiggling wires it would hold my steel putty knife but when I got the tire back on it wouldn't again. Fight that battle next weekend. Any idea would be welcome Thanks again. Happy Trails to you.
HUB Also, notice that the FRONT shoe of the set is SMALLER than the shoe at the back of the assembly. When the magnet is energized and drags on the surface of the drum it pulls the FRONT shoe into the drum and the front shoe is then shoved towards the bottom of the rear shoe driving it into the drum surface with far more energy than the magnet could produce. This is why the top of the shoes are fixed while the bottoms are separated by the adjusting assembly and "float". Almost all drum brakes are like this and it is why, if you have rear drum brakes your parking brake doesn't hold as well in reverse as it does in forward. Ever back out of a parking space and then can't drive forward because the brake is set? That's why. WAY too loose on the castle nut. Should tighten until you can't turn it then back off until it's free. RETIRED but formerly ASE Certified Brakes and Electrical, Formally trained in both civilian and military mechanics schools. Former Mach + aircraft maintenance inspector.
I reference your video every time I do a brake job on my camper! Thank you very much for the detail video. Can you make a video on your home made tester? The on for 2 sec and then off for 2 sec. That would be really helpful for those that usually work alone.
Hi Robb, I must add the disclaimer that I was an industrial automation systems engineer for 25+ years before I started playing with RV systems. The 'tool' I made to test the brakes and lights uses one of these: new.siemens.com/global/en/products/automation/systems/industrial/plc/logo.html I added all kinds of features to the logic so the blinkers blink at different rates to determine left from right. I can also turn on all the the lights and put it in a test mode where it cycles through a pattern to help identify wiring faults. Lots of fun when you have the cool tools eh'. Perhaps in a future video I show all the tools I made myself to help diagnose things. I can start a whole side business making them for others eh'. Cheers, Darren
Darren, always clean your bearings with Varsol or Brake Clean before packing. Also, the brakes will work much better if you adjust them. Run them a couple hundred miles and readjust them. 😊
That is a good idea, but kinda sounded like there was some drag in the wheel. He did have the nice 2 sec power to brakes to give a test drag as well. But an adjustment is necessary.
I'm here because I bought a popup camper from the original owner. It's time for new tires. The first wheel came off no problem. The studs on the second wheel were extremely difficult to remove. It soon became apparent why. The wheel holes were larger than they were supposed to be and the studs were threadless on the inside. I remove the drum and I could see where it dragged on the road and was ground down. It's clear that the previous owner lost a wheel while driving. New studs on order. Didn't seem to be an issue when I drove it home 800 miles when I bought it 9 years ago.
You can have a look at my reply to Robb Ward below regarding the 2-sec on/off tool. I have made several of my own test tools - simplest is that 10' patch cable you see in so many of my video's... Love that thing. Cheers, Darren
Good camera and detail and I am impressed with the gadget you built to intermittently apply and release brakes. I also noticed that others have already, as they should, brought up replacing bearings or at least clean before packing (manually is preferred), and to tighten then lose back 1/4 turn, I guess I will not repeat. But, I have to mention...do not lift by the axle, please do not, it is not proper and some manufacturers even caution that aspect. You may not notice but it can be bent, tiny tiny tiny or nasty nasty nasty. Both are bad since the tiny one is not noted until the drum, brakes and entire thing blows to hell by heating since it is scraping and not even, or tires are uneven and then blown into pieces in a highway (always a highway). And, the other way, which is bad, is that the damage is visible right away. Axles are not built to be lifted on one end only., especially in RVs which are built with minimal requirements to keep them light and not add weight.
At 20:32 by greasing the spindle prior to sliding the 'hub' on will scrape all grease off spine with the rear bearing seal pushing all grease into the brake pad area.... just so you and others know the mistake made. Cheers
