RV How-To: Brake Hub Removal, Inspection, Reinstallation 

The trick to getting the inner bearing and seal off with no damage is to take the outer bearing off and thread the nut on the spindle and slide the hub off and that will pop the inner bearing and seal off.

Adam, Please let Abby know, that due to you both My wife and I just picked up our new 31ft Class C Thor Chateau. We live in Orange Park Fl. But the dealer we bought it from was in Tallahassee. It a beautiful RV and will be RVing real soon. I am retiring May 13 after being an Electrical Engineer since 1972. I will miss my love of electrical engineering but its time. During my work I spent many times working in Pensacola with the military designing their Flight Simulators. Thank you for inspiring us. Respectfully Bill and Janet Rotundo

I love how whenever a video like this is posted, everyone in the comment section becomes a mechanic with 100 years of experience and know every little piece of info about everything. If there is ONE thing I can guarantee.. Its that Adam DOES NOT cut corners, or do anything half assed especially when its safety related.. If everyone here can do it better, prove it, make a video and lets see. Take care Adam, from Canada! (coming to Canada for any travels? lol)

That's a slick design on the axel stub for the grease. Everyone that's freaking out needs to realize this is how they grease them when they're assembled at the factory. There isn't any hand packing grease going on rolling down an assembly line I promise you.

Great video. I especially liked you expressing safety with the jack stand. You understand more about mechanics than most. This is the first time I seen a bearing buddy like this. Seen many and seen many seized bearings. Good idea having spare bearings and seals. I would have knocked the inner bearing out, cleaned and repacked like you did the outer. Hint: After removing outer bearing, reinstall spindle nut and tug on drum or disc (whichever brake system used) and the bearing and seal comes out safely. Agree with starting the lugs by hand first. Always any nuts and bolts. Nothing frustrating having stripped threads anywhere.

Adam, you mechanical and filming abilities are amazing. Your kindness in sharing all the great tips is a hallmark of your character. We just got a new camper and maybe one day we can link up with you all at the campground. Eric

I've got over 30 yrs experience as automotive mechanic over 20 in the dealership before I changed careers as machinist, you did a decent job and you feel confident and that's what matters, I'm a perfectionist and I have my own opinion of course. I read the dexter manual when I replaced my RV wheel bearings (with Timken) My Winnebago had 5200 lb axles. I noticed someone stated you should put Dexter brand bearings...Ha Ha, they say China right on them so that's One reason I went with Timken Bearings and races. Safe travels Adam, we love watching yall. Hope to meet you again if we ever have another meet and greet like Good of the Land was those two times in Texas.

Love the parts washer....slightly pricey for a homeowner DIY shop though. Maybe one day, and a 20 ton press and a nicer 3 ton floor jack.

Remove inner bearing so it can be repacked now that you washed the grease out. It will run dry no matter how much you squirt in there, it will be running metal to metal till some grease that is hot can seep in, by then the bearing will be ruined. Clean and repack the outer if you don't want to remove the inner seal. Did lots of wheel bearings starting in the late 60's till I retired in 2002. Bearing that have been washed need repacked with fresh grease. Keep an eye on it the next trip.

In the beginning, I was like, I can’t believe Abom is not going to replace that seal so he can pack that rear bearing. And then he shows us that cool system that greases the bearings from the inside.

Plenty of free advice on this video Adam! 😁

Ready to go for the next Abom Adventure.

Ur right! Always start nuts by hand !!! Good advice . As always .

Great vid and impecable timing Mr. Booth! I'm getting ready to replace all the bearings and seals on all 4 corners of my rig for our big trip down to Nashville this year! Hoping for a deep dive and review for Camp Wilderness, our next trip to Disney we will hopefully be staying there.

I don’t know if it’s good or bad when my husband watching a video of you fixing something. You do a great job and make it look easy so now he thinks he can do stuff. 🤣 Sway bar links for my suv are on his to do list this weekend.

Please consider replacing the those cheap T-Tap type wire connectors on your electric brakes. With either soldering and heat and shrink or adhesive lined heat shrink butt connectors. The type you have are very prone to corrosion and failure!

Pre grease the bearings an seal them in a vacuum bag All ready to go saves lot of time an mess

I picked up that Lucas Red 'n tacky to put on the gears in my headstock as it doesn't have an oil bath. Now I'm using it as my go-to general purpose. It doesn't seem to "melt" over time.

Love all your vids! One quibble, you didn't stake the outer tabs on that axle nut retainer. One other thing: Always hand pack bearings before installation. 🤣

I've been using Hercules tires on several vehicles for several years. Just replaced the set on my camper that were 5 years old with a bunch of miles on them. I could have kept going but I'm more concerned about age than getting every last bit of treadwear. Ride smooth and quiet, held air like a champ. No complaints. A buddy of mine went through 6 Goodyears on his camper in less than 2 years. All blowouts. The last one did about $7500 damage. Just my opinion, but I think you're better off with the Hercules.

One thing to think about is turning that tire into the spare after you order the replacment you want. If you live in freezing temps I strongly recommend greasing atleast every 4 months to flush water out. The humidity and water from snow and coler climates tends to breakdown the grease. Also I usually pre pack my spare bearing then toss em in a few zip locks with a spare axle nut. And if were talking about my car hauler I just pack a spare drum/hub set up mostly due to the mileage it sees.

the biggest issue with tires is mixing radials other styles of tires. I love your little tool you made for putting on the dust caps. I actually made one myself for use in my shop. Always thought about making them and selling them on our website. I just don't know if anyone out there makes them or not.

Great process and video. Too bad most shops go so fast doing these they rarely wash and clean parts up like in this video. Darn trailer tires are so much of a cluster to keep all four of them the same brand and equal miles on them. I agree with the bearings routine...most RV trailers are on the edge of under engineered when it comes to axles, brakes and bearings. Always best to keep them properly greased to eliminate a failure at the most inconvenient time.

Personally....I run "May Pops" on my trailers!! LOL Keep up the good work.

Those spindle lube axles are the greatest thing since sliced bread. I’ve got them on our boat trailer at Table Rock.

Good to see you have the greaseable axles and not those "bearing buddies". Bearing buddies tend to force the grease past the inner seal and all sling it all over the place.....not a fan. They're designed for boat trailers where they get immersed in deep water on a regular basis. 👍

Solid fix. Good call on the xtra bearing set.

Don’t have any advice good job thanks for sharing

Adam, I'm watching on my phone in low res but it seems to me that those linings are getting pretty low too. Thanks for all the vids!

If you want some better caps, get oil bath caps. They have a nice machined aluminum section you press into the hub, and a screw on plastic cap. Don't have to mess with the crappy rubber plugs again. You can still use them with the though axle grease setup you have, and even use a locking grease tip.

Autozone sells the seals off the shelf. Yank the olds out and replace. I did mine this very day!

This is good stuff! I need to service my Jayco axles but, it’s pouring rain in southwest Missouri.

Hello Adam, i cannot believe why such small wheels are fitted to this RV, here in Australia it would be illegal, any van over 18 ft has 6 stud wheels, my RV being 20ft has 245 75R 16" wheels and tyres, i know what you are about and cannot understand why you are accepting this setup on such a great RV please fit some heavy duty wheels, tyres, six stud axels and disk brakes, been watching your channels for ever and love everything you guys get up to.

might need to make a seal removal/install tool for the little bag in the tool box?

why not put the spare on an wait for the right tyre

Adam. One of my favorite RU-vid channels. You broke my heart with this video that could compromise your wheel hub and bearings. Some of your followers mentioned the easy way to remove the inner bearing and seal and other parts. You generally don't need a new bearing because you remove it. Buy the rear seal. My god they are cheap and for heavens sake prepack both bearings completely by hand or with a bearing packer. They are cheap and insure that you have properly filled a bearing with grease. You don't rely on a transfer of grease from a maintenance fitting. Install a new rear seal, you do this all the time on repairs that I watch and then set the proper nut torque. Please check the bearing play once you put your wheel on and see if you have any play or too much. You may have to readjust the nut. Just concerned for you, Abby and the trailer! Where are the races for the new bearings? LOL.

Might be wrong but the whole axle/wheel setup of that Kodiak seems to need a lot of maintenance and repair....

Hercules tire is manufactured by Cooper tire in Findlay Ohio...... Cooper tire was bought by Goodyear tire last year 2021..... I've hauled thousands of those Cooper/ Hercules tires from Findlay and Dayton Ohio...... have nothing but good things to say about them and their tire guys.... It's a tier 1 tire.. just don't tell the public!!

Good job 👍

Spare bearings are good to have but most of the time you don’t know it’s going out until you’re on a long haul 6 hours in. Cruisin. An the wheel flys off in my experience lol

A little late now but if the spare is in good shape then just switch rims and keep the wore tire for the spare and save a few bucks or till the shop can get the right tire in also you should tighten the axle nut all the way down then back it off a quarter turn or so

I hope you grabbed races to go with those bearings.

Lots of folks don't know you have to spin the hub while adding the grease, or it blows out the seal which completely soaks your friction material and ruins your brake friction. I have a full video on this critical side effect, on which I found 3 out of 4 seals blown out leaving only one brake doing any work at all. Technically, the Lippert Easy Lube system is "For emergency use only" to absolve them of liability for this shortcoming. Say Hi to Lance for me next time you see him, I still have to get my 3'x5' granite surface plate down to his place to do some much-needed calibration.

The drum is stamped 18080. That is the zip code of the town next to me. :)

Do you torque the lug nuts? Or does that battery drill have torque specs?

Right Dere!😁

Excellent tutorial ! What camera did you use to film this episode ? Thanks

never lift a trailer by the axle , frame only

Couldn’t you swap the Hercules with your spare? Then you’d have four matching on the ground.

Hi Adam, what kind of liquid do you use in your partswasher?

I recommend not running "trailer tires" I have allways run light truck raidials. Much tougher tire.

2 questions, not criticisms. Would using the jack stand on the axle tube possibly cause it to deform, messing up the alignment? Should you use a torque wrench on the lug nuts?

What brand is your spare? Was it not Hankook like the four that were on it?

Can someone from the USA explain those trailer brakes? It looks like a drum brake with shoes and an additional ''disc'' like pad that pushed the drum on the inside? I've never seen anything like that, here in the UK (up to 3.5 tons trailer) we just have simple over-run drum brakes which work OK provided they're in adjustment - which many are not.

I wish somebody would show me how to take those dust covers off without bending them.

Okay I'm going to be that guy. Why did you not pack the rear bearing? A new seal is cheap compared to taking a chance of having to changing a bearing on the side of road from lack of lubrication. I would not rely on pumping grease into that fitting to get enough in that rear bearing. The tires are readily available. Sounds like the tire shops didn't want to get them. Tirerack has the Hankooks in stock with only 4-5 days shipping. $169 each free shipping.

nice job

Is there an electrical brake system on the trailer?

I know you are fans of kodiak in general and the builder in general.. but the underrated axles still bothers me.

I think you really should have replaced both bearings/races, and packed them with a proper 'for real' bearing packer. The peace of mind is well worth a little chump change & a few minutes work time.

not a bearing buddy. its a geasable cap usung a syringe tip on a grease gun. better than bearing buddy spring loaded blows out inner seals.

I see Adam needs a new tire for the trailer. I think he missed a trick. If he contacted a tyre fitting machine company then they would probably deliver a brand new machine free of charge, then we could have the unwrapping and commissioning video! :-)

Do you have a spare wheel and tyre for your RV Adam ? Could be a good investment if you don’t 😊

At the risk of sounding ornery, its Dexter or GTFO for me.