Front Wheel Bearings

[tmmar]

Went out to do some PM on my coach today before leaving for a trip on Thursday. Was cleaning my aluminum wheels and I decided to check the oil in the front wheel bearings. I removed the large cap from the reservoir and this is what I saw. There is a small magnet in the cap which attracts and holds any metal particles from the bearings. I think I need to go to Freightliner because I believe that there is a problem here that shouldn't be happening. My coach is a 2014 Berkshire 390bh-60 on a Freightliner chassis.


ps- I have been having a vibration in the front end when travelling on the highway and I feel from all the metal shavings that it may be the front wheel bearings that are the problem. Seems like it more than should be expected.

I know one picture is not as sharp as it could be but I think that you get the idea of what is happening here.

[OldCoot]

You definitely have either a cup or cone disintegrating. Drive slowly to the dealer or garage to have both front wheels removed and the brgs checked.

[speedmerchant]

Ditto that

[CT Camper]

Tom,
How bad was the wheel vibration? Did you always notice it from your purchase date?

[Terrilegacy]

That does seem like a lot for a new coach

[Mmnsc]

Tom
When you were in Gaffney for your service in January did they not check the wheel bearings as that was supposed to be part of the service schedule. I would definitely get that checked out asap. Have a safe trip hopefully starting Thursday. Where are you and Margaret heading.
Marty

[tmmar]

CT- the vibration felt like a wheel slightly out of balance and it was present from day 1. I called the help center right after I picked the coach up and had it noted.

Marty,
When I was in Gaffney in January they didn't do any scheduled service because the coach was only 2 months old with about 2000 miles on it. They just balanced the front wheels because I complained of the vibration. When we road tested after the balancing I still felt the vibration and the tech who was with me said that it was just the feel of the road surface.

As far as where we are going, we are heading to Turning Stone campground for a few days, then to Hershey for about a week and then to upstate NY to Association Island KOA campground on Lake Ontario for a few days. We will have our one son and his family (4 kids) and we are picking up our other 2 grand children when we get upstate so that will make 10 in all (6 kids ages 11 to 2) and 4 adults. Should be interesting.
Hope your trip is still going well.

Tom

[Superchief]

Tom, Sorry to hear you might have a problem with the wheel bearing. It seems that "Murphy" seems to appear whenever someone plans a long trip somewhere! Good luck!! Enjoy Upstate NY and your family! 10 is manageable. I had 13 one night during a thunderstorm. Interesting to say the least! Craig

[Mmnsc]

Tpm
Have a good time and I hope your patience holds out on all fronts
Marty

[tmmar]

Craig/Marty,
Thank you and hope to see you both real soon!
Tom

[Phil57]

Tom that's another thing I have never looked at. I think I will now. Thanks for keeping us on our toes. Sorry it came as trouble for you. Hope it's a quick fix.

[gasman94]

Tom, don't know if this has any relevance, but when I was at Camp FL in April, I had them do the recommended service. I have a '14 also and only had about 3000 miles on it. They changed the front hub oil and rear axle oils. When I asked why so soon, she said that they check for metal shavings to see if there are any problems. I also had them check a coolant leak and they said that they couldn't find anything. It continued to leak and the freightliner dealer in Kalamazoo found and fixed.

[frankatp]

Tom, so sorry to hear about the problems with the rig. We are having FR do a retrofit of the tires and air bags next month and then having scheduled service done at a truck center that Randy recommended. We will definitely have the wheel bearings checked. Thanks. We will be in Oswego the week of July 13-19. If you are close maybe we can meet up. We have met Craig, Marty, and Ernest form the forum. Good luck. Frank

[tmmar]

Frank,
We are scheduled to leave this Friday Hershey and Association Island for about 10 days, returning on July 7th so unfortunately I don't think that we would be able to make Oswego this trip.
Are you going to Goshen this year? As far as I know, they will all be there as will my wife and I. Hopefully you will be there also and we can all get together then.
Tom

[frankatp]

Going to miss Goshen this year. Just finished planning an 8000 mile 4 month trip. Wife retires July 3rd. 39 yrs serving our Veterans and Son retires 25 yrs in the Air Force. Going to Texas for that party. Couldn't be more proud of them both.
Our roads will cross one day I'm sure. Frank

[tmmar]

Just got back from Freightliner. They took the front wheels apart and checked the bearings. They changed the outer bearings on both wheels. They said that the right bearing looked ok but showed some wear and replaced it and that the front left outer bearing was bad. Glad I was able to get it done and am now in pretty good shape to leave Friday for my trip.
Thanks to Freightliner for helping to get this done in a timely manner.

[NO3putt]

Never have checked ours, how do you do it?

[dan-nickie]

Tom, was it covered under warranty?

[tmmar]

3putt/Dan,
When I saw the amount of metal that was on the magnets on the oil bath cap I decided to contact the Freightliner help desk. I had pictures of the metal shavings on the caps (see my first post in this thread) that I sent the help desk and they said that they wouldn't travel until the bearings were checked out. I then made an appointment at Freightliner and they took the wheels off and checked the bearings. This was a bigger job than I expected. They had to take the brake calipers off took everything on the front hub off. Since it is a '14 with only 5k miles it was covered under warranty.
Tom

[I-RV]

Tom, you are a smart cookie.

Hank