Well, THAT'S not good

[jimla]

The ez lube hubs, all wheels with bearing buddies have cavity full hubs. Also an after fact, my buddy passed by dealer repair dept. and they told him they always make sure cavities are full.

[gbaldwin]

Had a service guy notice a spring hanger broken and hanging upside down after only my second trip in new TT. Spring was resting on the frame. Was able to get a welder to reweld and no problems 6K miles later. My welder and I both feel like it had been that way sisnce purchase, but no way of telling.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by jimla

The ez lube hubs, all wheels with bearing buddies have cavity full hubs. Also an after fact, my buddy passed by dealer repair dept. and they told him they always make sure cavities are full.

Bearing buddies are designed that way to keep water out during being submerged. Nothing to do with keeping the bearing greased by having the cavity filled.

[drelec]

Doesn't look like much of a weld bead on the hanger in the first photo. Hanger on other side with crack doesn't look like a good weld either. If there was weld penetration the hanger would not have a nice clean edge. When the hanger failed it placed excess stress on the bearing causing failure.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by drelec

Doesn't look like much of a weld bead on the hanger in the first photo. Hanger on other side with crack doesn't look like a good weld either. If there was weld penetration the hanger would not have a nice clean edge. When the hanger failed it placed excess stress on the bearing causing failure.

I tend to agree.

I have seen wheels lock up from bearing failures that violently skidded down the highway, hopping up and down, pounding the suspension to pieces but the OP's tire doesn't show evidence of that happening.

[clarkbre]

For those of you thinking this was a bearing issue, IT WASN'T A BEARING FAILURE! The 2nd and 3rd pictures clearly show spring hangers separated from the frame. When the rear spring hanger came loose, it allowed the tire to stuff into the wheel well and hang up on the underside of the trailer. You can easily see in the 2nd picture the fresh wood where the tire was compressed into the underside of the floor. Once it was compressed, the suspension and tire bound up and the hub sheared off the spindle.

I had a spring hanger break off my trailer's frame after 4000 miles and 14 mos of ownership. Investigating it, the top of the spring hanger was full of old rust which proved that the welds from the factory did not bond correctly. This left a ticking time bomb going down the road. The repair for 6 new spring hangers, 4 leaf springs and the entire thing welded properly was near $6,000. Lippert picked up the entire bill without much pressure from me.

timfromma: Bypass Flagstaff, Forest River and your dealer. CALL LIPPERT'S WARRANTY DEPARTMENT AND SEND THEM YOUR PICS. If it was poor craftsmanship from the factory, they owe you 6 new hangers, 4 leaf springs, 2 axles, at least 1 brake and hub, hardware and a frame inspection and repair.

[babock]

Sorry...a broken hanger will not remove the drum from the axle. Bearing failure caused all of this. The wheel leaving the trailer put torque on the hangers and broke them.

If you still think it's a hanger failure first, please explain how a hanger failure is going to remove all the grease from the bearings and axle?

This also is a reason why I changed out my chinese bearings to US made Timken bearings right after I bought my trailer.

[5picker]

Would have been interesting to see a photo of what the rig looked like upon stopping.

Did the wheel/hub/tire come completely off the axle (as in the photo) or was it still sitting cock-eyed on the the spindle and it had to be jacked up to remove the wheel/hub/tire?

If the wheel came completely off going down the road did timfromma chase it down and lay it next to the trailer for the photo?

[dbarr]

Originally Posted by babock

Sorry...a broken hanger will not remove the drum from the axle. Bearing failure caused all of this. The wheel leaving the trailer put torque on the hangers and broke them.

If you still think it's a hanger failure first, please explain how a hanger failure is going to remove all the grease from the bearings and axle?

This also is a reason why I changed out my chinese bearings to US made Timken bearings right after I bought my trailer.

I don’t think either is related to the other.

[BandJCarm]

I think it's almost unheard of for this site that two or more diametrically opposed views are both 100% sure of their position.


OK, sorry, the Devil made me say that.


P.S.
I know zero/nada about this stuff. All I know is Coach Net's phone number.

[timfromma]

Originally Posted by 5picker

Would have been interesting to see a photo of what the rig looked like upon stopping.

Did the wheel/hub/tire come completely off the axle (as in the photo) or was it still sitting cock-eyed on the the spindle and it had to be jacked up to remove the wheel/hub/tire?

If the wheel came completely off going down the road did timfromma chase it down and lay it next to the trailer for the photo?

The wheel came off while driving. I saw where the wheel landed and was able to retrieve it.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by timfromma

The wheel came off while driving. I saw where the wheel landed and was able to retrieve it.

Thanks.
With that information, if the wheel came off the spindle while driving down the road, then I suspect bearing failure and the forces applied by the tire/wheel/hub flopping about trying to remove itself from the trailer, caused the suspension issues.

[timfromma]

Finally got our trailer back just in time for our scheduled departure for Utah in the morning.

[babock]

Fairly fast turnaround...impressed.

[birdman77]

Originally Posted by babock

Fairly fast turnaround...impressed.

X2

[timfromma]

Maclin truck repair in Flagstaff. They were fast, reasonably priced and let us stay in our camper while they did repairs.

Highly recommend them.

[CZNEDY]

Hey Tim, glad to hear you made out and are getting back on the road. You're not missing much back here in Mass

[timfromma]

Made it to Moab. We paid a visit to Arches NP which was STUNNING. Our stay here will be short lived as we head for Denver in the morning.

[Jimhinkle]

My brother in law just had that happen. Coach was under warranty and Lippert replaced the axle. His has self adjusting brakes, dealer removed the self adjuster as it was over adjusting the brakes causing the hub to overheat and the grease to melt out of the bearings which caused the failure. They did that after discovering the new axle hub was hot to the touch.

[ARICE]

Originally Posted by 5picker

I have hand packed bearings in all kinds of vehicles and equipment for the better part of 60 years never once filling the hub void/cavity with grease and without a single bearing failure.

A properly packed bearing doesn't rely on the grease in the hub void to keep it working.

Well said. I've seen a ton of hub seal failures because folks thought the entire hub needed a "little" grease...doesn't require any at all.