This is a long post, so you might want to consider fetching your favorite beverage before you start the read.
When traveling with the trailer, I make it a habit to stop every 75 to 100 miles, if nothing more than to just do a pee and walk around a little. During the stops, I will check our bikes to make sure they are riding OK, check out the hitch, spring bars, cables and wires, and also compare the hub temperatures. On our recent trip to Goshen at a rest stop off of I-65 near Indianapolis, when checking the hubs I about got burned while feeling 1 of my hubs. “Oh, Just Great”…….that was not my actual wording.
Here I was on a Sunday morning, in an isolated rest stop, and I am thinking I have a bearing going out.
I jack the wheel off the ground to check for free play, and the wheel will barely turn. Either the bearing is locking up, or my brakes. As a 1st step for diagnosis, I back the star wheel off about 6 clicks, and the wheel turns free…..but there is noise when turning. I decided to chance it, got back on the interstate, pulled off at the next exit about 10 miles away, and the hub is running cool. I decided to chance it some more, and drove to the rally and then home…..about 1000 miles.
Every stop, the hub is running cool.
Fast forward to today. I took it into the local trailer dealer. He is not a camping trailer dealer…….just horse, cargo, car carrier, utility trailer shop. But I figure running gear is about the same on all trailers, and he was quite familiar with my setup. When he pulled the wheel, he found the welds to the square flange that the brake assembly attached had broken……the brake assembly was just sitting loose in the drum. The brake wires had broken, also…….it was a wonder I didn’t get a “short” notice on my brake controller.
He welded the flange back in place, and installed a new brake assembly. He said the original welds looked good (Lippert), and had no idea why they would break. He also pulled and checked all of my wheels, as I had told him the brakes didn’t feel up to par. In all 4 wheels, the rear seal had leaked some, and the magnets had grease on them. Thank goodness the shoes didn’t have grease, or he would have been replacing those brake assemblies also….it is almost impossible to totally get the grease out of the shoes.
So, I asked him the big question which I was sure that I would get an admonishment for……….did using the Easy-Lube hubs cause the seals to fail ?? “Probably not”………whew. He said the Easy-Lube hubs do not put any pressure on the rear seal. The grease goes in the zerk, come out through the rear bearings, and then goes through the hub to the front bearings. He said it was possible that the seals had dried out at some point, or just age could have caused them to leak. I will now probably get my trailer back to them every could of years for a thorough check-up.
Just thought this might be an FYI for other travel trailer owners.
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