Help! Wheels wiggle while bolted to axle

[dward51]

Originally Posted by PenJoe

It appears that the outer bearing failed and then started to spin on the axle. The new bearing may have a loose fit on the axle. Peening the axle surface with a pointed punch would help it from spinning again.

Wait? What?????

[babock]

Originally Posted by dward51

Wait? What?????

Agreed..no way!

[tomkatb]

Yep.

The peening of the axle is a senior mechanic trick for mildly damaged axles.

Badly damaged not a good plan.

In this situation that is what to do for a while. Ordering a new axle is likely necessary. He has plenty of damage. 600 miles might be ok.

Some folks put a bunch of lock tight on the axle under the race. Not something I would do.

Using the English method of employing the castle nut would work. They lock the inner race in place using shims and a tube between inner races.

[Hclarkx]

Originally Posted by PenJoe

It appears that the outer bearing failed and then started to spin on the axle. The new bearing may have a loose fit on the axle. Peening the axle surface with a pointed punch would help it from spinning again.

Curious, is the spindle soft enough under the bearing race for that to work (without the punch tip chipping and taking out an eye)? If so, peening with a small ball peen hammer would seem safer and easier. Though the inner race won't rotate much if the bearing is new and lubricated even if it's quite loose (a thousandths or two). Path of least resistance is the rollers. If the inner race is loose enough to move, it would take a good long time for the loose race to remove any more metal from the spindle. I.e., wild guess 10K miles would be fine; plenty of time to secure a new axle/spindle.

[Iwannacamp]

Originally Posted by tomkatb

Yep.



The peening of the axle is a senior mechanic trick for mildly damaged axles.



Badly damaged not a good plan.



In this situation that is what to do for a while. Ordering a new axle is likely necessary. He has plenty of damage. 600 miles might be ok.



Some folks put a bunch of lock tight on the axle under the race. Not something I would do.



Using the English method of employing the castle nut would work. They lock the inner race in place using shims and a tube between inner races.

Good lord. That’s some Mohave desert stuff there....or WW2 rationing stuff.

I am ok with a little patch work, but that sounds scary on a high speed wheel. Hay trailer, plow wheel or something. Fine.

Sorry to get excited. I could tell you stories of stupid stuff I have done and seen and you would understand my reaction.

[onecrazyfoo4u]

Well I definitely don't plan to run it long term and won't be messing with the spindle at all. It's all back together and spins freely. Been rolling like that for the three years I've owned it so I'm sure it'll last one more before I can replace it.

Closing thoughts: NEVER USE THE EZ LUBE AXLES!!! And always repack bearings and replace grease seals each year. This has been an eye opening to me seeing how bad each axle was. Every single brake and hub assembly was coated with years worth of grease. I am truly amazed they worked at all! Excited to take it out and see what real working trailer brakes can do!

[DeanCook]

Hi!
Do yourself a favor. Throw those 3500 # Lippert axles in the junk yard. Buy 5200# Dexter axles.

Dean Cook
2018 Evo tt 28 foot.

[onecrazyfoo4u]

Well everything performed flawlessly after our 1500 mile trip this last week. Sure is nice to have responsive brakes again.

I have wondered why they are allowed to put axles on the trailer that don't even meet the gross weight rating. Ours is 6300 dry worth 7800 gross, so I'm sure we are over the 7000lb axle limit loaded up.

[babock]

Originally Posted by onecrazyfoo4u

Well everything performed flawlessly after our 1500 mile trip this last week. Sure is nice to have responsive brakes again.

I have wondered why they are allowed to put axles on the trailer that don't even meet the gross weight rating. Ours is 6300 dry worth 7800 gross, so I'm sure we are over the 7000lb axle limit loaded up.

They count on the 10 to 15% tongue weight which is pretty ridiculous as far as I am concerned.

[wabakami]

Originally Posted by babock

They count on the 10 to 15% tongue weight which is pretty ridiculous as far as I am concerned.

Totally agree.


Geoff
.

[DeanCook]

Why is Forest River allowed to put 2 3500# axles on a travel trailer rated at 7450 lbs. Yes I understand tongue weight of 450 lbs. However I have a Lippert axle bent in two places in my barn. I wish we could find a lawyer and do a class action suit before Forest River kills someone.

Dean

[tomkatb]

Do not like the minimum axles personally.

But, it is a static’s question. Structural engineering 101.

The max is the sum of loads on the axle plus the tongue. Most rv’s are sort of this way. My fiver weighs about #12,000. Max weight is #14,000 axles plus the hitch weight. #15,850. Same deal as this example. Normal. I would never carry that much load.

So they are legit. Plus you can assume the engineers have a percentage of safety built into every number. Lord knows how much.

If you want an overbuilt trailer buy one. Or mod yours.

All part of the rv world.

Likely bent axles are more likely a Chinese quality control issue. Or overloaded Rv’s. Or bad roads.

A really bad bridge entry bump got us on I 40 in Arkansas. A large piece of trim fell off. The plastic mounts on the big screen broke out. But, the axles are swell.