Lost a wheel

[NorskeNY]

Back from Minnesota - our trailer limped to the RV dealer (Ballantyne RV) in Victor, NY on 3 tires. We lost a wheel on the fifth wheel on the NYS Thruway. Did not feel a thing when it came off the RV. I happened to look back at the RV when a car passed us looking "distressed" as it got in front of me - the one that I think had a close call. I saw allot of smoke coming from the rear axle on the RV. I thought I had a blow out and was surprised when I saw that the wheel was missing. Some NYS Thruway reps found the wheel about 1 mile from where we stopped on the thruway. We were thankful that the wheel did not strike another vehicle. It did start a small grass fire though. We got some great help from trooper Shawn and Benson's Service.

We were fortunate that the problem happened 90 miles from home and only 7 miles from a RV dealer. Looks like minimal damage to the side of the RV. Did rip away the cable support (cables are intact).

Will have to replace the rear axle and will have the front axle/bearings/brakes inspected.

Word of caution - Good Sam Road Service(GSRS) sent out a wrecker that was not licensed for RV repairs on the thruway (I-90). A state trooper helped me call a wrecker that was authorized to work on RVs on the NYS thruway. GSRS cost us an extra 3 hours on the thruway waiting for a wrecker. So - always ask if the wrecker service is licensed to provide service on a thruway (toll road)

[Rancherman]

Glad everyone is ok. We lost a spare from underneath once but never a hub and wheel. My tire monitor detects air pressure and heat, but I don't know if your bearing would have given off enough heat to show a problem in time to help or not.

[AbbaZabba]

Holy moly. Very lucky vs worst case. I am a touch paranoid about "I never felt a thing". I haven't had a blow out or separation. Some say they feel it, some like you indicate it just happened. I am constantly looking in my mirrors for billowing smoke or terrified cars.

[NorskeNY]

As a side note - some may be wondering. I had inspected all 4 wheels in April of this year. Inspection includes bearing repack, replace rear seal if needed, clean rust off the brake drum, clean brake pads, inspect brake magnets and replace cotter pins for the retaining nut. I did replace the magnet on that wheel this spring because there was a little wear on the front face of the magnet I replaced.

I put about 4,000 miles on the trailer since the inspection in April.

[Kingfish58]

Did the lug bolts shear off? How did this happen?

[Dayle1]

Originally Posted by Kingfish58

Did the lug bolts shear off? How did this happen?

Pic shows exposed spindle, drum is missing. So either the cotter pin failed or failed bearing. Everyone stresses checking lug nut torque, but the cotter pin is a single point failure. I recently switched to disc brakes and the caliper would tend to keep the wheel from flying off, but damage would be massive.

[NorskeNY]

The brake drum and lug nuts were still attached to the wheel. The nut and washer that "holds" the bearings and brake drum was still attached to the end oc the axle. It appears that the outer bearing may have failed - just guessing. I removed the brake drum from the wheel and the nut and washer from the spindle. Inner bearing was still there - outer bearing race was still there "welded" to the spindle. I think I used aluminum cotter pins this spring. Will use steel ones in the future.

[Papa-T]

Glad no one was hurt. How old was your 5er?

[sleepyT]

Bob
Glad that you and Pat are not hurt...Sure would like to know what the cause was when you find out...Wonder if the drum was milled wrong and the bearing came loose when the drum got hot.????

[NorskeNY]

Originally Posted by Papa-T

Glad no one was hurt. How old was your 5er?

Thanks. 2012 model year manufactured in July 2011.

[lmpres]

Bob,

The same type of thing happened with my trailer in June. My tire flew off without us knowing. All 6 lugs snapped off at the hub. See my thread "Catastrophic Wheel Failure, please read"

Crossroads had a recall with 2016 models for this also. Mine is a 2015 and I had arguments with them about covering the damage. They finally did agree to cover all costs. My unit was bought last March.....

Scary situation though! Crazy!

[Dayle1]

So what are the most likely causes of bearing failure? Lack of grease, overtightened, reusing an old/worn bearing, incorrect re packing, shock load cracking a roller bearing. What else?

[NorskeNY]

Wish I knew - followed the manufacture instructions when performing maintenance every year.

[DavisK]

Originally Posted by Dayle1

So what are the most likely causes of bearing failure? Lack of grease, overtightened, reusing an old/worn bearing, incorrect re packing, shock load cracking a roller bearing. What else?

Failure usually results from reusing a damaged bearing or race, not cleaning old grease well, spinning with an blow gun after washing to dry the bearing, not packing the bearing well, using the wrong type of grease, not putting enough grease in the hub between the bearings, not preloading the bearing correctly, over tightening or using a faulty or damaged seal.

[sleepyT]

Originally Posted by DavisK

Failure usually results from reusing a damaged bearing or race, not cleaning old grease well, spinning with an blow gun after washing to dry the bearing, not packing the bearing well, using the wrong type of grease, not putting enough grease in the hub between the bearings, not preloading the bearing correctly, over tightening or using a faulty or damaged seal.

Yes but if you look at the picture in the previous post the one bearing on the spindle is in tact...Can't tell if the small metal object on the end of the spindle is the other bearing or not...

[NorskeNY]

Originally Posted by sleepyT

Yes but if you look at the picture in the previous post the one bearing on the spindle is in tact...Can't tell if the small metal object on the end of the spindle is the other bearing or not...

Piece on the end is the race from the outer bearing - the rollers from the bearing went with the wheel.

I follow these instructions for reassembly:

1. Castle nut should be torqued to 50 ft.-lb. Hub will rotate during this process.
2. Loosen castle nut to back off the torque.
3. Tighten castle nut finger tight until snug.
4. Insert cotter pin (or locking tang if equipped with Super Lube). If cotter pin or tang does not line up with hole, back castle nut up slightly until pin or tang can be inserted. I used Spring Steel Cotter Pins
5. Bend cotter pin over to lock nut in place (or locking tang in the case of
Super Lube). Nut should be free to move with only the cotter pin keeping it
in place.

[sleepyT]

Originally Posted by NorskeNY

Piece on the end is the race from the outer bearing - the rollers from the bearing went with the wheel.

I follow these instructions for reassembly:

1. Castle nut should be torqued to 50 ft.-lb. Hub will rotate during this process.
2. Loosen castle nut to back off the torque.
3. Tighten castle nut finger tight until snug.
4. Insert cotter pin (or locking tang if equipped with Super Lube). If cotter pin or tang does not line up with hole, back castle nut up slightly until pin or tang can be inserted. I used Spring Steel Cotter Pins
5. Bend cotter pin over to lock nut in place (or locking tang in the case of
Super Lube). Nut should be free to move with only the cotter pin keeping it
in place.

Bob
I'm not questioning your procedure...I have followed your posts for years and have found you to be very knowledgeable...So this was just a roller bearing failure.????

PS....DAH just went back and reread the thread...Some times it takes me a couple of reads for it to sink in...

[NorskeNY]

Originally Posted by sleepyT

Bob
I'm not questioning your procedure...I have followed your posts for years and have found you to be very knowledgeable...So this was just a roller bearing failure.????

PS....DAH just went back and reread the thread...Some times it takes me a couple of reads for it to sink in...

Just wondering if I was missing something. Guess it was "my time" to have a problem. First major problem in our RV'ing years. First camper was in 1988.

[Dayle1]

What about the grease cap and cotter pin? New or reused? I have seen pins that were not completely bent over that could rub and snag on the cap, produce metal shavings or pieces that could cause roller bearing failure.

[NorskeNY]

Originally Posted by Dayle1

What about the grease cap and cotter pin? New or reused? I have seen pins that were not completely bent over that could rub and snag on the cap, produce metal shavings or pieces that could cause roller bearing failure.

Original grease cap - it had easy lube bearings.

New cotter pin. I think I bent it over enough.