Bearing and Hub failure

[Huck]

Hey Huck,
Did I meet you a couple of years ago in west PA and you bought my TrailAir pin box.

Yes, I'm the one.

All is well here in western PA.
We plan on pulling out to head to AZ. for the winter next month.

I just received my new 17.5" tires and wheels today. I haven't had any problems with the Goodyear 16" tires yet. But thought I would feel better traveling with the 17.5s.

Here is a good link for those who are interested in inspecting there own axle bearings.

http://dexteraxle.com/i/u/1080235/f/...rings_2-08.pdf

The bearing inspection/tolerances should be the same for the disk brake applications.

[anijet]

Out with the old! Only 37 degrees wind chill!

[bstark]

Looks like fun Leo. Maybe it's a good thing you had to assemble those hubs as they (Dexter anyway) require a 145-155# torque preload and you never know if the factory got it right when they put them together. That breaker bar with pipe extension oughtta give you that easily.

You'll probably be glad to be out from under those slideouts and rolling again. I end up with divots all over me whenever I'm performing under there.

[billr]

Bravo Leo! With those temps at least your not sweating! Keep us posted on your progress.

Bill

[anijet]

I think we are ready to roll early Thursday morning. All was good until I installed the wheels. New hubs have 9/16" studs, old were 5/8". Found 16 usuable lug nuts at three different stores. They should get us home.

[Huck]

New hubs have 9/16" studs, old were 5/8".

That would make me think that they gave you 7K lb. axles not 8K lb.

Anyway I hope you get home without any more problems. I know it can be real frustrating dealing with these type of problems on the road. I had problems two different times with axles on a previous 5er I owned.

[bstark]

Was there a label attached to the new axle tube to confirm 8,000# rating?

Would this stud discrepancy be as serious an issue with the Hub-Piloted wheels?

[billr]

I remember reading somewhere that they have 8K axles with 9/16" studs as well as 5/8". A lot of folks were changing over to 17.5" wheels and found that the axles were already 8K but had been fitted for 16" wheels. These were Dexter I think.

You should confirm the axle size though to be safe. It should have an P/N on it. Call Lippert.

[anijet]

IMO hub-centric wheels would have been a no-go. The wheel would be centered OK but would have a tendency to rotate during braking because of the clearance between holes and studs. With the tapereed lug nuts nothing can move.

It is an 8K axle, hubs and brakes. The hubs and brakes are supplied by Kodiak out of Texas and come with either size studs. It was a detail that was not thought of during ordering. I didn't know at the time and no one asked.

I talked with Kodiak earlier about the failure and what I should do about the remaining bearings. When I have time I will replace them.