Community Forums

Renipladlo · 09-04-2014, 08:26 PM

All - Cannot find on ACA website anything related to the ever lube axle hubs on the front/rear axle bearings. My Front Left has lost all the fluid in it, don't know what weight oil to replace in it, and don't know what to check other than the fill nut to figure out what is going on with it. I am taking it someplace to have fixed, only it would be nice to have manual to read or technical documents to show repair shop so they know what/when/how etc.

Any help would be appreciated. I realize this has been discussed on here before, but don't know exactly what topic I should search for. The one search I did, did not lend me any info.

Thank you in advance.

DMTTRANSPORT · 09-04-2014, 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Renipladlo

All - Cannot find on ACA website anything related to the ever lube axle hubs on the front/rear axle bearings. My Front Left has lost all the fluid in it, don't know what weight oil to replace in it, and don't know what to check other than the fill nut to figure out what is going on with it. I am taking it someplace to have fixed, only it would be nice to have manual to read or technical documents to show repair shop so they know what/when/how etc.

Any help would be appreciated. I realize this has been discussed on here before, but don't know exactly what topic I should search for. The one search I did, did not lend me any info.

Thank you in advance.

I use Lucas synthetic 85/140 in all my "wet" bearings and differentials....If your bearing hub cap is solid with a hex screw I would suggest replacing both with stemco hub caps with windows.

girlydogs · 09-04-2014, 09:30 PM

You may use 80 to 140 gear lube or sny oil,if you can't find the leak on the outside the inside seal might went bad. If it did you will usually have to replace the brakes also. If you have a shop doing it have them check both sides wheel bearings and torqure. your bearings. As far as filling the caps pull the rubber plug from the cap and put the oil in to the 2nd mark and also check bolts for tightness.

Hope this helps
Ben

Dave Fernandez · 09-04-2014, 09:31 PM

Lucas Oil also makes a Hub Oil which I have used when I serviced my front hubs.

Renipladlo · 09-04-2014, 11:08 PM

Is there a manual on them, even the correct name for them would be helpful. Nowhere in my APEX manual is there a mention of them, or when they should be serviced. I believe Old Scout did his, and used 50K as a service interval, but it's been a while since I read anything about these. If the breaks are involved, they were fine last August and then this April when Cummins changed the oil and inspected the coach. So lets hope it a small leak and the breaks are not involved, then it get's expensive, that is if they can even get parts.

Dave Fernandez · 09-04-2014, 11:58 PM

WRV used Meritor front axles so the axle bearings, seals and covers are standard and can be found in any good Truck Parts House. You can search the Meritor Web site and they should have any information you may need about the front axle. WRV used at least 3 different front axles over the years. Originally the 36ft had a lower GVW than the 38 & 40ft coaches. When WRV went to a 50 degree axle they used another axle that was used on all of the coaches. Brake parts are also available from good Truck Part Houses.

DMTTRANSPORT · 09-05-2014, 06:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave Fernandez

Lucas Oil also makes a Hub Oil which I have used when I serviced my front hubs.

Dave I have used the Hub Lube, for some reason it didn't work for me, the wheel seals last a lot longer with the syn.

Old Scout · 09-05-2014, 07:31 AM

Yup--I had to replace the inner seal on the passenger front hub [stemco hubs], a year or so ago. First, the hub has a fairly large hollow for an oil reservoir so I doubt you have lost "all" of your oil. Second, there are three main areas where the oil can leak--all should be fairly obvious to detect: 1] the red plug in the sight glass; 2] the six bolt hub cover gasket; and 3] the inner hub seal--less obvious. I was thinking the spec on the hub oil for the stemco is 80 w90 but suspect either 80w90 or 85w140 will work. Biggest challenges with the hub inner seal replacement are 1] weight of the hub, 2] tools needed to removed tire; 3] removing caliper bolts [torque]; and 4] setting the preload on the bearing during reinstall.....
PS -- opinions vary on maint. schedules. Hard to get all the oil out of the hollow without removing hub so periodic top off of the oil is about all I am thinking of doing. No sense replacing inner seal until you detect a leak. Suggest checking bearing pre-load every 50k as a precaution.....

Alpine Dave · 09-05-2014, 08:12 AM

Not sure it is the same as your leak, but I noticed a slow leak-down on both my front hubs right after I purchased my used 1999 coach. I could see oil was seeping out from behind the hub cap. Since it was such a slow leak, I just put some paper towel behind the hub caps and kept the hub topped off with lube each time I changed my oil.

Later I replaced all the seals when I did some major brake work. Both front hubs still exhibited the same slow leak. The paper towel solution works for me so I have not tried any further solutions.

My theory is that the oil is leaking out of the breather hole on the plastic sight cap. I drive a lot in the mountains. It makes sense that some oil is going to come out the breather as I drive from high to low atmospheric pressure.

Renipladlo · 09-14-2014, 01:48 PM

Hub Caps | STEMCO

Here is the website of the company who made the hub caps. I did not notice a model name so the next time I am up there, I will pull the cover, and get that info. Oil is not visible in the site window on the DS side, very visible on the PS side. Old Scout, thank you for the info not all the oil is gone, so I purchased some Valvoline 80w-90 Synthetic, and once I have the correct Allen wrench to remove the plug will fill 3/4 full, leaving room for heat/expansion, and will add a little to the other side as well, it's only 2/3rds full now. I inspected behind the wheel, no oil, nothing on the brakes at all, so the rear seal is ok, suspect, its dripping out of the fill hole when parked, since, no large amount on the inside area of the wheel, or the hub is not even very greasy. Keep the website above if you need parts.

Now off to find wiper parts for the washer fill system, it's got broken plastic part, know what to look for. Just have to find it.

Old Scout · 09-14-2014, 03:30 PM

Perhaps filling instruction vary from hub to hub but on my 03 hubs --no allen plug, so I just remove the red plug and fill to bottom of opening--given the oil reservoir in the hub hollow, I doubt whether filling to middle of the sight glass vs bottom opening makes much difference. Does the sight glass have a "fill to" line etched on it?

sandy1 · 09-14-2014, 05:56 PM

You fill thru the center rubber plug. Either red or black plug depending on year. 85/90 weight. Fill to the etched line that is about 3/16" outside of fill hole . This is the cold fill level. If the plastic hub gets to hot from brake use it can warp and seep fluid. I replaced mine with an aluminum assembly with a clear sight glass on the front for checking level. As I recall it was scotseal TF hubcaps and about 17.00 per side. Easy to change. A little aluminum foil to direct oil to pan and not so much on wheel. I have added picture??

Renipladlo · 09-17-2014, 12:12 AM

This won't get done until Thursday, and I will use the allen head plug. It does not appear to leak around the red inner seal plug thing. I then need to bring it home and fill water tank and load out dry food. Heading to farm for a few days on Friday.

Renipladlo · 09-25-2014, 11:15 PM

OK, late update. Filled up using the red plug opening, but that did not get it full enough, so found the correct Allen wrench size, and took out the plug and filled 2/3rds full. Believe the leak is from the red plug area, it's now on my monthly watch/maintenance list. There was a small amount of lubricant left in the hub assembly reservoir so it never went dry. The PS side never leaked at all and it's level is fine. This thread is now complete.