Changing to Wet Hubs On the Steer Axle

[Mike Canter]

Dave, they probably charged you $200 more just because you are in the NW. Labor is way cheaper here in Georgia. Look what azstork got for his $577. But you are correct in that you don't have to get anything done until you get a brake job. Then it is new seals and check the bearings. You should check the oil level every 5000 miles. Read what happened on this bus because they had no oil in the tag axle hub.

SB-07-12

[Mike Canter]

I was shown this website on the hub caps and things. If you go to Baby Moons in the left column you can buy hubs caps with the holes so you can easily check the oil level.

RealWheels Truck Parts and Accessories

[Dutch Star Don]

Just a personal opinion........I'm averaging about 7000 miles per year on my coach. I packed my own bearings last year at 35000 miles/5 years. The bearings and grease looked new. Amazingly, many people go twice that mileage without ever greasing their bearings. I don't think I've ever heard someone on this forum or others discuss a bearing failure. A bearing pack every 5 years for most is pretty reasonable.

An argument made by others.....NOT ME......have said that oil hubs are really not necessary on an RV and may be detrimental. OTR trucks use oil hubs because of the miles driven. RV's just don't get that type of mileage. It was pointed out that when a vehicle with oil hubs is parked for a long period of time, like RV's, an especially in wet environments, the bearings can rust because they're not completley covered in oil.

[Bill2]

Originally Posted by Mike Canter

Monaco wants me to repack grease type hubs every 30,000 miles or annually. I never do it annually. Wow, $500 a year on front hub repacking.

Mike, I checked at Cummins coach care last week about doing the front repack. They did recommend the change over to wet hubs. I have 46,000 miles on my 06 Endeavor and they said that I should not even do it until 70,000 miles if I even change to the wet bath. When the time comes I am going to just re-pack as we only travel about 12-14,000 miles per year. If we were doing high milage, then I would switch over. I just wanted to say what Cummins Coach Care suggested.
Bill

[Mike Canter]

Bill, thanks for that input, that is good to know. My previous MH had a 70K mile repack interval but not so with this coach for some reason. I think the 70K mile interval sounds a lot better and maybe Monaco is covering their behind. I do lift each tire front tire off the road about every 10K and rotate it listening for clicking or other noises then I put a long bar under it and jiggle it to see if any play in the bearing. They are still tight and free of noises. I also check hub temps with a handheld infrared temp gun on a rountine basis while driving.

[Mike Canter]

Just got hold of the tech data on my Dana front axle. It says to repack grease bearings and change the oil in an oil bath at the same intervals. It says for Line Haul (18 wheeler) at 120,000 miles and Vocational (School Bus) at 60,000 miles. So I figure I fall somewhere in the middle. I would say that 70,000 miles as Bill stated is probably a good mid point for safety. Sure is different than what is in the Monaco manual.

Those specs are only for the Dana Spicer E1462 series axles and doesn't mean it is correct for all axles. You can see what axles you have by looking for the metal plate attached to the front of the cross axle I beam in the middle. That E1462 means it has a 14620 lb Gross Weight.

[Chuck 1935]

Here is the information on tightening the front wheel bearings from Timken.

http://www.timken.com/en-us/solution...ts/Vol1No5.pdf

[Mike Canter]

Chuck, that is a little different than the Dana procedures but close. The final torque of the jam nut is a lot higer in the Timken procedures than in the Dana procedures. The most important thing that is not covered in the Timken procedures is the checking of the bearing endplay with a dial indicator.

I got all this data below from the Dana Tech manual for my E series Dana front axle.

Bearing End Play

The most important thing is to verify that the wheel end play is between .001" and .005" (.025 and .125 mm) using a dial indicator. If

reading does not fall within this range, repeat this procedure below until it is. If you can't get it there then you have a problem and that is most likely a bad bearing.

To check endplay

1. Attach a dial indicator with its magnetic base to the
hub or brake drum or rotor.
2. Adjust the dial indicator so that its plunger or pointer
is against the end of the spindle with its line of action
approximately parallel to the axis of the spindle.
3. Grasp the wheel assembly at the 3 o’clock and 9
o’clock positions. Push the wheel assembly in and
out while oscillating it to seat the bearings. Read

bearing end-play as the total indicator movement.

NOTE - It is easier to do the above with the tire and wheel bolted in place.


These are for the E series Dana axle from Dana.

Wheel Bearing Adjustment
Proper wheel bearing adjustment maximizes wheel bearing
and seal life. Proper adjustment can also extend brake lining
life by preventing lining contamination caused by seal leaks.

1. Inspect the spindle threads and spindle nuts for corrosion
and clean thoroughly or replace as required.

Note:

Proper assembly and adjustment is not possible if the

spindle threads or adjusting nuts are corroded.
2. Pre-lubricate all bearings.
3. Install the inner bearing into the hub and install the
wheel seal.
4. If grease lubricant is used, fill the hub cavity with the
appropriate lubricant.
5. Install the hub on the spindle with care, to prevent
damage or distortion to the wheel seal.

Never mix grease and oil lubricants.
6. Install:
• The outer bearing on the spindle.
• The inner spindle nut onto the spindle.
7. Seat the bearings by tightening the inner nut to
100 lbs. ft. (135 N•m).
8. Loosen the inner nut one full turn.
9. Re-tighten the inner nut to 50 lbs. ft. (68 N•m) while
rotating the hub.
10. Again loosen the inner nut one third turn (to one half
turn maximum–three to five hub studs for a ten stud
pattern).
11. Install the locking spindle washer.
Note:

If the dowel pin and washer are not aligned, remove

washer, turn it over and re-install. If required, loosen the
inner nut just enough for alignment.

Never tighten inner nut to align dowel pin hole. This can
pre-load the bearing and cause premature bearing failure.
12. Install:
• The retainer washer.
• The outer spindle nut.
13. Tighten the outer nut to 100-150 lbs. ft. (135-203
N•m).
14. Secure outer nut by bending the retainer washer
over one flat hex on the outer spindle nut.
15. Verify that the wheel end play is between .001" and
.005" (.025 and .125 mm) using a dial indicator. If
reading does not fall within this range, repeat this
procedure.
16. Attach hub cap.
17. If oil lubricant is used, fill the hub cavity with the
appropriate lubricant. Install oil fill plug and tighten
to specified torque.
Never mix grease and oil lubricants.

[Chuck 1935]

Hi Mike, Fortunatly my MH came with wet hubs. They are easy to service and the end play never changes. That makes life easy !!

[Zbugsii]

I just had my steer axle hubs replaced with wet hubs. I had it done at Josam in Orlando Florida. I think it ended up being $325 out the door. Considering what they did, it was not worth my time or the effort to do it myself.

I am very pleased with doing it. When then did it, they found the previous people that had repacked my hubs and not secured the hub properly and said only time would it possibly have had the wheel come off.

Now with the wet hubs, I can perform the maintenance without major effort.

Also, while I was at Josam's, I had them perform an front end alignment and check the rear alignment. I recommend their service.

[Mike Canter]

Something I thought interesting. I bought some Lucas Hub Oil the other day to put in my tag axle wet hubs and maybe later in the steer axle hubs. I noticed that no where on the Lucas bottle did it state the weight of the oil or if it was petroleum based or synthetic so I checked the Lucas Tech Data Sheet and it also doesn't tell you much (see below). I sent an email to Lucas and asked them and they said that it was petroleum based and 140 wt oil, not synthetic. I am really surprised because Dana axles and Monaco both call for 75w-90 GL-5 gear oil. It would seem to me that sure is thick oil to be running in hubs especially in the winter time or cold mornings. 140W regular oil is going to get thick in the cold and is sure not going to offer much immediate lubrication. Also I was really surprised that they don't say it is GL-4 or GL-5. I have sent another email back to Lucas to ask more questions. I think I might run Mobil 1 Synthetic 75W-90 GL-5 in my hubs if I can't find out something more concrete on the Lucas oil.

http://www.lucasoil....8C99DB079CD.pdf

[Downsizer]

Different opinion.... we just had a flat on the road and had a road guy do the repairs. I asked him about the wet hubs versus the grease, since I wanted to change over to wet oil as well. He flatly recommends grease. He indicated all the 18 whl trailer guys that haul chemicals/flammables are all going back to grease. A little tear or hole in the outer portion of the cap/seal will allow all the oil out and then nothing is there to keep the oil in. He seemed very knowledgeable and of course deals with tires and axles and failures all the time.... just an opinion...... We're going to stick with grease!

[Mike Canter]

Not sure I understand that. There is nothing to tear or get a hole in. I would have to ask if you have ever seen a wet hub? MHs with tag axles already have wet hubs on the tag axles and we do not have problems with tears or holes. There are many other MHs including Prevosts and tour buses that have wet hubs on the steer axles and tag axles and do not have problems. Also the wet hub is behind the hub cap and is very protected. Not sure that I would have much confidence in what a total stranger who just fixes flats for a tire company or road service who is not a mechanic.

To make it easier to understand go here and look at a wet hub. On my tag axle I have the third one down that is called the Traditiional Aluminum Hub.
Hub Caps - STEMCO - Superior Seals, Bearings, and Hub Caps for the trucking industry

[Downsizer]

Yes, I do know what they are Mike.....
He had 2 different ones on his road service truck that were damaged while being driven.. one was a heavy vinyl type outer cover and the other looked like a thin sheet metal.... in both cases, they allowed the oil to come out..... think about it..... if your doing 60+ and it starts to leak..... not good......the two I saw looked pretty ugly!!
Plus, this is all this guy sees all day everyday..... tires on interstates that need repairs and changes - some also require bearing repairs......
Just an observation.... like I said, I wanted to do the same changeover to wet..... won't do it now!