Community Forums

rockintom · 06-25-2017, 04:49 PM

Fred, Thanks for all the details.....

lsparksrec · 10-01-2017, 07:57 PM

I have a 2011 Limited 33GKS with at most 30,000 on it. Just before topping the 6% grade at the Salt River Canyon in AZ lost left rear tire, wheel in one magnificent bang. Bounced down the road with fortunately no accidents or injuries to following traffic. Axle, disk brake, tire and wheel ruined. Has permanent NeveRLubes and I have religiously checked for seeping and checked at every fuel fill for temperature issues. Tire Minders and laser temp gun used as well. Getting axle, brake, bearings replaced now. What else could have been done?

JDT · 10-01-2017, 08:32 PM

Sorry to hear of your troubles. From what you say I'm not sure you could do much more. Maybe others will have more to say but I do the same thing with my NeveRLubes. I always check for excessive play before each trip and then monitor the temps and watch for leaks as we travel. I know a lot of people have great service from them and we have had 6 trouble free seasons with ours.

I also know nothing lasts forever so later this month we are headed to Elkhart to have the MorRyde IS installed along with serviceable bearings. We have decided to keep our Excel for the long term mainly because we can't find anything we like better, or is better quality, at least in our price range. I know some like the MorRyde and some don't but overall the research I did was very positive.

On edit: I haven't posted on this site in a while so forgot to update my signature. With my apologies to Tom, we went to the dark side and got a Ford this time. One of the things that pushed me over the edge on the MorRyde is the Ford sits even higher than the GMC did. Now I'm a bit nose high and part of the install price is leveling the trailer to the truck.

rockintom · 10-01-2017, 08:47 PM

IsParks, I'm not exactly clear on the failure....did the wheel and tire come loose from the hub or the hub come away from the spindle. Guess I'm interested in the root cause. Do you have any pix? Just curious. Thanks.

Jim, no problem. The new Fords make a good product too. A good friend bought a '17 KR with a window sticker of $75K and it's real nice for sure. Actually too many gee-gaws for me. Just a bit over the top for a TV......but he's very happy and that's all that matters.

JDT · 10-01-2017, 09:13 PM

Thanks, Tom. Just had my 70th birthday and the wife asked me what I wanted. I told her I would like to update our truck for no good reason other than I can. Don't want to leave it all for the kids. She said go for it so I spent a month looking and driving. Actually, my intent was to get another Denali with the new Duramax engine but kept going back to the Ford. Finally decided to just do it. I won't say what the sticker was but let's just say it was more than your friend's. I like the gee-gaws. What made it easy though was the amazing value of my GMC. It took some doing but I finally got what I wanted for it. I hope the Ford does that well when the time comes.

rockintom · 10-01-2017, 09:17 PM

Jim, You be livin' large!!! And good for you. You got 5 years on me....but I'm catchin' up! Go for it, my friend.

lsparksrec · 10-03-2017, 05:18 PM

Tom, it appears that the bearing exploded and the tire, rim, and hub all came apart once it locked up. Tire was still on wheel and holding air but tread scrubbed off which you would expect on a J Rated. Try to post some pix later after I get back to the mechanic. Will take new axle, tire and wheel for certain. Spindle was ground flat on bottom.

rockintom · 10-03-2017, 06:02 PM

Thanks. Look forward for the pix. Sorry you experience such a major event and glad you had no injuries.

CARLnJANIS · 10-03-2017, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lsparksrec

I have a 2011 Limited 33GKS with at most 30,000 on it. Just before topping the 6% grade at the Salt River Canyon in AZ lost left rear tire, wheel in one magnificent bang. Bounced down the road with fortunately no accidents or injuries to following traffic. Axle, disk brake, tire and wheel ruined. Has permanent NeveRLubes and I have religiously checked for seeping and checked at every fuel fill for temperature issues. Tire Minders and laser temp gun used as well. Getting axle, brake, bearings replaced now. What else could have been done?

Could have been just a bearing failure and not a lack of lubrication. There are several other issues that can cause bearing failure. Out of round tires, potholes, and rough railroad crossings to name a few.

Still scary sounding. Good thing you were not on the downhill side when it failed.

Arch Hoagland · 10-03-2017, 10:33 PM

I think if I was concerned with bearing failures, etc I'd get an IR gun and shoot the wheels every time you stop.

If you have a bearing going out I suspect it would be warmer than the other bearings on the rest of the RV.

I use an IR gun to shoot my tires every time I stop and I will also occasionally check disc brake and rear end temps.

On the new Ford truck....Did you get the $99,000 one? Boggles my mind!!!

JDT · 10-04-2017, 06:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arch Hoagland

I think if I was concerned with bearing failures, etc I'd get an IR gun and shoot the wheels every time you stop.

If you have a bearing going out I suspect it would be warmer than the other bearings on the rest of the RV.

I use an IR gun to shoot my tires every time I stop and I will also occasionally check disc brake and rear end temps.

On the new Ford truck....Did you get the $99,000 one? Boggles my mind!!!

An IR gun is great and I use it. I also have a TPMS that gives temps and pressures and keep an eye on it.

No, it was not an $99K truck. The King Ranch I got is now 3rd from the top in their line up but I can't see how one in that price range could be that much better than mine. Ford is the most expensive because with their new design they have incorporated a lot of features not available on the other 2 brands. Any fully equipped RAM or GM dually would easily top the $70K sticker range. A similarly equipped Ford would be about the same but adding the gee-gaws, as Tom calls them, pushes them somewhat higher. As soon as GM and Ram do the normal catch up and offer the stuff Ford is their prices will be a closer match again. While it sounds terrible, my 3 and half year old GMC Denali dually I traded only cost me $2100 a year in depreciation. That made the landing much softer.

lsparksrec · 10-12-2017, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CARLnJANIS

Could have been just a bearing failure and not a lack of lubrication. There are several other issues that can cause bearing failure. Out of round tires, potholes, and rough railroad crossings to name a few.

Still scary sounding. Good thing you were not on the downhill side when it failed.

Well, the axle is in, the brakes and misc. are in. All that needs to be done is for the shop to put it all together with new tire and wheel. Valerie is getting tire and wheel and trim pieces together for me. Been a long month being out of commission with the fifth wheel sitting on a lot in Globe AZ. Final report: NevR Lube exploded causing tire and wheel to blaze its own trail down the road. AZ 77 in the Salt River Valley isn’t the best choice for losing a wheel. Check tire/wheel temps during walk around every fuel stop, etc. Guess this was just my time. Someday I’ll figure out how to get pix on this thing. It “aint’ pretty”.

rarebear.nm · 10-12-2017, 07:32 PM

As I posted way above in this thread, I did have failures in all four Never-lube bearings. Found out the cost of the bearings and problems in sourcing them plus the equipment required to punch out the old bearings and insert the new ones. I upgraded from 6K axle system to 7k with disk brakes. Best move ever made. I carry a spare bearing set and all the tools to change a bearing on the road side if ever required. As a western raised guy I don't like being depended on getting service from a distant town if I can help it.

Now I clean and repack my bearings every year/12,000 miles as Dexter recommends. No issues.

rockintom · 10-12-2017, 08:12 PM

Fred, I'm confused. You talk about upgrading to a 7K axle and disk brakes.
Then you talk about cleaning and repacking bearings. Apparently you to went to a E-Z Lube bearing setup? Got rid of the Nev R Lubes. Am I reading you right? Thanks.