Wheel cover removal

[Craig H]

Don't know if this is a WH issue or a Winnie issue. The biggest wrench/socket I own is 1 1/2". This is too small to fit the nut on the wheel cover. What size are these things? Do they spin off or do they pry or snap off? I would like to be able to check the wheel bearing grease but can't do it if I can't get the cover off. Thanks.

[Brake-less]

There's two of them. You will notice a little notch on the ones that will spin off. I have a socket at the house and will note the size. I have a W22. Not sure they are the same size. I will be home in about an hour and send the socket size

[TXiceman]

There should be a large T-handle socket to fit these wheel cover nuts in the info packet on the coach.

Ken

[Craig H]

Thanks TXIceman and Brake-less. I'll check for that socket. Don't you just love this site. I know I sure do. Thanks again to both of you

[UFO Pilot]

If you don't find the wrench let me know. I bought one and then found the one supplied by Winne, so I have an extra.

[DAN L]

[QUOTE=Craig H;486977]Don't know if this is a WH issue or a Winnie issue. The biggest wrench/socket I own is 1 1/2". This is too small to fit the nut on the wheel cover. What size are these things? Do they spin off or do they pry or snap off? I would like to be able to check the wheel bearing grease but can't do it if I can't get the cover off. Thanks.[/QUOTE

my moho has 19.5 inch maxion steel wheels with wheel liners.
on my moho, 4 wheel lug nut covers pull straight off. you can buy a special plastic covered plier tool p/n 701158-01-000 from winnebago to remove and reinstall them, or you could use a channel lock plier covered with duct tape. the ones that pull off have dimples in them. they are pretty tight. don't squeeze them too much or you will damage them.
once you get the dimpled covers off, the wheel covers are held on with 4ea 30mm, or 1 3/16 jamb nuts. these nuts are not supposed have a lot of torque. my winnebago came with a "t" handle tool for this purpose. on my moho, these nuts were so tight, i broke the "t" handle tool. someone probably installed them with a pneumatic impact wrench.
when you get the wheel covers off, the wheels have 8ea 33mm, or 1 5/16 lug nuts. a 1 5/16 socket fits loosely, but works ok.
the lug nuts have 475 ft lbs of torque.
that is a lot of torque. i bought a 3/4" drive 42" long torque wrench and a 3/4 drive sae socket set from harbor freight, about $200, to do this job.
on my 5 year old moho, with about 8,000 miles, the lug nuts had only 300-350 ft lbs torque when i purchased it from the original owner.
it probable came from the factory that way.
the manual does state that the wheel torque should be rechecked in about 1,000 miles after the wheels are removed and reinstalled.
loose wheels are not a good thing.:eek

[Craig H]

Thanks wthomas, that's a generous offer but I found mine and like DanL, it broke whenI tried to get the nuts off. I think I will have to buy a 1 5/8" socket and use my compressor and impact gun to get them off. They must have been installed that way. Thanks again to both of you.

[Clay L]

If you are going to buy a socket I would recommend that you get the metric one. The equivalent English ones are a little sloppy as stated above.

[bruceh]

I picked up a 3/4 " drive socket set for $40 from Harbor Freight that does the job quite well. Handy for other stuff too.

[Craig H]

Hey ClayL, what size is it in metric? Must be about a 20-22?

[George Z]

1 5/8 inch is slightly larger than 42 mm

[Clay L]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Craig H Hey ClayL, what size is it in metric? Must be about a 20-22?

On my W20 the wheel cover nuts are 30 mm and the lug nuts are 33 mm.

I ended up getting a 3 to 1 torque multiplier for the lug nuts. It only requires 158 foot pounds of torque to set the lug nuts at 475 foot pounds. Also got a 250 foot pound torque wrench.
The bad news was that the torque multiplier I got has a 3/4 inch input and a 1 inch output. The 33mm 1 inch drive socket cost $28 and the the 1 inch drive 10 inch long extension cost about $75.

Oh well, when I do the brake job the tools will be way more than paid for.

[DAN L]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Craig H Thanks wthomas, that's a generous offer but I found mine and like DanL, it broke whenI tried to get the nuts off. I think I will have to buy a 1 5/8" socket and use my compressor and impact gun to get them off. They must have been installed that way. Thanks again to both of you.

1- 5/8"? sounds too big. harbor freight has 3/4 drive metric socket sets for about the same price as sae sets. i went with the sae set as i used it to install koni shocks and other suspension components.

[adj]

The socket is a 1-5/16. for a W22 chassis.