Copper58,
Well Sir, I've done EXACTLY what you're looking at. I've done it on the rear hub assembly and, the front hub assembly. In reality and technical terms, it's almost the same exact job as doing it on a smaller scale, like a pickup truck or a car. But, as you've already mentioned, THINGS ARE JUST BIGGER!
I can walk you through it and tell you what you'll need to do, look out for, be prepared for, and more, but, this is just something that, because you have previous experience, you'll have to decide, if you want to take it on or not. Many on here do lots of their own maintenance but, they draw a line at certain levels at which they won't go any further. I've stepped outside the box forever so, taking on the seal replacement jobs on the rear of our coach and, the front of a friends coach, was to me, just another job.
So, with all that being said. One of the first things is of course, to be real safe when goofing around with 10,000 lbs. worth of front end of a diesel pusher. You get squishted, and you're better half's gonna be real mad.
As has been stated, about 99.99% of the lug nuts on the diesel units are torqued to around, 450 ft. lbs. or more. So, breaking them loose, without the right equipment/wrench/socket/breaker bar and tag-a-long cheater is a pretty tough job in and of itself. Knowing I would be goofing around with my aluminum wheels and, doing my own brake inspections now and then, I sprung for a "Torque Multiplier" that I got from ebay. It has a 75:1 ratio which, allows me to break all ten of those lug nuts on mine, with one arm.
You'll have to determine, how you're going to break them free, without having something like what I have. There's other types of torque multipliers out there that attach to the end of regular breaker bars etc. I've got no experience with those.
Now, getting the coach up to allow you to remove that wheel and tire is, as you already know, quite easy with the jacks on the coach. They work absolutely flawless for this job. Yep, use some jack stands in the appropriate places to augment the jacks. Now, that tire and wheel, hovers real close to 142 lbs. ( I weighed mine). So, be prepared for some serious, awkward weight and, getting it off the hub, after all the lug nuts is not a real easy chore again, unless you have something that handles that part of the job.
Again, I knew I'd be doing things like this so, I purchased a "wheel dolly" from a tool sales place in Quartzsite a couple of years ago. It handles that wheel and tire assembly flawlessly. And, all I do is, lift on a handle which, based on the leverage involved, is only about 30-40 lbs. and, I dolly that wheel and tire assembly out of the way.
Now, you'll have to get the drum off. That drum, hovers around 50 lbs. plus or minus. It can be man-handled off the hub but, it's awkward and, like stated, heavy. So, I use a motorcycle jack for that part of the job. It works great for that.
Now, you're looking at the brake shoes and hub. You'll need to remove the cap that holds all the hub oil in place. I think it's 6 bolts that hold that cap on. Not all that much oil escapes, maybe around a cup or more, I forgot. Once the cap is off and, the oil has escaped, you're now looking at the rather large retaining nut(s) that hold that hub on to the spindle. This part always cracks me up because it's the same technology that's been used for decades in terms of how the top nut, (again, there's two) is held in place. I
It's the flat washer below it, that is bent over the side of one of the flat sides of that nut, that secures that nut, from turning. You'll need a hammer and chisel to "un-bend" that part that's bent. Once that's done, that top nut may be tight and, it might not be. If it is, then you've got two choices to loosen it. One, go buy the right sized extra large socket to remove it, or, do what a few zillion back yard mechanics (including myself) have done for decades. And that is, use that same chisel and, use it to back that nut off.
Once that's done, then remove the flat washer, and I think, a "locating, multi-perforated" is next. It is used to stop the inner nut from spinning when you tighten the top nut to lock things down. Then, remove the inner nut. OH by the way, these "nuts' are around 2" in diameter or so. That's why I said you'll need the "extra large socket".
Once that inner nut is off, then the hub will slide right off. You might encounter a tad bit of binding when trying to slide that hub off. You see, those are bearings that keep that hub perfectly parallel to the spindle and, if you "tilt" that hub, even the slightest amount, it will bind because you're not allowing it to come off dead parallel. You'll figure that part out. It's not really that hard.
Now, once that hub is off, lay it down, upside down, on some card board or, what ever surface you plan on working on. You're now looking at about a $30-$40 dollar seal. It's about 4"-5" in diameter. I've even got the part number for you, hanging around inside this computer some place, I'll try and find it.
Now, getting that seal out, with the proper tool, is a piece of cake. Without the proper tool, can be a bear. I used one of those claw foot crow bars sold by Sears. It worked great. Two things you need to be aware of here. One, you're working right up against the "toner ring" that's there for the ABS signal. So, don't damage it. The second thing is, you're also working right close to the inner bearing so, don't damage that bearing cage, when prying that seal out of there.
Once the seal is out, a good clean up and, you're simply ready to install the new seal that should be sitting right there for you to install. Now here's where it takes some "finesse" in doing a large-type seal install. I used a large type ball peen hammer and, a large block of 2"x4" wood to lay flat on that seal, to drive it into the bore of that hub, SQUARELY!!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep that piece of wood, dead flat against the seals outer face so it enters the bore appropriately. You'll know when bottoms out.
That part of your work is done.
Now for the brake shoes. This is where I'll catch some flack here, no biggie, been there done that. More than likely, your brake shoes are just fine. They are not "soaked" like you think. Unless that seal's been bad for miles and miles and miles, you more than likely, have very little damage to those shoes and, even at that, it's the bottom shoe only. Well, what I have done in the past and, just did it for a friends '06 Meridian is, we purchased about 2 cans of "Brake-Kleen" or, some equivalent from your local auto parts store.
You can spray that cleaner, directly onto the face of that shoe. What happens is, it enters the material of that shoe, and, as it rapidly evaporates, it EXTRACTS the oil right out of that brake material. Now, depending on just how long that seal's been leaking, that will determine how much of that Brake-Kleen will be needed to extract ALL the oil out of that shoe. We used about a can and a half and, it helps to have compressed air to blow on it to help with the evaporation phase.
Pretty soon, you'll see a completely dry shoe. All the oil will be gone. You just saved yourself quite a bit of money, and, a whole ton of work, by not replacing that set of shoes which, without a doubt, IS A WHOLE TONE OF WORK. Those are some serious springs that hold them in place.
So, now that your shoe is clean and, the entire area, components, pieces, parts, etc. are all clean and ready for re-assembly, it's time to start.
At this point, I'll stop with the narrative. I'd be glad to finish talking you through putting this job back together to your satisfaction, if you so would like. Other wise, I might be saying (typing) all this for nothing. I don't know if you're going to attack this job or not but, again, it's the same as you've more than likely already seen only a lot bigger, as is everything on motor homes. Let me know, I'm glad so assist.
Scott.
On edit: I have the same exact wheel dolly shown in post #4 and, the almost the same exact torque multiplier shown in the link, in post #5.
P.S., below is what it looked like when I did my rear hub seal.
Linear Mode
