By Dustin Simpson
Join me “In The RV Shop” as I talk about wheel hub failure due to an improperly tightened grease zerk fitting. This can lead to a wheel coming off of the axle, increasing the chance of a crash and possible injury.
According to Lippert, the supplier of the axle assembly, the grease zerk may not have been tightened properly on several axles supplied to Grand Design RV.
Lippert’s analysis determined that an improperly tightened grease zerk fitting may separate from the end of the axle spindle and lodge in a slot of the castle nut. This condition can interfere with the rotating dust cap, which can potentially sheer the cotter pin, allowing the castle nut to back off the axle spindle, and can result in a wheel hub failure.
LCI Grease Zerk Inspection/Correction Procedure
Maintenance advice
Add this above concern to your next wheel bearing maintenance: Make sure to check and tighten your grease zerks. The most common standard grease fitting sizes on trailer axles and suspension are 5/16″, 3/8″, and 7/16″ socket size.
If you’re having trouble adding grease to a fitting, here is a handy tool kit with zerk fittings to help.
Hopefully, the above information brings some awareness to this issue. It can happen to any brand of axles or models of towable units.
More from Dustin
Make sure you check out my website, California RV Specialists, and our YouTube channel for more helpful information, and see our published articles on RVtravel.com and other social media pages.
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RVT1244
I suppose this could happen although I’ve never heard of anyone mentioning that it actually happened to them or someone they know. Any of you readers experienced this?