Chassis Forgive me Father for I have sinned...

When I pack the bearings I have grease oozing out of them really well, I also do a 3/4 pack of the hub, some Poo poo the idea but I look at it as more grease in there to displace any water, don't pack the hub fully or it can leak out into the brake area, not good, been doing it that way on my Fourby's for decades and never screwed a bearing and never had one flushed by water, have found water inside but never stuffed up the grease as more grease than water where the usual lick and spit bearing pack the water gets straight into the bearing and washes out the grease instead of getting trapped in the hub ..........

It does look like you got them in time as the bearing seal surface is looking chatty, give it a dust up with wet and dry and when you put it back together make sure it has a smear of grease over it and a good smear on the inside of the seal so it stays lubed....

I try to put Dry Lube on the surfaces that the arm rubs on, seems to last better than other stuff .... pics of worn out backing plates and stuff from rubbing is really a sign of no maintenance or really poor...

Now you have made me feel guilty as my Service Board shows I haven't looked at mine since I replaced the shoes and magnets but I have given them the shake test and they don't get warm when driving ..... which is okay, how often does anyone check their tugs bearings I wonder, I just do a hub feel every so often and a shake when I rotate the wheels .................... old Jeep I had to pull an axle and replace a bearing, on a Dana diff thats a fun job .. drill, chisel and a hot torch.

Hmmm...I gotta do the wheel bearings in my van over the next few weeks too. The last time I had them out, cleaned and greased them, was before doing the lap...they appeared ok then so reused them with no issues since. They have covered around 36,000kms since I bought the van, and I don't know whether they are original or were replaced by the previous owner.
Not sure if I should just replace them all, or clean and check both cups & cones and if ok re-use?

Hitting the road said:

Hmmm...I gotta do the wheel bearings in my van over the next few weeks too. The last time I had them out, cleaned and greased them, was before doing the lap...they appeared ok then so reused them with no issues since. They have covered around 36,000kms since I bought the van, and I don't know whether they are original or were replaced by the previous owner.
Not sure if I should just replace them all, or clean and check both cups & cones and if ok re-use?

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If done properly should last the life of van or longer, Big Mals are 13 yrs old and when cleaned up spin smoothly so get repacked and refitted, new seals though is the thing as they get hard so crap gets into the hub.... I carry a spare set which I greased up as the original was just a smear, and they are all in a vac seal bag....

I put a good dob of grease inside the hub and a dob inside the cap, don't go overboard or it just ends up running everywhere when it gets hot and expands, will even push the cap off... Basically if the bearing spins nice when clean and dry with no blemishes, blue/purple colours then its good to get repacked and reused, if it growls when clean and shows some coloured spots its been cooked .... You can do a good job of packing but a poor job of tensioning them up, my way is to tighten up, spin wheel then tighten till wheel won't turn, then back off till I can get 1 or 2 free turns out of it, adjust brakes then go for a spin around the block, (hate it) then check hubs for heat, spin and shake....... use torque wrench on wheel nuts...................Next trip stop half hour down the road, pull up with little brake use, check hub temp then I know all good ... half hour still close to home and long enough to show if things are too tight, no use doing it hours down the road..... It is a job that all shoudl be able to do just like brakes.

I go full tight then back off to bed the bearing and grease then back off to do a few spins before final tension, then the bearing should be settled and hopefully not need further adjustment ................................
Big Mal is now 13, somewhere between 90 and 100K km I guess, I have pulled my backing plates off, given them a good clean up, all good no score marks or cracks, so repainted and refitted and the drums no hot spots on drum or bearing surface, measured well within the specs so refitted......... done that twice so far I think along with spring service. with close look at axle surface .. Last time I was sure new drums would be the go but still okay, just new magnets and shoes, I do brake with gears a lot when towing where possible, big hills etc, saving the smokers for those Oh Sh*t moments......

You blokes use the same method as I do...I have always after refitting tightened the axle nut until the hub is difficult to turn to seat the bearing, back it off then tighten up again, then back off again to the first split pin hole if suitable...once the wheel is refitted spinning it a few times just to ensure spinning freely.

I do brake with gears a lot when towing where possible, big hills etc, saving the smokers for those Oh Sh*t moments......

Yep absolutely...though I should really check the brake shoes and magnets, they were all pretty good last time I had the drums off...and as I don't ride the brakes or use them unnecessarily, or have the brake controller in the tug cranked up they hopefully will still be right to go...

I am sure we have all followed another van down a bit of a hill that has the brake lights burning all the way down...and the brakes more than likely...lol
I recall too a few years ago watching a bloke head to the gate of a Park, every time he touched the tug's brakes the van was locking the wheels up on the gravelly exit road...bit too high on the brake controller I reckon, I am sure when he was hitting the tug's brakes the van was actually slowing him down.

The drums are quite scored on mine so wasn't sure if they could be be machined at a reasonable cost compared to new

Brake drums fortunately have gotten quite cheap these days, machining them may work, but if the scores are deep the drums may not be able to be saved, plus getting shoes to suit might be difficult...

jazzeddie1234 said:

The drums are quite scored on mine so wasn't sure if they could be be machined at a reasonable cost compared to new.

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If you can click your fingernail over them then yep chuck them, with a van or even a car I wold probably chuck 'em, as above, getting OS shoes is a pain nowadays..

Pulled the first hub today for the bearing clean & pack and brake lining replacement if needed.
The outside bearing was getting light on with grease, lucky I pulled them now and didn't do another trip or I reckon I might have had some trouble...wit this left front at least.
Not too bad overall, (I have repacked and new seal already), but checking drum, magnet, and linings, drum is fine, no scoring at all, magnet is fine, as is drum where it contacts...but I reckon I need to replace the linings as they only have about 4mm left.

Interesting, there are marks on the bottom of the spindle where the bearings sit, sort of like a heat stain. I didn't look that closely last time I repacked the bearings so don't know whether it was there then or not. It is smooth to the touch and the bearing seat is fine, I'll get to it with some steel wool and see if it comes off...

Just following up, does anybody have any idea how much depth is in the standard brake lining? I have measured mine as above, (Alko), and both shoes are an even 4mm deep right around...no real scoring on the shoes at all. I am wondering whether I need to spend the money on new shoes just yet, if the new ones don't have a lot more meat on them anyway?
I am pretty easy on trailer brakes anyway, making sure they are adjusted, electronic controller in the tug set as best I can, and I don't ride them using the tug to slow down...and...plan ahead when slowing rather than relying on brakes...

They look okay in the pic but if they are 4mm, looking at my tape measure I would chuck them since doing the bearing up adding new shoes means you shouldn't have to revisit for quite awhile .................. I forget who it was in Brissie I got my shoes from, might have been Couplemate !!!! PS" think it was Trailer Spares Direct

That bit of blueying on the stub isn't unusual no gouges all good, don't try to polish it out as you could change the seating for the bearing, the lines away from the bearing seat are just machining, bit of grease in hand and give the axle a stroke with it before you fit the hub on and I like to push a bit of grease into the space between the bearings, not stuffed full though needs some space and a bearing cannot be overpacked and when the hubs pulled off later there should be heaps of grease, if it looks like it has dried out or gone then there wasn't enough there in the first place .......... I prefer a marine HT bearing grease, less chance of water diluting it if it gets in...

The back of the axle where the seal runs make sure no dags/grit and it has just a smear for the seal to seat on, if the seal and the axle are dry it will wear, of course too much and grit will stick, so just a finger wipe......

The max internal width of the drum is embossed on the drum.

I have put that LF back on with the linings as they were, I am about to pull the RF, see what that one looks like. If it is down any further I'll have to lash out and buy new shoes...if it is similar, 4mm, I'll refit and visit again in 12 months...I don't have any big trips planned this year, one out West at Easter but that won't be any more than 4000kms...not much braking involved as open country roads...

jazzeddie1234 said:

Wow that grease looks perfect compared to the state of mine which was pretty black!

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I think thats after the repack...................

Hitting the road said:

I have put that LF back on with the linings as they were, I am about to pull the RF, see what that one looks like. If it is down any further I'll have to lash out and buy new shoes...if it is similar, 4mm, I'll refit and visit again in 12 months...I don't have any big trips planned this year, one out West at Easter but that won't be any more than 4000kms...not much braking involved as open country roads...

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When the hand brake doesn't hold then you know, lol,lol .............................. its just a pain to do everything again ...............

When I pulled mine off last time, I knew the magnets were stuffed, one didn't want to work so thought been awhile so ordered the lot, magnets and shoes, no stuffing around until I found a spare part in the tray so one had to come off again ............... I hate brakes. I wish they had an adjuster nut like the Landy's had so simple......

It was Trailer Spares Direct, I have their stubby holder........................

jazzeddie1234 said:

Wow that grease looks perfect compared to the state of mine which was pretty black!

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Yeah I had repacked that one already and fitted new seal ready to go back on...

Pulled right front, linings between 4mm & 5mm. Bearings cups & cones ok but outside again was needing repack...done and refitted. I'll buy sets of linings for both axles and replace at next service. Just need to do rear axle now...currently paving the backyard as well so breaking time between both jobs. I also need to fit the new solar panels before Easter our next trip away so no time to muck around.

I've bought a bit of stuff from those guys over the years Drover...both by mail order and from the shop out at Lawnton...their pricing is usually pretty good...
The price on a complete backing plate assembly with shoes and magnets ain't too bad really...but the magnets look ok still so I'll just get the shoes this time around...

Didn't look like anything wrong with the backing plate, when they need replacing they really look like it ............ if you do replace them don't throw away as I'll have them................... ....................... I detest doing the springs on the shoes, always end up leaking claret everywhere..............

lol...and I bet that's not red wine you are referring too...lol