wheel bearing leaking

[Keith Moffett]

Had the gear lube in the front wheel bearings checked for quality and metal particulates.  Going over mountains the next day the sun was  heating the wheels while we parked and the lube was leaking from the drain plug.  Not from the rubber boot.
I have kept an eye on it and the fluid level.  It only seems to drip when it is hot out and we have been driving.  I believe I have it stopped now by getting the drain plug good and tight by hand. 
Is this just a loose plug or the beginning of a wheel bearing failure?
Thanks
Keith

[Bill Sprague]

Keith,

It has been about 35 years, but I used to work in a Seattle truck parts store where we sold Stemco products.  The hubcap has three places it could leak.  The red rubber fill plug in the middle, the metal screw plug for draining and the gasket.   The red rubber plug can leak only if it is filled too full, the metal drain plug should only leak if it is not screwed in tight and the gasket can lean if the attachment screws are not tight.  The inner seal on the back of the wheel can leak but that is entirely different.

Without looking at it, it sounds like the drain plug was not tightened when the sample was taken.  Sometimes it helps if you use a flashlight, but there are fill lines on the plastic window.  If the oil is up to the fill line, the bearing will not fail from lack of oil.   If there is no oil, the bearing will fail quickly.

IMHO you should be able to walk around your coach and touch wheel parts, including the front hubs, and they should feel "pretty warm" and about the same.    If one of the front hubs feels "an awful lot hotter" than the other, you might be heading for bearing failure.  If you have been braking hard on a long downhill they will be warmer. 

See you soon for the clams!

[Lee Welbanks]

Sounds like you just had a plug leaking, if it leaks again stop with the plug up, remove it and put some pipe dope or a little teflon tape in it and slap it back in.

For checking tires and hubs I have a hand held thermal temp laser unit from Milwaukee and when we stop I go around the coach and CRV checking the temp of all the tires but also the front hubs. You will know right off if one of the hubs it getting hot.
I have seen truck hubs back in the day before the wet hubs so hot they almost welded the bearing on. I've asked the driver didn't you notice the steering starting to pull in that direction??? That's usually when you get the blank look!

[Keith Moffett]

Thanks Bill and Lee for your thoughts.  Thats pretty much my thinking but its good to have confirmation.  Like the temp guage idea.
looking forward to ft. Flagler

Keith

[Bill Sprague]

....Like the temp guage idea.

Early in our MH's life, I bought one of those.  I used it about twice on the wheels and tires and went back to the touch test because it is faster, easier and equally effective.  You are welcome to try mine out between clam tides. 

[Keith Moffett]

Thanks Bill

[Keith Oliver]

I use teh temp guage a lot.  I like it better than the touch method, as it doesn't get my hands dirty.  It also gets me a baseline for various weather and road conditions, so that if I find a very hot couple of tires on one side of y coach, I now know how hot they get in normal service, so won't be unduly alarmed.

The temp guage also gave me warning of a problem a couple of years ago, when my tow dolly ate up its tires.  With the elevated temp of both, but more severe on the curb side, I did a much closer inspection and found severe scalloping of the outside edges of both tires.  Back to the nearest Costco for a pair of replacements, before one could blow and ruin  the day.