Another Blown Wheel Grease Seal

[TucsonJim]

On my 2014 Reflection, all four wheels had blown axle grease seals which contaminated the brakes.
On my 2017 Reflection, all four wheels had blown axle grease seals which contaminated the brakes.
On my 2024 Solitude, one wheel has a blown axle grease seal - brakes contaminated?

So stinking frustrated right now. I crawled under the new RV to lubricate the wet bolts. Found one of the grease seals was blown and grease is everywhere. The rotors have grease, the disc friction material appears to have grease, and the inner portion of the wheel is completely covered in grease. It's like these assemblers pumped in a quart of grease.

I'm not going to fix this one myself. This one is on GDRV. Dang it.





On a good note, 13 out of the 14 wet bolts took grease without having to jack up the RV. The 14th took grease after jacking it up.

Jim

[Scott'n'Wendy]

Well...they are getting better. After ten years of practice they only have a 25% failure rate....that's a 75% improvement.
But ya, I'd be really annoyed. And I understand the "warranty fix". But I'd still fix it myself because You can see how factory trained 'techs' do the job. Think the dealer's 'tech' will be better?

[TucsonJim]

Think the dealer's 'tech' will be better?

Good point. And I'll need to inspect the disc pads also for contamination and replace if needed.

Jim

[Scott'n'Wendy]

Maybe you can get them to spring for a set of seals and a tube'o'grease? They shouldn't get off free, that Solitude already cost you a dollar or two and you paid for a complete, correctly assembled, functioning unit.

[NoPeeking]

Is it possible to have an independent shop (you trust) tear-down, inspect, and re-pack all wheels on GD's dime? I'd have high blood pressure for 2-3 days doing the work myself.

Mike

[Yoda]

I'm not going to fix this one myself. This one is on GDRV. Dang it.

Bummer. At least you found it early on. Any chance you can get one of the roaming GD technicians to come by your place and fix it. Then you can watch and inspect everything. Also in the photo it sure looks like the spindle is scored. Maybe the spindle was damaged before the hub and seal went on.

Stay calm and good luck
Keith

[tvantuyl]

So stinking frustrated right now.

I suppose I should pull mine apart and inspect the seals and quantity of grease inside. Sorry to hear about your trouble, Jim.

[Jlawles2]

Jim, I wonder if that is going to fall under the axle MFG warranty? I might start the claim there vs GD as the axle MFG will have a much broader service center database for getting the work done and possibly one of their centers is one you trust.

[Scott'n'Wendy]

Also in the photo it sure looks like the spindle is scored. Maybe the spindle was damaged before the hub and seal went on.
:

I don't think that is scoring? For the seal to score there it would have to be able to move inward an eighth or three sixteenths...and if it can do that it's a bearing set up issue...

or maybe I'm not seeing what you are seeing?

[Jlawles2]

Also in the photo it sure looks like the spindle is scored. Maybe the spindle was damaged before the hub and seal went on.

Looking at the photo again, are you referring to the line just about where the grease smear stops?

That looks kinda like a less than stellar machining job with either a chip or broken tool creating that mark. I've seen it on a few spindles over the years and it always seems to be just behind the riding area for the seal. Also being he just took delivery of the unit, that would be one extremely tough seal to eat the spindle in less than 3K miles. I don't even think the seal spring is capable of that in that short of a time.

[Yoda]

Looking at the photo again, are you referring to the line just about where the grease smear stops?

That looks kinda like a less than stellar machining job with either a chip or broken tool creating that mark. I've seen it on a few spindles over the years and it always seems to be just behind the riding area for the seal. Also being he just took delivery of the unit, that would be one extremely tough seal to eat the spindle in less than 3K miles. I don't even think the seal spring is capable of that in that short of a time.

That's the line I was referring too . I was thinking if it is there, then the spindle surface under the seal could be rough too. If the riding surface is rough it would certainly eat a seal quickly. Then again as the leak is somewhat in one area I would guess it got nicked during assembly. Just brainstorming.

At least with the disk brakes you can see the back of the entire seal without disassembly, And I just noticed the large amount of grease that is on the inside of the wheel rim - meaning the inside of the rotor is probably covered too. As Jim said TucsonJim that is a lot of grease. Can the pours cast rotor material even be cleaned ? What a mess.

Jim who made your axles and brand of disk break set up? Just curious what GD uses now.

Keith

[Jlawles2]

Yoda Keith, I've had luck just spraying out the vents on the rotors with cleaner, then over time it will either bake itself out or dry out enough that it does not make it through the cast. Also a properly burnished rotor will seal the pores on the friction side, hence the reason it looks like a mirror.

I'd agree that the seal probably got nicked during assembly, most likely on the sharp edge where the spindle changes diameter. That reminds me next time I have the hubs off, I need to file that sharp edge off.

[TucsonJim]

I contacted GDRV customer service yesterday. They asked for photos of the axle tag. So I just crawled under to snap the pics. I took a more detailed look and found another leaker! It's not as bad as the LF, but still leaking.

They are Curt 8000 pound axles. I asked them if they'd send me parts and I'll do it myself.

[Yoda]

I contacted GDRV customer service yesterday. They asked for photos of the axle tag. So I just crawled under to snap the pics. I took a more detailed look and found another leaker! It's not as bad as the LF, but still leaking.

They are Curt 8000 pound axles. I asked them if they'd send me parts and I'll do it myself.

Is not Curt the same as Lippert ? Do they have an authorized service dealer near you?

[TucsonJim]

Gdrv is working with LCI for resolution.

Jim