Post by Jim on Mar 22, 2006 18:00:26 GMT 10
Before heading to Morgan, check your wheel bearings.
This is certainly not meant to be about ‘preaching to the mechanics’ among you, but there may be some people who are less familiar with mechanical things and may overlook essential maintenance needed on their van, especially before setting out on a long trip.
Many single axle vans run on Holden bearings, or bearings of a similar size, and are often at, or close to, the limit of their carrying capacity.
Regular maintenance, in the form of: cleaning, checking, greasing and correct adjustment will lengthen bearing life and avoid a disaster on the road.
If grease dries out in wheel bearings or gets contaminated with water or dust (which can get in via a faulty or loose seal) the wheel can, in reality, fall off.
A simple thing like a missing dustcap is asking for trouble.
Heat and travel time on the road are the enemy.
The smaller outer bearing usually fails first.
It overheats quicker than the inner bearing and the rollers disintegrate.
Once the rollers in the smaller outer bearing have ground away to powder there is nothing to stop the wheel and hub falling off.
The only thing holding the whole lot on is the outer bearing.
Even with the nut and washer still intact the hub can pass over them when there’s no rollers left in the outer bearing.
If the axle gets bent when the wheel falls off it’s usually not possible to do even a temporary repair on the side of the road.
Do it at home
It is easier to clean, check and adjust bearings at home rather than do a very difficult repair on the side of the road.
If there are any marks at all on the rollers or the shells, change the bearings.
About the maintenance.
If you’re not sure about doing the work yourself any competent garage can do the job.
An easier alternative may be to call a mobile mechanic and have the job done at home.
Another advantage of doing the job before you leave is you find out if any wheel nuts are seized.
Often wheel nuts on caravans and trailers are seized and the only way to get the wheel off is to break the stud.
Again, it’s an easy job to fix broken studs before you leave.
Ask whoever does the job to check all the running gear and all the lights.
But the wheel bearings are most important, closely followed by the tyres.
Check your tyres as well. If you have a spare wheel for the van (and you should) make sure you have a jack and wheel brace that work on the van.
Never assume nothin’..
Silly as it may seem, don’t assume the spare wheel actually fits the van hubs unless you’ve tried it.
Never assume the jack and wheel-brace from your car will work on your van without trying it.
One of Murphy’s Laws..
“If you carry a spare set of wheel bearings, a seal, a nut, washer, split pin and a small tub of wheel bearing grease, you’ll never need them.”
If you have a problem you can often find a mechanic in an out of the way place, but he may not have the parts.
If you have the parts with you it can often save days waiting to get parts in.
This is certainly not meant to be about ‘preaching to the mechanics’ among you, but there may be some people who are less familiar with mechanical things and may overlook essential maintenance needed on their van, especially before setting out on a long trip.
Many single axle vans run on Holden bearings, or bearings of a similar size, and are often at, or close to, the limit of their carrying capacity.
Regular maintenance, in the form of: cleaning, checking, greasing and correct adjustment will lengthen bearing life and avoid a disaster on the road.
If grease dries out in wheel bearings or gets contaminated with water or dust (which can get in via a faulty or loose seal) the wheel can, in reality, fall off.
A simple thing like a missing dustcap is asking for trouble.
Heat and travel time on the road are the enemy.
The smaller outer bearing usually fails first.
It overheats quicker than the inner bearing and the rollers disintegrate.
Once the rollers in the smaller outer bearing have ground away to powder there is nothing to stop the wheel and hub falling off.
The only thing holding the whole lot on is the outer bearing.
Even with the nut and washer still intact the hub can pass over them when there’s no rollers left in the outer bearing.
If the axle gets bent when the wheel falls off it’s usually not possible to do even a temporary repair on the side of the road.
Do it at home
It is easier to clean, check and adjust bearings at home rather than do a very difficult repair on the side of the road.
If there are any marks at all on the rollers or the shells, change the bearings.
About the maintenance.
If you’re not sure about doing the work yourself any competent garage can do the job.
An easier alternative may be to call a mobile mechanic and have the job done at home.
Another advantage of doing the job before you leave is you find out if any wheel nuts are seized.
Often wheel nuts on caravans and trailers are seized and the only way to get the wheel off is to break the stud.
Again, it’s an easy job to fix broken studs before you leave.
Ask whoever does the job to check all the running gear and all the lights.
But the wheel bearings are most important, closely followed by the tyres.
Check your tyres as well. If you have a spare wheel for the van (and you should) make sure you have a jack and wheel brace that work on the van.
Never assume nothin’..
Silly as it may seem, don’t assume the spare wheel actually fits the van hubs unless you’ve tried it.
Never assume the jack and wheel-brace from your car will work on your van without trying it.
One of Murphy’s Laws..
“If you carry a spare set of wheel bearings, a seal, a nut, washer, split pin and a small tub of wheel bearing grease, you’ll never need them.”
If you have a problem you can often find a mechanic in an out of the way place, but he may not have the parts.
If you have the parts with you it can often save days waiting to get parts in.
.
