Grease or 80/90 or 140

[Drege]

1978 M500 chassis (30 foot unheard of Explorer 2800 house atop) had mystery fluid leaking out of passenger side INNER dually tire, INNER sidewall. Lead me to believe it was brake fluid, due to having 100% rewired the tail lights this last weekend, some brake pedal pushing w/engine running.ffff
Removed wheels (that was fun!)



All is well up till this point.
I have a heavy duty truck mechanic friend of mine come over and advise me on what to do next as my objective is complete; assure the brake drum wheel cylinder is in good health, rubber boots in place, slave cylinder not leaking, so its axel fluid that just randomly started to leak out of the bearing housing, NOT THROUGH THE DRUM BRAKE HOWEVER, but through the lug studs somehow, and down the inner dually tire; see pic=





So I might replace the bearings while I am in there, I might not, I plan on however replacing the OIL Ring, I find it similar in nature to a rear main seal on a motor or transmission. Advanced auto parts has them for $21.
The bearings are not in bad shape per-se, no flats, no cracks, however they are streamed around the circumference similar to a scored main bearing journal of a crank shaft. I feel they could survive a 3000 mile journey to a final destination for this coach.
NOW, my big question; Do these bearings get standard bearing/all purpose grease? (packed) or are they designed with the open ended rear end orbital gear box to be fed 80/90++ gear oil for bearing lubrication??? Understand???
See I found no remnants of thick buttery grease within the hub and bearing assembly, none at all, just thick gear oil.
And while the outer bearing is held/pressed into place by the octagonal ring nut set, what about the inner bearing? Does it just automatically seat it self between the drum/hub and spindle?
Does the ring nut for the outer bearing need to be only as tight as to allow the free spin of the drum as like a bicycle bearing set, I was afraid to tighten it down too much, but comfortable tightness allows for telescopic play in the drum along the spindle.


A friend of mine had just bought a 25foot RM450 witch he has a m300 - m600 chassis manual for I should have in my possession within the month.
But any and all personal experience or suggestions are welcomed in the meantime.

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

Service and parts manuals are available in site store: http://www.classicwinnebagos.com/forum/index.php?action=store;cat=42.  $25 well spent.

As described in the service manual (Group 00), both front and rear wheel bearings have to packed with wheel bearing grease upon reassembly
Brake section (Group 5) is duo-servo drum removal/install procedure and all brake info.
Axle Section (Group 3) provides axle bearing pre-loading procedure (the large nut that holds the drum on).  Do not loose those axle cone nuts as they may prove difficult to find replacements for.
Rim/Tire torque requirements are in Wheel section (Group 22)

Typically, the best approach to locating aftermarket parts is by cross referencing the Dodge P/N.

RM450

No such beast

1973-1974
RM300
RM350 (Redesignated to M400 in 75)
RM400 (Redesignated to M500 in 75)

Dave

[Drege]

Ok so its just a simple grease like pictured?



Whats the explanation for the dif oil in the bearing cage and lack of high temp grease?
Thank you for the invitation to purchase a PDF however I'm going to bide my time untill my friend brings me his manuals, he blew the 440 in his RV, Don't really know what model his is but its the same as mine 5 feet shorter and with 6lug/17.5's

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

There is no seal preventing the differential oil from coming down the axle tube.  Centrifugal force will push it down the tube when turning.  Differential oil mixes with grease diluting it over time.  Grease is used on the bearings to ensure proper initial lubrication until everything gets mixed together.

Pay close attention to what I said about RM400 = M500 because the older books use the RM400 info to support a M500 chassis.

Dave

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Yep, you definitely want to pack them well with grease...the gear lube in the axle will eventually wash it away and replace it, which is why you didn't see any grease on the bearings, but it keeps them lubricated until the axle grease can coat them.  And always replace that oil seal every time you remove the drums.

Kev

[Drege]

Thanks for the help and suggestions, Yea I'm gonna get those seals, thats the only logical reason it would have leaked like it had, I'm just happy my brakes are healthy - but if I have to adjust or replace I now know how to get to them and have all my replacement parts and dimensions written down.


Know this is chassis but any one ever hear of this frank industries, travco spinoff? The Explorer? It used to say 'EXPLORER 2800' but someone painted over the numbers. This MH is still a mystery, like it never existed, a real gem lost to the MH boom of the 70's.