HOW TO REPLACE BROKEN RV AXLE | CRACKED RV FRAME REPAIR (TRAVEL TRAILER) | FULL-TIME RV LIFE
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- čas přidán 11. 09. 2024
- 👍 Good news! We finally are back on the road after replacing our broken RV axle and fixing the cracks in the frame of our travel trailer. The best part is we avoided an RV repair shop and fixed both these problem without having to leave our RV park in Greenville, NC. These were easily the biggest RV repairs we've had in 2.5 yrs of being full-time 😥
🛠 We like to DIY most of our RV issues but were incredibly grateful for the help and knowledge we received. We've got some great advice for replacing you RV axle and welding a cracked frame. We've also got some good maintenence tips to help prevent having these issues in the first place!
00:59 Discovering our broken axle
3:00 How RV axle got damaged
4:36 Ordering replacement axle - things to know
7:05 Replacing RV axle
8:23 Welding cracks in RV frame
11:20 Maintainence tips
Services used for repairs in Greenville, NC
Equipment Services: Call Mike 252-717-4663
Ferrell Welding: Call Dustin 252-717-9075
👋 Hi! We are Thomas and Victoria, and we are starting our adventure as full-time RV newbies. We sold our stuff and bought a truck and RV (all within 5 months). We are joined by our Adventure Puppies - Outside Oreo and Backyard Barley - in our Kodiak Ultimate travel trailer. We hope you get some value out of our full-time RV living experience! Subscribe and follow along with our adventures, mistakes, and mishaps.
Where are excited to be in North Carolina!
⁉️ Where should we go next?
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awsome information, glad things worked out for you.
Thank you! Stressful situation for sure.
Based on what I'm seeing in the video it looks like the bend May not have been the thing that caused this catastrophic failure. It looks like the bearings failed due to lack of lubrication. You can see how dry and rusty everything is. That should all be coated in grease if things are properly lubricated. I would definitely recommend checking the rest of The bearings on the camper as the other ones probably also haven't been properly maintained and likely aren't far behind.
The old axle sat out exposed to sun and rain for 3 weeks before shooting that video (may be why it looked so bad in the video). Either way, you're probably correct. We already ordered new bearings for the other axle thanks to your advice. We really appreciate it! 🙏
@@ProjectRVLivingLost Yeah it's possible that is what causes to look rusty but unless it was clean before it was left out the grease should have protected it from resting for quite a long time.
If you're not going to get the bearings in very soon how would at least try to jack up each wheel on the other axle and give them a spin and a wiggle and make sure they aren't making a bunch of grumbling noises and especially that they don't feel loose on the axle. The bearings are the only thing holding the stub and therefore the wheel on and if it comes apart in one of those wheels comes off when you're going down the road it could be catastrophic.
Lack of maintenance 😢and why no morride!!!!
Take my grease axel , pull hubs and let it sit outside. Still grease all over
Get a grease gun and use a high temp grease like Lucas red and tacky
Thanks again!
You should , as soon as possible, replace the 2nd axle and reinforce the frame. Good video. I sure you are checking your weight on a CAT scale.
We do check our weight regularly. This being our second frame issue we will definitely be reinforcing the frame. Why would you suggest replacing the 2nd axle? We welcome all advice.
@ProjectRVLivingLost .
Not an expert by any means, however, every time something breaks, the technicians always advise us to replace similar parts. When we had a leaf spring break, they did both. When one bearing broke, they replaced them all. Seems it is accepted best not to mix old with new. On our one years trip, we had to have the frame and tongue reinforced, even though we kept within or very close to the GVW of the trailer.
When you need to replace a axel it is best to go heavier axel rating to help prevent it from bending again. The only thing you need to do is order the hubs to fit your wheel sets from there. Also keep them greased on a regular schedule.
We considered getting a higher rated axle but we were under the impression we would have to then replace the other axle with the 4400 rating. We really appreciate the helpful advice! 🙏
Had a frame crack on Alaska trip. It happened in Canada and we had the frame welded in White Horse. We also put in cross members to prevent future failure. The insurance company did total the 5th wheel when I got back to Oklahoma. The camper pulls better than new so I purchased the camper back from the insurance company. Didn’t let it ruin our trip, just keep a great attitude.
That's good advice with the cross members. Not sure how that would work on our Kodiak Ultimate though. Love that you stayed positive and had a good time despite the trouble! We would encourage everyone to take that mind-set! 🙏 🧡
I didn't stay at a holiday in but i did contact dexter and had a nice eye opener for our rig now i have a 3 ring binder on the setup before the house was set on it .
Nice!
Your the best guys👍👍👍👍🙏
We really appreciate that!! 🙏 🧡
Sorry for his happened! Great video flow though! Good job!
😂 always gotta look on the bright side at least, right? We really appreciate the kind words! 🙏
And I live less then a mile from were you two stayed in Camp Verde AZ. 👍👍👍👍🙏
We are itching to get back to AZ!
Spraying lithium grease where you did does absolutely nothing but make a mess unfortunately. There is a grease zerk fitting in the middle under that rubber cap. The bearings are on the other side of that zerk fitting in a sealed area. In order to grease them you need to get a grease gun and inject grease through that fitting.
Welp, we feel a little dumb about this. Our only defense is this was the advice we were given originally. Now we know 😆 Thanks for your help 🙏
@@ProjectRVLivingLost Yeah hopefully it wasn't from someone who purported themselves to be an expert. Unfortunately the world is full of people who claim to be experts that don't actually know what they're talking about. Not really your fault as this certainly isn't something that you're familiar with.
Do not use spray grease on wheel bearings. You are asking for a bearing failure. There is a grease fitting on the axle shaft. Get a grease gun and use wheel bearing grease.
Just keep in mind that welding those cracks doesn't actually fix the problem that caused them. The frame cracked because there was too much stress on it in that area. The welded areas are now probably going to be stronger than the areas around them which means that you're very likely to have more cracking occur right next to where the weld is in the near future. The proper fix for this would be to add reinforcement along the length of the frame where the suspension attaches extending out past that area on both ends.
We do plan to get the frame reinforced at those bracket areas. We just needed a quicker fix to get back on the road right away, that didn't require bringing the RV into a shop. We can't thank you enough for the clear and concise tip. It's definitely appreciated 🙏
@@ProjectRVLivingLost okay cool. Yeah the quick fix will definitely last a while it just will almost certainly end up failing again at some point down the road if the root cause isn't addressed
Already thought of that and welded 1\4” plate the length of the frame. Trust me the frame of this trailer will never break again! The problem arose from too much lateral stress (camper lifted too high). The cross members solved that problem.
Next time Call Axle surgeons, they will cut your old spindle off and weld a new one in and I know they can do your camper because I work for them.
We considered cutting it off and welding a new spindle but we wary of finding someone capable of that kind of job with previous experience. Thanks for the tip for next time! 🙏
Spraying lithium grease on the castle nut doesn't do anything except make the nut greasy.
If you feel the need to grease your wheel bearings when you check the tire pressure then you need to watch some CZcams videos on wheel bearings.
Yeah it appears we messed that advice up a bit but we know better now. Always learning with this RV life. Thanks for the help! 🙏
A grease gun and some Lucas red will be way better than that white grease and a lot longer lasting
Thank you for the tip. We really appreciate it! 🙏
Remember, high temperature…
Yes it does but it makes it brittle 👍👍👍👍🙏
We plan to get the frame reinforced not too far down the road
Custom size means the manufacture gets to sell alot of probably chinese-made axles and bearings for a inflated price
That's pretty much what we figured
Maybe it’s just me but you didn’t show the how to replacement. Clips of progress does not help.
Annually doing full Bearing repacking (not just the quick grease zerk) will also help you identify issues with breaks, bearings, and axcels. It is not too hard to do, but you will need some grease, and bearing seals, and some spare cotter pins. Like other said, don't bother with the lithium grease spray. Once you do your first bearing repack we will understand. Plus you will see how your breaks work. I've taken the hub off only to find my breaks were in pieces once, was able to order and repalce one pair (both sides) with out any issues first time.
Definitely great input that we appreciate! Thank you 🙏
I don’t agree with not naming who gave you bad advice. That’s endangering others that might be getting the same advice. It needs to be known for the sake of others…IMO.
We've said where it was it previous episodes. Feels like piling on to continue to throw shade their way 🤷♀
Dude you need a grease gun!
That seems to be the consensus here. Thank you for the tip. It's definitely appreciated! 🙏
Ohhhh my,,,,,,,YES!!!!!And a service now and then ,, morride update!!!!
3rd problem; Did you see how rusty the brake magnet was on the bad axle? That brake had not worked in a long time. Don't want to be going down the road with no brakes. Hopefully the others were checked during this rebuild operation.
That was a great video with great advice.
Apparently we didn't do everything right 😂 see other comments. Thank you as always though! 🙏
Hold on let me call the whaaabulance.
🚨 🚨 🚨
Just when I thought i had seen the dumbest thing possible, a video like this comes along. As an ASE certified technician and a welder, everything about this video is wrong on so many levels. Just welding the crack in the frame is like putting a Band-Aid on a brain tumor. Never spray anything in the hub. Hubs must be removed once a year or 12 thousand miles. Bearings should be cleaned and repacked. What you are doing makes your trailer a danger to you and everyone else on the highway. You got lucky this time. Whatever prayers you say, keep it up because they're working. It is difficult to get correct RV maintenance information from CZcams. So much info is wrong.
Firstly, we are not RV experts and don’t claim to be. We learn as we go. Secondly, we only show what problems we have run into in real time so if we make a mistake we are not afraid to admit it. Thirdly, we came to realize that was the wrong advice from the technician about the bearings being properly lubricated (we state that in a later video). We repacked our bearings shortly after that. Sorry if you are offended by us figuring it out as we go 🤷♂️
You might of just as well used olive oil in a pump sprayer for bearing lube for all the good that Wd40 does. Man, you need to spend sometime getting educated. Pathetic. And those welds won’t last long either. Like others have already said, you need additional steel reinforcement. That welder should of known that.
Good advice but the delivery needs some work 👍
@@ProjectRVLivingLost Sorry but if your going to put out bogus info which may lead others less knowledgeable to copy your your practices, you deserve the harsh criticism. You really should take that video down before another RV'er blows out an axle thinking spraying WD40 is acceptable practice in servicing axle bearings.