There are definitely things you need to think about before you decide that Satellite TV might be great to have in your RV.  Let’s talk briefly through some considerations:

1. Do you have a Direct or Dish satellite service already at home?  This will be the only economical way to have it in the trailer unless your full timers and that is your primary home service. For instance, if you already have dish at home, then your monthly charge to add a Wally to your rig is $5.00/month per receiver.  You can also pause your Dish receiver and stop paying while you store your unit. You can also suspend your service with DirecTV as well for up to 9 months.  DIRECTV is $7.00/month per receiver if you already have it at home.
2. What satellite dish manufacturer will you choose? – This matters because satellite dishes may be exclusive to a TV service provider.  In other words, a satellite might only work for a single provider like Dish or Direct TV. This prevents you from choosing a new provider without buying a new satellite dish.  Our satellite dish works for three different providers., Dish, Direct TV, and Bell.  We started with a Direct TV contract and now have been with Dish for many years.
3. Where are you planning on mounting the dish.  Portable vs fixed location. You need a clear view of the southern or southwestern sky.  If you mount it on your roof, trees and poor orientation toward the southern sky will likely prevent you from always getting satellite TV.
   
4. Are you planning on using satellite tv on more than one TV in your rig?  Some satellite dishes only have one input, others have two.  You might save money by buying a one port satellite, but if you have a second tv that won’t work. You might think you can use a splitter, but that won’t work, at least not with Dish. However, you could buy a second dish, and there goes your savings. It’s much better to pay a little more for a two-port satellite.
5. Auto find vs. Aiming your dish.  Some require manual pointing other will auto find the satellite – sort of.  More about that in a minute.
6. Local channels are a different animal.  Local channels like CBS, NBC, ABC, and local FOX, are only available in your zip code. I actually got my local channels outside my home area code, but I never got them outside of Texas. When I leave Texas, I no longer get my local channels.  Then we use air tv for local channels.  There is a nasty work around for calling and updating your zip code, but it will screw things up at home. That is due to recordings being different in the new zip code than ones you have programmed in your home zip code.
7. Get frustrated easily? There’s a lot of things to remember if you’re having issues.  If you get frustrated easily, this may not be for you.
8. Support from either of these companies (Dish/DirecTV) is not great. I can’t tell you how many different stories I’ve gotten regarding the same technical issues. I’ve had – and you will have them too, if my experience is normal.
9. You will need to refresh your signal if you don’t use your satellite every 2 weeks.  That is done via the dish outdoors section of mydish.app.

Alright so that’s the considerations part of the discussion.  Now lets talk about the reality of hooking up the dish.

First let’s talk about the location of the power inserter if you’re using a Winegard antenna.

The max amount of coax from the power inserter cannot exceed 50’.  Why is this important?  Because if you plug the power inserter at your tv location, the coax from there to your satellite tv connection in your storage area will add to the 50’ maximum and you will not get a satellite connection. That’s why I connect at the outdoor storage location.  Now you can plug in at the tv and then use a 25’ cable at the satellite tv connection in storage.  However, that will limit your flexibility for finding a good clear sky.

Once you have the satellite connected it is just a matter of aiming it fairly correctly to begin with.  Even auto find satellite features like the G2+ require a pretty close approximation of aiming. There are apps to help you aim your dish. There is an App called “Dish Align”. If you have DirecTV, or Dish, you can use this app to aim your satellite dish.

Then it’s time to go fire up the power inserter and go in your trailer. If you don’t get a signal to begin with, lets talk about possible issues.

1. You haven’t used your satellite dish in two weeks. Then you need to access your app or call your tv provider and have them refresh your signal. This is true for Dish, but I have no idea if DirecTV is the same situation. Once you get a refresh of your signal, you should wait 15 minutes before proceeding.
2. If you don’t have your satellite aimed correctly, you will not get any cannels at all either. You may get a message that tells you that you have “Complete loss of signal”. Just make sure you have a nice open view of the south/south western sky.
3. In the case of Dish, if you only get channels on one satellite (110 or 119) but both satellites are checked as being received then the Wally has locked onto only one satellite. You must unplug the Walley, wait a few minutes, and then reconnect and start over.
4. I typically go to the Wally menu to check system switches, if I have an issue. Do that through the Wally menu on the TV by pressing the little house icon on the Dish remote three times. That takes you to the diagnostic scree. Now scroll down to “Dish” on the bottom of the left side and press enter. Now scroll to the top right of the screen and highlight the Test Installation button and press enter. The Dish will now look for satellites again. This process can take at least five minutes to run. When it is finished it will list received satellite signals with a blue checkmark.

If you don’t get any satellites, then it’s back to the drawing board. Check your cable connections. Make sure your power inserter is plugged in and turned on (you should see four green lights if you hooked it up correctly). Then ensure you aimed your dish correctly and keep it free of obstructions.

If you continue to struggle you can call your outdoor service provider and get some support. However, the support I’ve had has been less than stellar. You might get lucky, and they do try to help, but sometimes they don’t seem to understand the basics.

Now for the sake of argument let’s pretend that you have satellite TV working and you want to use the second TV. If you only have one connection at the dish, you will need to disconnect the Wally from your current tv and move it to the second TV. If you have a second connection at the dish for a second Wally in your trailer you will need to do the following.

1. Start up the new wally.
2. Run the test installation procedure on the second Wally. Your primary satellite TV will be unaffected while you do this.

After that runs, it picks up the channels from the satellite that provides the primary TV’s current programming. The primary satellite TV can only read one satellite at a time. So, let’s say you turn to channel 39 and that is on satellite 110. The outdoor Wally can only use channels on 110 and cannot switch to any channels on the other satellite (in my case 119).

If you want to watch channel 40 and it happens to be on satellite 119, then you need to change the inside TV to channel 40, go back outside and run the test installation procedure again to pick up those channels. Confused? Just think of the indoor primary Wally TV as being the brains of the system. The outdoor second Wally is dependent on the primary Wally for programming.

Although this sounds like a lot of work, you can get the outside TV online in just eight minutes after you finish setting up inside.

Remember not all campgrounds are satellite friendly. Trees and other obstructions (like close neighboring trailers) will prevent you from getting a signal. In some cases when there are obstructions you may only pick up one satellite. Then you will need to decide if maybe air tv is a better choice for that stay.

I said this may not be for you if you get frustrated easily, and now you know why.

It’s really nice to have on longer stays at a campground. It may not be worth going through all of this for a two-night stay but that would be your call. We really like having it.

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Now, not being able to open the tailgate when hooked up is not a showstopper. However, it makes things much harder at places like the dump station when I’m hauling the poop wagon. Lifting supplies over the tailgate is a pain. Secondarily, it is nice to be able to get things in and out of the truck easily when we arrive at our campsite. I can’t do that when I am unable to open the tailgate.

Obviously, there are some options available. The easiest way would be to have a mounting plate that has the versatility to rotate on the A-frame. The second approach is to allow the power head to be unbolted from the drive shaft, rotated, and then re-bolted into new holes.

The Bastion doesn’t allow for either of those two options. So, what you could do with the Bastion jack is drill a new hole, or two, in the baseplate. Or you could swivel it “as-is,” and then it will be at a weird, back-facing angle. This is because the holes won’t allow for 90-degree mounting. I did see one owner who completely tore the Bastion power head apart in order to reorient it. This involved a lot of work, like removing gears and drilling. That did not interest me.

I don’t think the 3500 lb Bastion is a great jack to begin with. It is by far the slowest jack I have ever had.

Since I had great luck with the Furrion power jack on my last trailer, that’s the option I chose. If you remember from a previous post years ago, I did turn the head on the Furrion. Back then, Furrion supplied additional holes for moving the head, but they needed to be tapped. Running a tap in the unit was not a big deal, but you did need to make sure you didn’t let metal shavings fall into the unit.

The good news is that since 2024, Furrion has threaded the spare holes.

Once the new Lippert jack arrived, I removed the head bolts, turned the head 90 degrees, and reinserted the bolts. Due to a massive storm coming through North Texas, I had to wait a few days before I could get back to the replacement.

Once the yard dried out, Eva and I continued working on the replacement. I cut all power to the Delta and turned off the 12-volt switch. As an extra precaution, I disconnected the batteries. Next, I jacked up the front of the trailer and placed a safety jack on each side of the A-frame.

I had raised the Bastion about two inches off the ground before I cut the power. This was so I could remove the baseplate before removing the jack.

Next, I removed the power wire from the junction box under the trailer, unbolted the jack, and lifted it up and off the A-frame. One thing that was quite apparent was the lightweight nature of the Bastion tongue jack compared to the Lippert. The Bastion is much, much lighter. I think that speaks to the better quality of the Lippert model.

Next, it was simply a matter of reversing the steps to put the new tongue jack onto the A-frame. The hardest part of this job was running the new power wire through the plastic conduit into the junction box. That took about fifteen minutes. If that had gone smoothly, I would estimate this job as a thirty-minute project.

Well, everything worked perfectly, and I no longer have my tailgate blues—and that’s a good thing!

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Here are the tools you will need to do this project. A wall Bracket, A 2” Hole Saw, and A 2” Desk Grommet.

First off, let’s talk about Alliance Delta’s support. All I really wanted to know was what the rear walls thickness in the outdoor entertainment area was. That is really where I wanted to mount the wall bracket. 

Instead of getting a direct answer, I got an exploded design view that gave no specifications of wood thickness. Only one piece in the picture, that was not associated with a specific area showed 3/4″. When I asked if that was the rear walls thickness, the Delta Tech answered back “that is my understanding”. As it turns out It certainly was not 3/4″ thick and we will talk more about that in a minute. Here is an example of what was sent:

Here’s the background: The Delta 294RK has an outdoor entertainment center. This came with a number of issues.

1. The satellite cable was cut in half at the factory – it was repaired under warranty. The entire satellite TV connection process that Alliance uses is a terrible idea. They expect you to go behind a panel in the storage area and hook up whatever tv you want to watch to the cable plate. They could just as easily hook up every cable in the rig to a 3 or 4 Port Coax Cable TV( Type- F) base plate. Then just label them Satellite 1, Satellite 2, Cable etc. That’s what I did.
2. The TV completely covers two shelves in the outdoor entertainment area. There is no spot to place a Dish receiver on those shelves, so that you can easily see it. That is a problem because you need to know for certain that the receiver is working in order to trouble shoot connectivity issues. Complicating matters is that all the hookups (Cable and Power) are on the second shelf.
3. The shelves are not deep enough to create a dummy shelf that the receiver could sit on, without overlapping the front framework. If I built a shelf, it would be hard to have the receiver sit on it without sliding off during travel.
4. The bottom shelf has more height than the other two shelves.  That was good for me because it gave me more clearance for the receiver.

So here was my solution to issues 2 and 3 above.

First, we bought a “Universal Wall Mount for Cable Boxes” to hold the Wally against the back of the bottom shelf. Although Delta support told me that the back wall was 3/4″ plywood, I could tell from pressing on it that it was some flimsy 1/8″ pressboard. That is too thin to expect it to hold anything securely. So, I mounted the bracket into the bottom of the middle shelf support. The bracket comes with Velcro straps to hold the unit in place. I ran the screws that hold the unit in place through those straps as well. Since mounting on the lower shelf brace results in the bottom of the bracket being 3/4″ from the back wall, I also put a 3/4″ wood strip behind the lower part of the bracket to keep it from flexing during travel.

Second, I needed to rout the wires down to the receiver. Delta probably should have created a hole in the middle shelf to run wires below. However, it was easy to do with a 2″-hole saw. I then inserted a 2″ cable desk grommet into the hole. All three wires, Cable, Power, and receiver to TV connections fit easily through the opening.

One thing that was a surprise to me was that the shelf is only 1/8″ thick. That does not make for a sturdy shelf. So, I will reinforce it with a center support.

Obviously, I still have some wires to bundle together and vacuum some saw dust, but I am very happy how this turned out.

Total cost of the project was $38.75, but that is the cost of the Bracket, Hole Saw, and 2” Grommet.  If you have a hole saw, you will save 16 dollars. That completed the project and I am really happy how it turned out.

The total Cost = $38.75

Wall mount – $16.99

2″ Hole Saw -$16.98

2″ Desk Grommet – $4.78

Links to products:

Wall Bracket: https://a.co/d/07ycLBvX 2″

Hole Saw: https://www.lowes.com/pd/CRAFTSMAN-2-in-Bi-Metal-Arbored-Hole-Saw/1000593877

2″ Desk Grommet: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Hillman-2-in-Plastic-Desk-Grommet/3127763

Overall this was a simple project that solved a frustrating design issue in the outdoor entertainment center. The receiver is now secure during travel, easy to see when troubleshooting, and all the cables are routed cleanly through the shelf.

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We are fortunate that our travel trailer sits under an overhang on our shop. So, the sense of urgency is not quite the same as if it were outdoors. However, I still like to deal with things as soon as I notice a problem.

Removing old sealer is not fun. In fact, if you’re not careful, you could damage the decals. It’s a bit easier if you don’t have decals to worry about. In my case with the sidewalls, there were plenty of decals to be concerned about.

I will tell you what products I used to do this but PLEASE do your own research. There are many products on the market and about a thousand different suggestions on how to remove and replace sealant on an RV. What works for me, may not be right for you.

The first thing I did was to use acrysol to soften the old silicone. I did not spray it on. I soaked a small piece of towel and then folded it over to make a narrow-wet edge. Then I rubbed it over the caulk. Doing this provided some protection for the decals.

Next, I used a plastic scraper to gently remove the old silicone. You must be very careful not to rip the decals under the existing silicone. After the majority of the silicone was up, i cleaned up the remainder of the silicone with the above acrysol step again. This whole “Ordeal” takes quite a bit of time. While it may take a lot of work to get it completely clean, it is the prep work that makes the difference between success and failure. New Silicone will not stick to old Silicone.

Since I was dealing with the front sidewalls where they meet the front cap, I wanted to make sure it looked good. I taped both sides of each seam so that I ended up with a clean look. Then I applied Sikaflex 221. Sikaflex 221 is a Multi-Purpose Polyurethane sealant/Adhesive. Again, do your research and decide which product is right for you.

I ran my finger down the bead of sealant to smooth it out. While I did try using vinyl gloves, for some reason they put lines in the sealant. So, I resorted to using my finger with water. I believe my gloves were probably too large, a smaller size probably would have worked.

I then removed the tape, and I have to say, I was quite impressed with the results. The video above shows an overview of the process and the end results. Can you seal the sidewalls to the front cap easily? Yes, as long as you do all the prep work correctly!

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Make sure you don’t just throw new bearings on old races.  That is a good way to have a bearing failure as the bearing and race wear together.  Also, if you are repacking your bearings don’t do more than one wheel at a time as you may get your bearings mixed up and now they might be with the incorrect race.  Again, this could lead to bearing failure.  Not where you want to be.

Here’s a video of how I do bearing and race replacement. Remember this is how I do it, there are other slightly varied techniques out there. Also, never, ever, do a task you are not comfortable with. Paying someone to do this job is much less expensive than a trip to the hospital.

Also, as just a word of caution, this is time consuming. There are many videos that make bearing maintenance look fast and easy. It is not an easy or fast job. Most of those videos have been edited for the sake of time. I just want to let you know so you don’t become frustrated with how long it may take. The first time I did a bearing repack it was brutal. I spent over 30 minutes just removing the rear seal. So just take your time and a deep breath and you will be fine.

Here is the video – please “Like”, and “Subscribe”.

The post Complete Wheel Bearing and Race removal and replacement! appeared first on .

The expected lifespan of a 12-volt converter is 5 to 10 years under normal conditions.  Normal conditions probably means normal use.  Since out Travel Trailer is always plugged in, we probably exceed normal use.  So, we were probably lucky to get 8 years out of our unit.

It’s not surprising that our unit failed because on our last trip I noticed that the fan had been running a lot longer than usual.  That probably was an indication that the converter was getting hot.  I even mentioned to Tammy that I thought the converter might have an issue.

IIf your travel trailer is approaching the 10-year mark, don’t panic if the converter fails. With an older RV, who knows—maybe the converters were built better back then, and it could last longer… just saying.We live in a world of disposable parts – and my opinion is that is unfortunate.  I could tell you how things were back in the dark ages, but that would be a lot like the stories of walking to school in the snow, uphill both ways.

So let’s get back to the issue at hand.

As a word of caution, never do a repair you are not comfortable with.  There is no shame in having an RV tech (mobile or otherwise) fix your RV. This is a pretty straight forward process that almost everyone can do, if your even slightly handy. I would say this job took me maybe 90 minutes from start to finish.

Keep in mind, you may not have the same converter as mine so the tools needed may be different. So everything I am showing you is specific to my Imagine trailer. Also, the task is much easier if the converter is in an easily accessible spot.  Mines not in a great spot but it could be worse, maybe.

If you haven’t watched my video on counterfeit converters, please click here to view it.

Cut AC power to the travel trailer.

Turn off the 12-volt cutoff switch or disconnect the battery.

Turn off breaker to converter, just to be super safe. Remove the power Center to get to the converter (if your unit is like mine)

Verify no power to 12-volt system using a multimeter.

Next, Remove the ground using a #2 square drive.

Remove the negative using a 5/32 hex key– attach a wire nut.

Remove the positive using a 5/32 hex key– attach a wire nut.

Loosen Screws and remove the old converter.

Replace with the new converter.  Remember the fan should be facing the bottom if you’re mounting on the wall.  In addition, the fan should never be up against a wall or on the floor. – the fans’ whole purpose is to cool the unit. Blocking the airflow will lead to premature failure.

Reverse the steps listed above.

Check the converters charging status.

See, that wasn’t so bad.  On a 1-5 difficulty scale, I would give this a 1, or maybe a 2 if the converter location is horrible.

I have to admit, Grand Design really disappointed me with how they mounted the converter to the wall. Only one side screws into a stud. The other side only had a top screw, which was useless because the bottom had no screw which left it unsupported. In addition, that side had no wood behind the cheap panel. That left nothing to really screw securely into. I will probably put a wood strip back there in the future. Grand Design should have mounted it to the deck.

In reality, the converter should be placed somewhere easily accessed for removal. This way you won’t need to bump a slide out to get to it. Say this had happened at a campground, I might not have even been able to get to it. There is not a lot of thought given to owners when these are constructed.

As a word of caution, never do a repair you are not comfortable with. There is no shame in having an RV tech (mobile or otherwise) fix your RV.

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Quite frankly, this project, became a lot more of a train wreck than I ever imagined. The easiest part of the project was cutting the water lines. It pretty much when downhill quickly after that. The reason it went downhill is that Grand Design (and they’re not the only manufacturer), decided not to use pex for water lines.

In fact, this is what Grand Design published back in 2016: “The TS-25 standard for Flexible Hose allows the use for both, hot and cold waterlines. The RV industry has used the hose on the PEX barbed fittings for more than 15 years with success along with the use of the Oetiker clamp rings that have a 20 year warranty. This installation has been successful as the PEX fitting are listed just as the PEX tubing for high heat, just as the flexible hose and PEX tubing.

Keep in mind, the standards that they refer to is not a residential standard thanks to the RVIA. Thats a bad thing!

Using the flexible lines, disguised as pex, was not what I was expecting. Once I realized what they had done, I tried to get a new 1/2 pex clamp over the water line but to no avail. The water lines outside diameter are just too large for the pex clamp. So, then I moved on to my plan B.

Plan B involved using some hose clamps that are used for this type of flexible hose application. They are made in a way that won’t cut the water line as they are tightened. I hooked everything together and even used a ratchet to tighten the clamps to the new water valves.

Then I turned the water on to the trailer. Keep in mind, I am here alone, and the hose bib is about 100 feet from the trailer. As soon as I opened the trailer door, I thought I’d left a faucet on. Nope! Water was pouring out around the connections under the sink. I ran like a lunatic back to the house in order to turn off the water. Then I ran to the trailer and opened the low point drains to relieve the pressure in the lines. Then about seven towels later I started taking everything apart.

Now, here’s the scoop for folks with travel trailers. When you buy a new one, check how they plumb it. Unfortunately, most manufacturers plumb them poorly like this, using flexible tubing. Sometimes they will use a combination of Pex and Flexible tubing. If possible, steer clear. Like everything else though, sometimes you may just not have a choice. Just be aware that you could face leaks in the future.

Here’s where having a reliable, honest RV repair guy down the street pays off. I called him basically wondering how he would have attached the water valves. There are some other options when it comes to the flexible tubing (like some flare fittings). I figured I could go buy a couple fittings from him and go about my business. He told me to come to his shop, confident he had PEX clamps that would fit the flexible tubing. I drove down and he did, and it fixed my leaks.

So, what size were they that they would fit so perfectly on the tubing. Well, they are considered 1/2″ but they really are just a smidge wider. In addition, I was able to track down the manufacturer, and I am currently trying to see if I can buy a small quantity to have on hand. I don’t want or need 100.

If I can get some, and make sure they are identical to what I used, I will come back and let you know the item number and order information.

The post The Sink Disaster appeared first on .

This particular issue has been plaguing us on and off over the last two years. To say it’s mysterious would be an understatement.

We will get a small amount of water under the bathroom sink, and then nothing for weeks on end.  Once I noticed this happen, I placed a tin pan under the sink. We can go an entire camping trip with no issue.  Then all of a sudden it reappears.

I’ve tried isolating the leak each time I find water in the catch pan but to no avail.  I thought that once I might have had water from the hot side of the sink. I’ve tightened connections, including the connections to the faucet, the p-trap, and sink drain. So far, this has not made a difference.

Now, it’s interesting to note that this is a Kohler faucet I installed back in 2018. It is a very nice residential faucet and I don’t think the faucet is the issue.  I believe the plastic fittings on the pex lines are the issue.

So, my solution is to remove the pex lines at the faucet and replace them with braided 1/2″ npt braided line.  The braided lines are 18” long. I will connect them to new water shut off valves.

I could have gone with braided lines that were 1/2″ on one side and then 3/8″ on the water valve side using a one-piece water valve. Instead, I opted for using a 1/2″ connection on both sides of the braided water line. 

I will screw the braided line on to the 1/2″ male threads of the water valve. On the opposite side of the water valve, I will screw on a 1/2″ pex fitting.  Then I will insert the barbed end into the pex line and crimp it.

The reason I am using that method is versatility. If the water valve or the braided line needs to be replaced, I only need to unscrew the lines.  There will be no reason to cut any pex fittings.

So will this fix my problem?  It all depends on what the problem really is. There are some other lines under the sink that I believe have something to do with the black tank flush.  That is the only other thing that could cause an issue BUT our problem surfaces when we are not using the black tank flush.

If this fix fails, then I will pull the faucet and see if by some freak chance the faucet itself is the issue. Stay tuned to our youtube channel to see a video on this repair sometime in the near future.

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Always listen to your gut feeling. I could tell something was slowly falling apart with our Thetford toilet flush valve. I had changed the seal maybe two years ago, but now I believe the flush ball itself was a problem.

Once we got to Wisconsin, the problem became worse. As all of you know, I like fixing things but not under duress. So, I watched a number of videos on-line. I realized quickly that I had 2 options.

1. Tear the toilet apart and replace most of the parts inside the base. This looked like an incredible amount of work and about 60 dollars in parts.
2. Purchase a brand new base for 80 dollars.

That was an easy decision, option 2! I ordered the toilet base on Monday and it arrived on Wednesday at my daughter’s house. Thursday I brought it to the trailer and figured I’d just install it on a day when we were going to be just relaxing in the camper…Wrong!

Friday, I smoked pulled pork at my daughter’s house. It’s always an all day affair when I’m smoking pork butt. I put in on the smoker at 6:00 AM and it was ready at 5:00 PM.

After dinner I figured we would go back to the trailer and just relax. However, once we got back to the travel trailer, I flushed the toilet and a plastic part somewhere within the flush handle shot off like a rocket. I heard Tammy say “oh … that didn’t sound good”. She was right because now the toilet didn’t work at all. So, here we go!

It is pitch black in the back of my truck as I feel for my tools. I pull out my 3/8 ratchet, socket set, and a pliers.

I spread a garbage can liner out on the hallway floor and turn off the water to the trailer. Next I disconnected the water to the toilet, and unbolted the toilet from the floor. Out it goes into the hallway where I disconnected the base from the bowl. This is no problem as I’ve done this before. It’s just removing two bolts, a hose, and then a counter clockwise twist to unlock the bowl.

Next, I looked at the instructions that came with the new base. Calling them garbage would be an insult to garbage everywhere. It’s always great (insert sarcasm here) to have a part that is not shown in the installation instructions.

After much deliberation I had the base ready for mounting to the bowl. This was absolutely the hardest part of the job. After struggling for twenty minutes with a lot of head scratching and cursing I had it back together and mounted to the floor. All in all, a 90 minute job.

What a difference! It really is a new toilet now, and frankly not a hard job to do, just frustrating at times.

I am so glad I listened to that voice in my head that said “you better buy a new base”. Otherwise we would have been walking to the campground bathroom multiple times everyday until it arrived. So make sure you listen to that voice too!

Happy Camping!

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However, as with everything else regarding RV maintenance, don’t do it yourself if you feel uncomfortable doing so. This involves jacking the trailer up to remove the tires and must be done carefully and safely. Review your owner’s manual for proper blocking and jacking procedures.

Some folks will tell you that it is perfectly OK to jack the trailer up using the axles. That goes against the my axle manufacturers advice (Dexter). They specifically state “NEVER raise the trailer by jacking up via the axles”. Therefore you will want to be safe and place your jack under the frame of the trailer to raise it. Then place some jack stands under the frame as well. Do not use your leveling jacks to raise the trailer; they are not designed for that.

Now, let me briefly talk about the process in a series of steps. These apply to my travel trailer, yours may be slightly different.

Step-1: Loosen but do not remove the lug nuts on the tire.

Step-2: Jack up the trailer via the frame and support it.

Step-3: Remove all the lug nuts, and remove the tire.

Step-4: Remove the dust cap on the wheel drum.

Step-5: Remove the cotter pin or spindle nut retaining band. Then remove the Castle Nut.

Step-6: Gently pull the drum forward to remove the outer bearing and thrust washer, and the wheel drum. In the picture below I have pulled the drum forward and you can see the thrust washer and the bearing coming out of the drum. Pull the drum forward until the washer and bearing fall into your hand – Don’t let them fall on the ground. Note in the picture how black that grease is after only one year.

Step-7: Clean the outer bearing. I use brake cleaner to completely remove all grease. I then set it aside to dry completely which doesn’t take long.

Step-8: Inspect the bearing for pitting or signs of wear.

Step-9: Inspect the race for the above bearing. Look for signs of scoring, pitting, or high temperature scoring.

Step-10: If the bearing and race are in good condition they can be repacked. I use a bearing packer, but this can easily be done by hand as well. There are some excellent videos on packing bearings by hand on you tube. Just put a large glob of grease in the palm of your hand and then continue to push the bearing down into the grease over and over until the grease comes out the entire opposite side of the bearing. The bearing packer does this for me, but I have packed many bearings by hand.

Step-11: Turn Wheel drum over and remove the rear seal. This can be the worst part of the job as it won’t come out easily. I use a seal removal tool. Even with that tool there is some profanity that takes place. Don’t worry about damaging the seal, you must replace it with a new one anyway.

Step-12: Remove and clean the rear bearing.

Step-13: Inspect the bearing for pitting or signs of wear.

Step-14: Now inspect the race for the rear bearing. Look for signs of scoring, pitting, or high temperature scoring.

Step-15: If the bearing and race are in good condition they can be repacked.

Step-16: Inspect the spindle for any wear. Inspect the brakes and inspect the inside of the drum and make sure no grease is in the drum.

Step-17: Pack and reinsert the inner (rear) bearing and install a NEW seal.

Step-18: Lightly lube the spindle.

Step-19: Slide the drum back on the spindle.

Step-20: Re-insert the outer bearing, thrust washer, and spindle nut. Hand tighten the spindle nut.

Step-21: Using a torque wrench, tighten the spindle nut while rotating the drum to 50 foot pounds. Then back off the nut until it is loose and then hand tighten it.

Step-22: Make sure there is not back and forth play in the drum, and insert the cotter pin or spindle nut retaining band.

Step-23: Re-install dust cap.

Step-24: Re-install the tire, and torque the lug nuts to spec.

Now, keep these steps in mind and next go to YouTube. Watch the endless number of videos on the subject. After you watch about a dozen of them you will understand the process pretty well and even be able to identify folks that are not doing it correctly in some of the videos. Trust me, this isn’t rocket science. However, the most important part of this job is making sure you are doing it safely. Having a travel trailer fall on you would be an absolute disaster.

Now, you may be asking your self “why would I need to do this yearly?” Well, these wheels have a lot of weight on them. If your grease is old or the bearing runs dry, you are going to have a major disaster on your hand. That bearing will come apart and ruin your drum, brakes, and your axle. Needless to say, you will be on the side of the road for an extended and expensive vacation. Bearings are cheap…axles plus labor is very expensive.

If you have the Dexter E-Z Lube axles, I want to caution you about what you might see on line. There are many folks that pump grease into the E-Z Lube zerk fitting as a substitute for repacking the bearings. Please don’t do that. It doesn’t allow you to inspect the bearings, your spindle, or your brakes for wear/damage. In addition, I have had conversations with Dexter regarding the E-Z Lube on my trailer and they advised against using it. Some folks will use the easy lube feature after repacking the bearings in order to fill up the cavity in the wheel drum between the inner and outer bearings. I don’t do that, and I think there is a debate about just how useful (or not) that really is.

I highly recommend that you OR a RV tech repack your bearings every year. Don’t tell yourself “Well I don’t put that many miles on anyway, so I should be fine”. Thinking that way will get you all the way to the side of the road. Some dealerships repack bearings at a very good price, but make sure the dealership has a good reputation. Personally, I like to do my own work whenever possible, but there is absolutely no shame in having someone else do this for you.

One last piece of advice: wear gloves and do this on a cool day.

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