2002 Dodge wheel bearing service

[sehsteve@gmail.com]

First of all this is a great, helpful forum so thanks for all those who contribute. I am less than a year into RV life, a whole other world for me. I bought a 2002 Dodge Roadtreak Popular 190 with 45,000 on it. I now have 50,000 and according to the manual at 50,000 the front wheel bearings should be serviced (checked, repacked?). That seems curious to me and I am wondering if anyone can speak to this matter? Is it important to do such at 50,000 miles?
THANKS.
Steve

[GallenH]

1997 Dodge Pleasure Way. When I got my RV through the family 4 years ago it had 45k. It was in Wisconsin and before I drove it to AZ I had a family mechanic go over it and one of the things he did was to repack all 4 wheels. I don't think that it's an expensive item. If the manual says to do it, I would. But I tend to follow the schedules in the manuals quite closely on all my vehicles.

[jmai]

I have a 2001 Popular 190 on a Dodge chassis. The front wheel bearing set-up consists of an inner and outer bearing, a bearing race that is pressed into the brake rotor and a seal against the inner bearing which prevents water from coming into the bearing.

Although your vehicle has only gone 50,000 miles, the rubber on the seal could be 18 years old if never replaced.

In order to replace the seal and bearing race, the brake rotor needs to come off. There are 4 bolts that hold on the front brake caliper and they are a bear to loosen because they are exposed (rust potential) and torqued to a very high value (over 100 lbs). they are not easily loosened and can easily have the corners rounded off. In addition, these bolts are not easily obtained from the dealer (they are discontinued), but my Dodge dealer was able to obtain them from an aftermarket company for $18 each! Luckily the bearings, races and seals are inexpensive. Also I installed new rotors and the race was already installed.

Do the service. there is nothing worse than traveling with your RV and hearing that low hum from the front wheels. It only gets worse.

Don't be tempted to just change the outer bearing because you don't feel like pulling the caliper and removing the brake rotor. If the seal is leaking, you will have water damage and that cannot be seen without removal of the caliper and brake rotor.

Once done, your good for quite a while and will have peace of mind.

[mloganusda]

Old school wheel bearing repacking. Any shop should be able to do it. If you want to purchase the parts yourself, check rock auto dot com. While doing the repack, most times the rear seal is replaced to make sure no grease escapes to ruin the rotor/braking.

MLogan
Smyrna, TN

[sehsteve@gmail.com]

Thanks much for the information.
I am going to get it into the shop for service before our next trip.
s

[sehsteve@gmail.com]

Thanks to all who responded. I took my 2002 Dodge 3500 RT Poplar 190 to the shop Wednesday and they repacked the inner and outer bearings. YES the seals were shot so they replaced them plus it was time for an oil change. Glad to have that done and I need to take a trip.
Steve