Loose Axle Nut from Factory

[jimmy77]

I have about 500-600 miles on my new 2014 Outback 298RE and I decided to have steel valve stems installed and have all tires balanced. I removed 2 at a time and down to the shop. On the second set as I was hand tightening the rim to the hub I noticed that the rim had a wobble after the nuts were tight.
Turns out the axle NUT was more than a full turn loose. I pulled the nut and checked out the race and bearing. They looked o.k., so I tightened the nut up then backed off one space, put in new cotter key and pumped new grease till the old started to mix with the new. (Dexter Axle) RECHECKED the first set of rims and yep the back axle nut was loose but not as bad. So owners have you checked your axle nuts or just hope they were tighten from the factory correctly. What kind of trip I might of had if the hub went to hell on the road.
Just my heads up to everyone.

[KenBob]

Bearing and brake adjustment should always be checked on new rigs. We have never had correct brake adjustments and have had loose wheel bearing adjustments but not that loose.

Just remember that the axle companies assemble the axles, bearings, brakes, etc in mass quantities and likely have no "time" to accurately adjust bearings/brakes. As long as all the parts are there when assembled, they ship the axles by the train load to the trailer mfr and they bolt them up to the RV. Think the mfr will spend the time to check for brake/bearing adjustments?

It is my opinion that anyone buying a new or used RV have the bearings and brakes checked and adjusted before the first trip.

[cabinfever]

Those nuts will back off on their own. I just had a loose wheel bearing on my work trailer, it has dexter axles. Found it when getting new tires. It looked to be a turn or so loose when my mechanic tightened it.

[KenBob]

Originally Posted by cabinfever

Those nuts will back off on their own. I just had a loose wheel bearing on my work trailer, it has dexter axles. Found it when getting new tires. It looked to be a turn or so loose when my mechanic tightened it.

How do they back off on their own when they have castle nuts and cotter pins?

[cabinfever]

Sorry, just saw your reply. No matter the axle nut retainer, they are meant to stop a complete loss of the nut, not to keep them tight.

[Terrydactile]

Originally Posted by cabinfever

Sorry, just saw your reply. No matter the axle nut retainer, they are meant to stop a complete loss of the nut, not to keep them tight.

Retainers are meant to keep the nut in the same place it was when the bearings were set and to prevent the nut from backing off. Properly installed with a retainer (cotter pin) the nut can not back off unless there is a bearing failure.

[cabinfever]

I'm not a mechanic, but hung out at a garage my teen years. Saw a few loose wheels due to good bearings being loose.

[jsmith948]

What am I missing?
IF the cotter key or locking nut is installed CORRECTLY, there is NO WAY that the spindle nut backed off on its own. If you found it loose and the bearing hasn't come apart, then it had to have been installed/adjusted incorrectly.
Just sayin' - FWIW