My FT has oil streaks on the front wheels. Do the baby Moon hub caps pop off, or are they under the lug nuts ? Are these just gaskets, or is this a job for someone else ?
Depends. Lots of shops overfill the hubs. My guru buddy had to train the local cummins dealer to use the outer ring for the fill level. Otherwise it blows the excess when hot
The red hub plug get stiff with age and leak in the manner you describe. FT Parts and truck parts houses have replacements.
They do pop off with the removal first of a couple of the "Hug a Lug" lugnut covers. If you look closely you'll see which Hug a Lugs overlap a flange on the hub cap.
Once you get them off you can check the hub level (there's a clear ring around the red cap). Do that first because as some have said, overfilling or old caps will cause the streaks as well.
We cut a center hole in our hub cap so we can quickly check hub fluid level before each trip. Way too important to not know if they are low. We used a hole saw, but finding the center of the domed cap took some time.
And we change our red Stemco red plugs every few years, before they dry up.
Do we have part numbers for steer and tag Stemco oil bath hub caps on the forum somewhere? Putting them on a PM replacement schedule sounds like a good idea. I checked Napa online and they show 5 pages of part numbers.
Front Wheel Bearing/Hub Seals, 2001 U320 (http://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=22079.msg166537#msg166537)
We found the effective way to remove the baby moons way to enter California on I-40. Don't even have to get on your knees. Probably a good place to find chrome parts also
We took a red Stemco into an auto parts store to match up new ones, then kept one of the old ones to match up future purchases. That way we know we get the matching new ones.
We are aware that there are after-market black plugs that fit Stemco, but we buy the OEM brand plugs. Since we have the hole cut in the hub cap, I felt the red plug showing through the hole might be an attraction, so I now paint the plug black.
Barry, I have often wondered why you do not find a plug that goes in the hole you cut so muck does not enter the cover. Still easy to remove for inspection of oil level?? plus would maybe not make it so noticable to idiots to cause problem
JohnH
We have not had any muck in the hub cap, but could see it happening. I think a cap would be counter-productive for my quick look for oil at the circle line.
On our 91 Oshkosh chassis when the front oil sump was leaking slightly it caused the oil so be spun out and show up on the rim from the moon on out. I fixed the problem on our machine by tightening the hold down screws and replacing the fill hole plug with a thermos plug that is adjustable. I later on replaced the thermos plugs with real plugs, although the thermos plugs worked very well. Thanks and have a great day ---- Fritz
Shortly after I bought the coach, I found the right front hub was low on on oil, so I filled to the proper level. After about 200 miles found that the right front brake was well oiled. Had a tire store in Charleston, WV replace the seal. He knew what he was doing and checked the bearings and they were ok. Some oil was still in the hub, although the sight glass was empty. He cleaned the brake pads and it's been fine since. No idea of how long it had been that way prior to purchase. A few months later the left front seal began to leak. If one goes might as well get both replaced. Hubs don't use oil like an engine, if it's low there's a leak. I don't feel like I have to check the sight glass every day, but I do pull the hub caps a couple of times a year and check. I also look at the inside tire walls frequently as that is where a seal leak shows up. If the plug or cap seal is leaking you will see that right away. If the coach isn't on level pavement side to side the oil level can be high or low on the sight glass.