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Topic: Rear axel and front hub oil change intervals (Read 442 times) previous topic - next topic

Rear axel and front hub oil change intervals

I recently saw a Foretravel maintenance guide and it listed rear axel oil and front hub oil changes. Think the rear axle was every year and the front hubs were every few. Wondering if this applies to my 1996 U295 and how often that is actually is done. Never seen any mention of this before. I regularly check the levels on my front hubs but have never replaced the oil in the rear axle or the hubs.
Brian & Lisa Freeze
1996 U295 36FT Build #4914
Motorcade #18760

Re: Rear axel and front hub oil change intervals

Reply #1 –
If that is the case I would change it now with a good synthetic,and monitor levels.
96 U270 BUILD 4810
85 380SL
Drummonds TN.

Re: Rear axel and front hub oil change intervals

Reply #2 –
Quote from: brianefeeze –
I recently saw a Foretravel maintenance guide and it listed rear axel oil and front hub oil changes. Think the rear axle was every year and the front hubs were every few. Wondering if this applies to my 1996 U295 and how often that is actually is done. Never seen any mention of this before. I regularly check the levels on my front hubs but have never replaced the oil in the rear axle or the hubs.
That might have been for a tag axle. I don't know of any time frame for a truck differential gear oil change. There are trucks out there with a million miles on them with no oil change.
1999 40 ft. U-320 wtfe build 5563 Chuck & Lynda's "Rollin' Inn"  2030 watts solar
prev. mh's 71 GMC 5 yrs. 73 Pace Setter 1 yr. 78 Vogue 5 yrs 81 FTX 40ft all electric 18 yrs. 1996 Monaco Signature 3 yrs.
2014 Grand Cherokee Overland
Dream as if you will live forever. Live as if you will die today.  James Dean

Re: Rear axel and front hub oil change intervals

Reply #3 –
"Changing the oil" in a wheel hub is a bit of a misnomer.  My past experience with large truck hubs is that the majority of the oil is in the hollow part of the hub so even if you remove the outside sealing plate, you don't get much oil out.  Unless you remove the hub or at least the outside bearing, the best you can do is exchange a small portion.  As stated, tag and front hubs have oil baths, the drive axle is lubed from the differential.  Guess you might consider changing the diff fluid every 75 to100k miles?????
Old Scout
2015 IH45
New Braunfels Tx

Re: Rear axel and front hub oil change intervals

Reply #4 –
Quote from: craneman –
That might have been for a tag axle. I don't know of any time frame for a truck differential gear oil change. There are trucks out there with a million miles on them with no oil change.

And yet would you believe Foretravel has "change differential fluid" in the maintenance interval book as every 14K miles or 12 months, whichever came first?  Same interval as steer and tag hub oil...

I wonder how many differentials had fluid changes they didn't need...
Learn every day, but especially from the experiences of others. It's cheaper!  - John C. Bogle

2000 U320 36' non-slide / WildEBeest Rescue
2003 U320

Re: Rear axel and front hub oil change intervals

Reply #5 –
My Oshkosh chassis manual says differential oil should be changed at 100k miles so that's when I had it changed.
88 Grand Villa 36' ORED 3208 (throwaway)Cat.
 Build # 3150
Happiness is the maximum agreement of reality and desire.

Re: Rear axel and front hub oil change intervals

Reply #6 –
IIRC, Meritor drive axles using synthetic oil are considered lubed for life in Motorhomes. Although frequently servicing things doesn't hurt anything. I think I changed mine back in 13 or 14 the old looked like the new. However make sure the vent in the axle is open
Bruce, Linda, and Macy
Zoey RIP 1/20/19
1999 U295 40' build #5400
2017 silver Jeep Wrangler, 1260 watts of solar on top
Moving around the country

Re: Rear axel and front hub oil change intervals

Reply #7 –
The manuals that came with my '95 called for annual differential oil changes on pre '93 coaches and 100,000 mile changes on '93 and later due to a different vent on the later coaches that left less moisture into the differential.
John Duld
1995 U320C SE 40'

Re: Rear axel and front hub oil change intervals

Reply #8 –
I rarely buy new vehicles of any sort so a complete fluid change gets done right off. I've never serviced a rear end on a yearly basis outside of a couple in a Peterbilt that took on water while taking my boat to dry dock. Same time I never liked seeing third member lube jet black and a typical one like in the FT are not hard to service. All the while knowing that many a gallon of rear end lube is dumped out clean going by a 12 month schedule. I travel southeast to southwest and drive thru some desert and I just feel better knowing my fluids are more than adequate as far as attention goes.
Dub McBride 1996 270

Re: Rear axel and front hub oil change intervals

Reply #9 –
Quote from: John Duld –
The manuals that came with my '95 called for annual differential oil changes on pre '93 coaches and 100,000 mile changes on '93 and later due to a different vent on the later coaches that left less moisture into the differential.

Interesting - ours was a 2003, yet the Foretravel maintenance book showed that 14,000 mile/12 month change interval.
Learn every day, but especially from the experiences of others. It's cheaper!  - John C. Bogle

2000 U320 36' non-slide / WildEBeest Rescue
2003 U320