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Drive Axel Seal Leak
Het Guys,
Got back from Marahon Dallas late last night was moving the bus out this afternoon to give it a bath and noticed a small spot of oil near the Passenger side drive wheels. Took a look under and there are signs of an oil leak. It’s not a massive amount but enough for me to notice. So I am guessing that I have a bad seal or something like that.? I was going in for chassis service in the next week or so. Am I OK to drive like this 30 miles or so?
Bill
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19 Replies
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Well …..I’am not sure but a pizza and a beer might help us decide.
One thing abour service lots….are you sure the leak belongs to you. Another slice please.
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Al,
How many beers have you had? Leak is mine… it’s on my bus barn floor and when I looked at the back side of the tire I was looking at my Tire.. 🙂
Safe to drive it?
Bill -
I don’t think you’ll have any problem in 30 miles. Keep your foot off the brake as much as possible.
OK, rain check on the pizza and beer……< smile
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should be no problem. The drive axle has plenty of oil available, the more it is driven the more chance you would have to do brakes as well as seal…
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Bill…
Other guys here can speak to this perhaps better than I can but the brake pads will have grease all over them…must be cleaned thoroughly….problem is complicated by the fact each connecting bolt in the pad is recessed and the recess is full of grease…. a constant souce of potential coating for the brake pads.
Pres
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I believe that vinatge is disc brakes and won’t have the bolts that hold the pads on like the drum brakes.
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Guys,
Thanks… I will make sure they check out the brakes as well.Bill
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Bill,
As we covered in our seminar this weekend, hub seal leaks can lead to issues with grease getting on the shoes or pads and actually causing the loss of stopping power on that wheel. However a hub seal leak usually does not start out as a gusher, and is noticed quickly with the black streaking on the wheels. If the repair is made within a reasonable amount of time the brake friction material (pads or shoes) can be easily cleaned if necessary and there is little or no loss of brake function.
If on the other hand you have an oily mess with built up grease, road dirt, and brake dust with signs of grease spread all around the tire or wheel then it is likely you may have to consider changing pads. That usually takes a few thousand miles of leaking to get to that point.
A hub seal leak is not an emergency, but does require attention. And just because one hub seal is leaking it does not mean others are about to begin leaking. Fix the leaker, and you are probably OK. We have no consistency to the life of hub seals, with some leaking at relatively few miles, and some never leaking the entire life of the coach.
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When we raised my coach up on the lift during the seminar, Jeff pointed a very small leaking hub seal on my drive. When I got home yesterday I had a black stripped aluminum wheel…… Just glad I am home so I can get her changed.
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Steve, For a trip you have of several hours, since your hub seal leak wasn’t making your wheels drip with grease it could be assumed safely your bearings were not at risk and if your brakes were beginning to see grease it had not progressed to the point where they are compromised.
But getting it taken care of is a wise choice.
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Mr. Admin,
Taking care of the seal and the brake chambers ASAP…….. It is never a good Idea to let things go. As every one knows Prevost did not install leaking wheel seals or brake cans with blown diaphrams on my bus when it was new!! Oh something else, while I have her up in the air I will also have a chance to look again for my “rose petal emitting” devices pull rope. Mr. Mark PHD said it was in my seventh bay behind the 4th tag axle.
Steve
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You cannot always believe what a Liberty guy will tell you. This one included.
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Steve,
Dont let Mark fool you. We all know Liberties eject fresh rose fragrance from the port under the coach just in front of the drivers side drive axle. It wasn’t till 2015 that they added the petal option on top of the fragrance.
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C&T
So…. your telling me that Mr. Mark has been joshing me all along……………. And I thought he was a gentelman all this time!!!!
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Steve,
Just for the record, I’m guilty of ‘joshing’.
Mark, PhD (PrevostHDiesel)…. graduating class (2015) from ETLC University.
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