tt wheel

[Tractorat]

I had to change a flat tire this afternoon on my TT. When I went to put the spare on, I noticed that, even after Ive tightened the lug nuts down, I can wiggle the wheel quite a bit. I will be taking this to my trusty RV repair shop. But, what would cause that ?

 

[JHumphries]

Loose wheel bearings?
I'm assuming the wheel was still off of the ground.

 

[Tractorat]

Yup, I think so. It hit me just as I clicked on "reply"
Its been a long day, too many things going on in my head.
Think Ill go watch tv.

 

[jelag]

look at the taper on the wheel... . I've seen the taper on the wheel oval out... from the nuts being loose earlier... thus the nut goes tight to the hub and doesn't clamp on the wheel... Just a thought...

 

[Hoefler]

Chrome acorn nuts and studs for aluminum wheels. The spare is usualy steel, the nuts are bottoming out before the wheel gets tight. May have to have extra deep acron nuts if you don't have them already, or a set of regular nuts for the stell wheels.

 

[Blu-meanie]

I'll vote for the bearing pre-load (loose nut). There should be some play, but not much.

 

[HBarlow]

Chrome acorn nuts and studs for aluminum wheels. The spare is usualy steel, the nuts are bottoming out before the wheel gets tight. May have to have extra deep acron nuts if you don't have them already, or a set of regular nuts for the stell wheels.

Your idea is a good thought and made a lot of sense until I thought about it a minute. I don't remember seeing any trailer wheel nuts that were acorn type. All the wheel nuts I've seen for travel trailers have been ordinary nuts - open ended so they can't bottom out.

 

[Wingate]

The lugnuts on my Jayco are not thru nuts... they are actually a two piece design that allows the seat to remain stationary against the wheel and the threaded section of the nut is what turns. I like them, but have always thought about what would happen to some unsuspecting guy that stopped at the local tire shop and had a friggin retard "double tap" them with an impact wrench... !!

 

[TLane]

Chrome acorn nuts and studs for aluminum wheels. The spare is usualy steel, the nuts are bottoming out before the wheel gets tight. May have to have extra deep acron nuts if you don't have them already, or a set of regular nuts for the stell wheels.

I wonder if I have this problem on my truck? I haven't had to put the spare on (yet), but I have aluminum wheels on 4 tires on the ground, and the spare is a steel wheel. I better check and see if I need a set of nuts for the spare...



My travel trailer has a set of solid chrome lug nuts of the acorn style that (IIRC) I bought at Walmart. The originals were a regular nut with a stamped steel piece that made them look like acorn nuts. The thin stamped steel piece would deform and look bad if you ever took them off (which I did many times), so I replaced them.

 

[Wingate]

I wonder if I have this problem on my truck? I haven't had to put the spare on (yet), but I have aluminum wheels on 4 tires on the ground, and the spare is a steel wheel. I better check and see if I need a set of nuts for the spare...

If its factory wheels, then you have nothing to worry about. . Manufacturers think of these things. If they are aftermarket, well... you might want to check.

 

[TLane]

If its factory wheels, then you have nothing to worry about. . Manufacturers think of these things. If they are aftermarket, well... you might want to check.

Thanks -



My truck sat on two different dealer's lots for almost 2 years before I bought it. It was missing a couple of items (one was the lug wrench) and the dealer I bought it from went to another truck on the lot to get me those items. I don't know if they ever went back to parts to replace the ones on those trucks, but I suspect they keep swapping stuff until they get a buyer who doesn't notice. I wonder how many things like that I missed? Is it possible my truck originally had an aluminum spare?



I've never had aluminum wheels before and wouldn't have ordered a truck with them on it, but this truck was at a great price because it had been sitting so long. I didn't know that aluminum wheels will corrode and stick to the hubs, and they are next to impossible to remove (I read about that on TDR). I now carry a 5 lb sledge just for that - and it's not included as standard equipment either! (I also removed all 4 wheels at home one day, cleaned everything up and applied a small amount of high-temp anti-seize, we'll see if that helps). I just need to remember to check before I'm stuck 100's miles from home on a dark and stormy night!





So please pardon me for being a little bit skeptical.

 

[GReed]

TLane, the anti seize will help keeping the aluminum wheels from welding themselves onto the hubs. I had that problem on the wifes car. She would never have been able to change a flat. One other thing you can do when that happens is loosen the lugs and slowly drive, making small turns.

 

[Wingate]

I didn't know that aluminum wheels will corrode and stick to the hubs, and they are next to impossible to remove (I read about that on TDR). I now carry a 5 lb sledge just for that - and it's not included as standard equipment either! (I also removed all 4 wheels at home one day, cleaned everything up and applied a small amount of high-temp anti-seize, we'll see if that helps). I just need to remember to check before I'm stuck 100's miles from home on a dark and stormy night!


So please pardon me for being a little bit skeptical.

hahaha... My truck also has aluminum wheels, they are factory wheels and had never been removed until earlier this year... so they had been on since new for 6+ years... . those poor guys at NTB spent almost an hour trying to get the rear wheels off. . hahaha