Get your bearings …

 

CHECKED! glamper girls.

I found this photo of a woman’s trailer disaster on the Internet. She said she was waiting for roadside assistance to show up. A glamper needs her wheels … TO BE CHECKED before she hits the road! Wheel bearings? Checked. (And greased or replaced.) Brakes? Checked. (And replaced if worn out.)

My first reaction was, “This is why I took my Airstream in last week to get my wheel bearings packed (greased) and the brakes checked.”

 

I asked my resident mechanics (hubby Nick and farmhand Brian) what they thought caused it, and of course, they were happy to have an opinion (see below).

HUBBY: It looks like the nut came loose that holds the bearings on. That would allow the wheel to come off while still attached to the brake drum. If the nut did not come loose to start the bearings on their path to failure, perhaps they ran out of grease or got dirt in them from a worn seal. Perhaps water got in the bearings and they rusted.

BRIAN: If the wheel came off this way, with the drum still attached to the tire rim, I would suspect the spindle nut came off. This nut is usually held from spinning loose because it is typically a “castle” type, held secure by a cotter pin or metal cover that’s tabbed and bent to hold the nut. I can’t zoom in on the image, but if the spindle nut is still in place, the bearings may have disintegrated.

The next time you ask your mechanic to check your brakes, make sure you also ask to have the wheel bearings checked.

Poor girl. That must have made her heart go pitter-patter and not in a good way.

  1. Terry Steinmetz says:

    Poor girl! I hope she still had time to go glamping.

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