How to check grease on Cottrell hub bearings?

One thing you can do is crawl underneath with a flashlight, look way up inside the brakes at the wheelseals and make sure it's not leaking grease there. Lots of obstructions, hopefully you don't have those dust shields that cover the brake from view.

 

It's not that expensive to pull the hubcap and do a visual inspection of the hub assembly. Kill two birds with one stone.

Checking the temperature like you do is a good indicator.

 

You don't have to buy the hub assy unless it's wore out. You can buy just a hubcap and gasket. The bearing cartridge pressed in the hub assy is not serviceable and is what the cause of the fires are. That's what the mechanic is referring to. Meritor has a recall on it but I'm not sure if your 2004 is covered or not. You might get it free. At a minimum Meritor will pay to inspect your hubs for free to see if you have that cartridge.

Here's a technical service bulletin on it and a full set of directions. It also includes how to inspect and replace that defective bearing hub cartridge that causes fires.

http://www.cottrelltrailers.com/admin/uploads/meritor revised recall package 08.12.pdf

There are more TSB's and one more older hub recall. Go to this page to read them all.

http://www.cottrelltrailers.com/adm...dfwww.cottrelltrailers.com/product/manual.php


Once you get that aftermarket hub cartridge for each wheel you should be safe.

 

Can't you retrofit with a bearing cap that has a rubber plug so you can check hub oil? Also, as another poster said, take a look for leaking wheel seals from the inside. Another habit to get into is to make a mental note of the ground when you park, and what stains are on the ground. Then as you walk up to your rig, take a visual scan of leaked fluids on the ground.

On another note...I have had to replace complete axles on a Cottrell due to another shop not checking brake bracket bushings on the slack adjusters. Once they go bad, you cannot weld on new ones or repair them. It is a new axle!!