Self-Adjusting Brakes?

Outbound, I agree. Nothing should be neglected. Remember manufacturers write half of what they do by the legal department. Bhamster gave his example, then admitted that the wheels had been flooded.

Of course PM should be done after extenuating circumstances. But I see people here with a 2013 171 out looking for someone to repack their wheel bearings and comparing prices, so money is an object.

I was just trying to interject some common sense and not cause people who have no mechanical experience to become paranoid that after 5000 miles their wheels are about to fall off. This is simply not true, unless there is extenuating circumstances.

The manufacturer also provides hubs with zerk fittings. Are these to be ignored? Perhaps not.

This is my first year with the pod, but not my first rodeo with towing. If pod owners have a spare $150, then get a REPUTABLE mechanic pull your hubs and inspect and repack them. If you get a jack leg who does not do it right (and yes there are lots of ways to do damage), then on a new trailer it is better left alone under normal conditions.

Ways to cause damage are improperly washing and hand packing the bearing set before reassembly, damaging and not replacing seals, getting grease on the brake drums or shoes (this can cause the wheel to seize and lock up) as well as not properly torqueing the castle nut or forgetting the cotter/retainer pin. All these things are far worse than leaving it alone for a while (not forever).

Bearings and the hub "cap", which gets destroyed during the removal process for inspection (or bearing replacement)

'Slogger

Yeah   ...after I found out what axle type I had I talked to a few mechanics in town and they said that the axles are generally not hard to source, even on the road - - but those bearings and hub caps can be a tad scarce. For the cost of parts it was worth having that back-up set in my tool box :-)

'Slogger

Our pod goes to the dealer tomorrow for having the risers installed.  While there I am having them pack bearings and check brakes (and tires).  I hate sitting on the side of the road with troubles.

I have Lippert self adjusting brakes.  I am replacing them with Dexter 10x2 manual adjusted brakes for the following reasons.  They are impossible to get balanced braking, they do not share the braking equally.  The brakes alternated from one side to the other with 2/3 one side and 1/3 on the other.  There is possible drag on the side that got self adjusted last.  They cause sway due to uneven braking.  Check your wheels for the amount of brake and magnet residue on them after each trip, you may find one side has more than the other.  That was my first indication that the brakes were not sharing equally.  Take a temperature reading and compare the results.  When they are adjusted manually, you are confident that there is no drag, and get better gas mileage.