Rebuild ProPride

[cwf]

Howdy..
Rebuild ProPride?? Yup
Done it yourself?? Almost to "Yup"
Removed, disassembled, cleaned, cleaned.... Cleaned.. Then, well, cleaned


I am now going back together and it seems
To be going well...'few snags'..

This IS NOT for The faint of heart or lacking in significant mechanical ability... But I am nearly done... Almost to "Yup"...

[rmkrum]

Would really love to see pictures on how to disassemble, clean, and get it back together...


Sent from my pocket Internet using Airstream Forums

[SteveSueMac]

Originally Posted by rmkrum

Would really love to see pictures on how to disassemble, clean, and get it back together...


Sent from my pocket Internet using Airstream Forums

Me too. Anyone care to do a series of videos?

[cwf]

Missed the video opportunity... No one to take the video which would have included humorous and revealing out takes...

I called Sean when I suspected a problem. After his messaging (via cell message on SUNDAY!!) diagnostic help, he offered to send replacement if I agreed to return the old one. (Lifetime warranty)

Cost to overnight to me??? About $500 to Texas.. Uhhhh...options? I do not know return ground cost...but probably more than my repair cost..(minus my time.)

I asked I could do work..and maintain warranty...yup....

Sean gave suggestions so I dove in....with help of a strong friend who I brew beer with....

It took some...errrr... Persuasion... (Not beer) but came apart. Ok,

It has taken me a few days... About 15 hours working slow and carefully to ensure all could be repaired safely.. (in my workshop to figure approach, remove old bearings...cleanand (and cleaned...see above), hand tool recondition shafts.. Locate parts (hardest was sourcing the "small seal)... start reassembly.

Sean sent repair parts overnight, once I figured out the problem(Wow)...

I cannot post pics here. Will upload and provide pic links... May even do a writeup... At least the way I did the work.

At least you can laugh at my humble expense...and it won't be a total waste...

How's that sound?

[cwf]

Pics...
http://tinypic.com/a/f520zt/3

[Gsmblue]

Wow! Those pics are surprising!

[ghaynes755]

Channing, how old is the ProPride? Did Sean offer any insight on what triggered the damage to the bearing? Almost looks like a lack of grease but hard to tell as you may have already wiped stuff off.

I was at Sean's shop a year or so ago and we did some checking on my setup. Pulled both spindles and replaced the bearings. Straight forward process but the weight and size of the parts makes it a job. The experts, Sean and primarily his dad who was there that day, pulled it apart and back together in about 90 mins. Of course they had years of experience.

[cwf]

Water had intruded and all that was left was water in the bearings and a bit of telltale white grease on the upper ones. Lowers were toast. The shaft that goes from fat end of link down had both bearings disabled....crushed...those I had to use bearing puller to remove..

Sean said the hardest thing was to not damage the seals in reassembly... The original seals had allowed water in.. So had the bearing caps. The caps will be sealed with the dreaded RTV...

I didn't damage new seals because I cleaned up the leading edge with a slope/angle then polished. I have done hundreds like this without issue. I am concerned where the seal surface contacts the shaft.. It was/is very pitted... I polished the surface, so there is less "wear points" to chew up the seal lip.

Hopefully this will be a "permanent" fix.

[Airstreamer67]

Tip of the hat to you, cwf. You're really good to be able to tackle that job! I'm impressed!

How many miles on that hitch?

[J. Morgan]

Nice work Channing!

Without water getting in there I cant imagine those bearings ever failing.

This winter I popped the dust caps off of my Hensley for that very reason. It was still dry clean and pretty.

I am going to make that an annual inspection item. I bought used, so no warrantee for me.


Superat stultitia.

[cwf]

Originally Posted by Airstreamer67

Tip of the hat to you, cwf. You're really good to be able to tackle that job! I'm impressed!

How many miles on that hitch?

Howdy.. it is 3 years old.. at least 25K miles... I now know what to look for and know it has been broken for quite a while.. most noticeable after my "off time" for health reasons...

[slowmover]

I know I'd have been caught by surprise (age and miles). Sure glad you got it rebuilt.

[cwf]

Well, well.. A bit of an update..
Repaired PP with new 20k coupler. Recheck of receiver end height and pitch indicated an adjustment.. Before all the repairs, the bow was high and stern low when underway. So, the measurements indicated a drop of the receiver end by 3 holes.. I obediently adjusted and we ventured off. Right off the bat the AS seemed a bit squirrelly... But not dangerous.

As I was rolling up to speed, about 45 MPH, then as I started to match traffic, a sway began!!! My wife was scared nearly witless.. But witless is my job... The stern was oscillating what seemed to be almost one foot.. I rolled off power NO BRAKES.. But did tap the electrics a bit.. and it settled down. I rolled 45 with my bride crying.. till exiting and pulled into a big parking lot (thanks Bass Pro)... I stopped, exited and stood there, looking at the rig in disgust, anger and severe disappointment. My wife was ready to park the Airstream there, out a for sale sign on it ($2 or best offer)...

The news got out quickly and my son and another good mechanic showed up.. They withheld my "wrath by ball-peen"...

Now...as they say.."It is personal." Never had the PP done this before.. The rebuild was solid.. I locked tires... then unhitched.. Check the PP... No problem, head moved smooth as glass!

Jacked each side..of Airstream... All wheels, brakes, etc, working as perfect as possible.. No bearing noise, only brake drum scrape... No wheel bearing slack or noisy (I had already checked these at home before PP repair... What COULD it be!!! Hitch height??? The only thing I "modified" in any significant way...

No... It can't be. My last choice.. Hitch Head Height.. Took out my battery operated impact tool... Raised the Receiver ONE hole.. Rehitched.. Did some go/stop in rapid succession.. All ok. Made some Airstream handling scenes in the parking lot.. (Unadvisasable)... No issues...

Loaded catatonic wife and her dog into the truck.. Then headed out with mechanic friends following...

Up to 45.. Ok. Semi aggressive lane changes.. Rock solid... 50... Ok... 60.. Ok. 65!!! Ok. Alright.. 70. Significant lane changes... Ok!!!!! Ok!!!

Hmmmmm perhaps the Airstream felt my bride writing with her lipstick, on the curb side window... "For sale..
$2 or best offer!" And decided it should "play nice"???


Peace and blessings...
Channing and Phyllis.

[slowmover]

That's my job

Well put

[cwf]

Originally Posted by slowmover

That's my job

Well put

Weeellll, thank ya! A man has to know his limitations and possibilities... 😛

[Al and Missy]

Originally Posted by cwf

...
It has taken me a few days... About 15 hours working slow and carefully to ensure all could be repaired safely.. (in my workshop to figure approach, remove old bearings...cleanand (and cleaned...see above), hand tool recondition shafts.. Locate parts (hardest was sourcing the "small seal)... start reassembly.
...

Channing,

I am now faced with essentially the same problem, on a hitch purchased used from the original owner. One grease seal appeared to not have been pressed in. No marks on the perimeter of the seal. It was loose between the plate and the arm.

How did you recondition the shafts? I am going to have to do that, or maybe even replace at least one of mine. It is pretty bad.

Al

[cwf]

Al, Great to speak you about your PP rebuild.. Let me know!

[Al and Missy]

Originally Posted by cwf

Al, Great to speak you about your PP rebuild.. Let me know!

Channing,
Thanks for taking the time to talk me through this. I think I am on a success path now.

Apparently Sean incorporated your ideas into the hitch I bought. The edges of those spacers are chamfered to protect the grease seals.

Al

[Al and Missy]

First a big thank you to Channing (cwf) for spending quite a bit of time with me on the phone to talk me through the process.

I mounted the hitch in the receiver on my truck to serve as a stand. I rotated the hitch 90 degrees to give good access to the top and bottom and to eliminate the potential for heavy parts to drop to the floor. I removed the bearings on the pivot assembly (the part with the ball) first so I could take that off first. Then I removed the bearings on the hitch assembly (the part that the stinger goes into).



As I removed the bearings I put them in line so I could take a picture to ensure that I put it back together the right way.



I cleaned up all the bearings, but since 4 of them were bad, this was probably an unnecessary step as I plan to replace all eight. This did, however allow me to confirm the part numbers I found on another brand's forum where a member reported rebuilding his hitch.

The next step was to assess the condition of the shafts. After removal and cleaning I polished the shafts with emery cloth strips and ultimately with valve grinding compound as suggested by Channing. My take on it was:
1. Coarse emery cloth with oil
2. Medium emery cloth with oil
3. Fine emery cloth with oil
4. Back side of fine emery cloth with valve grinding compound.
Here are before (one shaft) and after (the other shaft) pictures:



While the shaft has a lot of pitting, the area where the bearings inner sleeves contact it looks pretty good. I will turn the bushings around to allow the grease seals to bear on good material. Now I have to order all bearings, races, seals, and caps and put it back together.

Al

[Mollysdad]

Too many moving parts. IMO, a $2500 hitch shouldn't need new bearings for a lifetime!
Killing a mosquito with a sledgehammer.
Next time a UPS semi passes you (with two trailers) look and see how the second trailer is connected. It's a hook.