About one week later we were driving to Colorado Springs on a steep down hill and both of us noticed the smell of hot brakes. More on this later. We pulled into Peregrine Pines Family Campground on the US Air Force Academy, and I noted this:
This is our right front wheel. UGH, that looks like the dreaded blown wheel bearing seal. That is not a cheap repair. It takes a heavy duty truck shop to make the repair. I don't have the heavy duty tools or even a jack or jack stands to do the job.
If the brake pads got oil on them, they are about $700 just for the parts.... UGH, I will be eating mac and cheese instead of dry aged rib-eyes.
Well, I popped the hub cap off and this is what I found:
On that day we had ascended 2,160 feet in elevation from 3,875 feet at North Sterling State Park to Colorado Springs at about 6,035 feet above sea level in about 4.5 hours. The temperature in the hub probably also went up 50 degrees or more due to driving, and the heat the brakes generate going downhill. That is enough change of air pressure to push out the vent/fill plug. NOTE: I normally fill the hubs just to the add mark to keep spillage to a minimum.
I filled the hub with oil to just above the add line, reinserted the plug and then used some simple green to wash off the spilled oil from the wheel and tire.
Here is what it is supposed to look like:
Here is a closeup of the vent/fill plug. You might note the small slit in the center of the plug that is supposed to vent the hub while keeping contaminates out of the oil.
I enlarged the slit and added a cross slit to allow air to pass with less resistance. I did this to the drivers side hub too.
Back to the smell of brakes, I guess that the hub oil I have smells very similar to hot brakes when atomized....
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