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Grease packingin hub, good practice or waste of grease

Tackettr

Member
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Location
Edmond/OK
When you lubricate the wheel bearings should you fill the void area in the hub between the bearings with grease as much as possible? My grandfather always did it that way and I never questioned the practice. There is no mention of this in the TMs that I have found, just pack the bearings and put them in. Man, I'm wearing out the board this morning!! :D
 

Jones

Well-known member
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Sacramento, California
Packing the space between the bearings won't necessarily make that grease travel to the bearings. iI've never done it and haven't had any bearing failures so far.
The trick is to get grease throughout the rollers and to do this you either need to force it in with a special bearing packing tool, or use a trick most old mechanics use. Get a handful of grease and, holding the bearing in the other hand (like you'd hold a donut or hamburger), mash and drag the roller face through the handful of grease. Turn to a dry section and repeat. This forces grease into the voids between the rollers, not just on the outer surface of the bearing. Repeat 'til you've gone around the entire bearing. Done right you'll see grease ooze out the inner and outer edges of the roller cage.
Any excess grease will continually re-distribute itself while driving.
 

Tackettr

Member
287
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16
Location
Edmond/OK
Fill hub Scoreboard:

2 No
1 Yes

I guess, even if it never makes it to the bearing it still fills a void to help keep out oil, water, ect.???? Mine is already packed so I won't be taking it out. However, I'm concerned I didn't pack the bearings well enough so I'll be re-doing them tonight.
-
PS: Great pictures!!!
 

Boatcarpenter

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You can always count on Gerhard for great pictures, drawings, measurements and detailed technical advice etc. Always well thought out and studied. Great asset you are to the hobby and the forum Gerhard. :idea:
Thanks,
BC
 
Hands will hurt if you do allthe hubs at once.... :lol:

Get a bearing packer or something similar to below. They are cheap at your local parts house. Just make sure the dia. is big enough to cover the entire bearing with some excess, it will make it much easier.

Looking on the net, many offroad sites recommend filling the hub as well. I guess it couldnt hurt to fill the void, good place to put the extra half gallon of grease I ended up with. I didnt fill my hubs this time but I might next time.
 

Attachments

CGarbee

Well-known member
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Location
Raleigh, NC
I don't fill the entire hub, lots of extra weight and expense and you will still get water/oil in if it gets past the seals... I do, however, take and smear a light coat of grease on the entire inside surface of the hub as a rust preventative...
 

jimm1009

Well-known member
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Location
Louisville, KY
On this subject, the L.O. datd April 1983 states to use GAA, Grease, Auto & Artilillery, MIL-G-10924.
I've been doing an internet search of Mil-Spec lubricants and the manufacturers seem somewhat reluctant to publish this information which would be an additional selling point for them I would think.
What is the general brand name that most use that would meet or exceed this spec?
Jim
 

1956_4x4

New member
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Location
Crestview, Florida
Filling the hub hurts nothing, it also doesn't help anything. Only the bearings are greased from the factory. I'd say that if we start getting a hub hot enough to liquify the grease so that it flows out of the bearings into the hub, we have other problems...

That being said, I did repack the bearings on a payscraper that had some of steel shot accidently left in the hub during the manufacturing process. The shot was used after the hub was cast and about two ounces was still in the hub when it was painted. The paint held it in place and just a few pellets had worked free by the first scheduled bearing repack (3 years later...). I'd have to say that in this case some grease in the hub would have kept that shot in place forever...

Smitty
 

jimm1009

Well-known member
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Location
Louisville, KY
Hello again fellow MVers. I just found this web site and some information that I extracted on GAA grease. It seems that it was superseded somewhere after 1983 for many uses.
It looks like a moisture content problem and of course newer technology came along too.
I will do more reading but I thought that you would like to see this too.
Link first and then excerpt below.
Regards,
Jim

http://fastt.navsea.navy.daps.dla.mil/frames/rec_9.htm

Substitute grease for AGE wheel bearings

Aerospace Ground Equipment (AGE) is brought into the shops once each year for periodic maintenance inspection. During this maintenance the wheel bearings are checked. Some activities are using MIL-G-10924 grease, which was a railway grease used by the Army. A problem with this grease is that water is trapped in the grease around the bearings causing over half of the bearing to fail annually due to corrosion. This MIL Spec has been cancelled. FASTT found that the recommended grease is MIL-G-23827 or MIL-G-81322. The MIL-G-81322 is also listed in the Technical Order for some of the equipment. This is a better grease to lube the bearings and repel water. The NSN for a 6.5lb can of MIL-G-81322 grease is 9150-00-145-0268 at $13.24/can.
 

Recovry4x4

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Super Moderator
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GAA is difficult to pack bearings with. With that said, I still have over 100# of GAA and will continue to use it until its gone, call me frugal!
 

nick55

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Location
Hemet, Ca
I know I dont say much 'round here but when the grease gets hot enough to flow the center hub full will just leak out past the seals. It wont keep water out, thats what the seals are for.

As far as using a tool to push grease through the bearing I found this to be the best.

[/url]http://www.lislecorp.com/tool_detail.cfm?detail=559
 

Rattlewagon

Member
186
1
16
Location
SW PA
Re: RE: Grease packingin hub, good practice or waste of grea

Recovry4x4 said:
GAA is difficult to pack bearings with. With that said, I still have over 100# of GAA and will continue to use it until its gone, call me frugal!
Kenny, is that the real stringy stuff?

dan
 

gringeltaube

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Boatcarpenter said:
..... Great asset you are to the hobby and the forum ......
Thanks,
BC
Thank you Sir! But this should go out for so many others here as well, doing their best to keep this hobby alive and enjoyable, starting with our great SS-Staff![thumbzup]

And reading and sharing experience with others or trying to find correct answers or pics is something that sure helps me learn more and not forget to soon...! :)

Gerhard
 
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