Wheel bearing grease question.

When greasing wheel bearings, is it advisable to also put some grease in the hub itself, or just grease the bearings and go?

 

I'm not a certified mechanic, but I always put a lot of grease inside the hub too. I've never had anything that looked like overheated bearings.

 

Still hand pack bearings. Its amazing how fast you can do it after a couple years.

Like moriarity I always put some grease on the race and I always coat the entire inside in a light layer of grease.

The old gent that taught me always said to put a light coat over the entire inside incase it ever got water inside the grease would protect the bare iron and keep rust from destroying everything. Of course seals have gotten much better.

Really see that on boat trailers.

 

Put a little bit in the hub, but not much, because big globs is just a waste of grease.

Only the grease that is in, or very near, the bearing will ever do any lubricating.

 

Just hand pack or buy a packer. I have one it was around 10 bucks. You put the bearings into and press the grease through the whole bearing. Don't over grease bearings they will drag and eventually the races might come loose from all the turning forces. Just grease the bearings clean the hub and races well. Just use hot water. I put mine in the stationary tubs and scrub them down until clean, then I put them on the heater and dry them well. Then install them..

 

Make sure you are using the correct grease.

 

I've always hand packed the bearings, and given the races a good coat of grease. Anything more wont ever help as it just gets spun out, not into the bearings.

 

Yep, what he said.

 

This is what I use. Fast, easy, and less messy than hand packing. You can see where the grease is, give a swipe around the outside and a few turns of the bearing to distribute the grease when you pull it out of the packer and it's ready to install. I'll liberally smear some grease on the hub races and spindle (the latter mostly to prevent rust) but don't get carried away.

 

Hi I was taught to pack some grease in behind the bearing-ya don't fill the hub,just a layer of grease behind the bearing.

 

You don’t want grease behind the race, you want the race to seat, unless you mean something different?

 

I have hand packed and have a neat little packer that you can use a grease gun to pack bearing with. Like said I add a little grease between the bearing and the seal, coat the inside of the hub, if there is not already grease there and coat the spindle. Then I take the cap and use it to clean the grease off my hand, when hand packing. I also smear grease on the outside of the bearing after packing and a little on the race. But I don’t fill the hub or cap. I just try to get as much grease as possible around the bearing. Just my way.






Bones

 

Grease is cheap, so you are not spending much other than time by packing the hub.

 

I finally learned that if one packs bearing by hand it should be done over a clean rag. Then you carry the rag to the hub. Once you've dropped the greased bearing into the gravel or dirt you have added about an hour to the job.

 

Thank you guys.

 

Just an observation , there are literally millions of bearing buddies in use on trailers , those hubs aged packed full , I've never experiences or heard of that being the cause of overheated bearings , the bearings on my boat trailer are 48 years old , I put the bearing buddies on 42 years ago . Its a 4000 lb axle .

 

The purpose of bearing buddies on boat trailers is to maintain a slight amount of pressure inside the hub to keep water out, and to let you push fresh grease in if it get contaminated. Hub full of grease won't cause overheating, but it doesn't do anything to lubricate the bearings. The grease doesn't circulate through the hub. The only grease that does anything to lubricate the bearing is what is in the bearing.

 

Only need to pack the bearings and I put a thin film on everything else to protect it from oxidation. There are lots of papers written on over greasing bearings can cause overheating, they are all industrial applications however. I don’t think it matters either way for our stuff.


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I suppose I should check the bearings; but who does unless the hub has to come off for a brake job? 20 or 30 years too long?

 

I remember watching my dad when I was a little fella hand packing bearings. It always amazed me how he could get the job done with very little mess. When he started teaching me and watching me do it, I would look like I’d dunked both hands in the grease can. Lol. He’d just shake his head. Now that he’s gone, I think about him every time I hand pack them. Good memories.

 

Use gloves......less mess ?

 

I always hand pack wheel bearings. It gives me a chance to feel the surfaces of the bearings for a rough spot or a bad spot on the bearing.
Then a light film inside of the hub and on the spindle to prevent rust. Has worked for over 50 years and no lost wheel bearings on a trailer or a vehicle.

 

But the memories just wouldn’t be the same.

 

Guy that taught me 60 years ago always put some extra in the hub for insurance just in case you developed a dry bearing somewhere out in the desert.

 

I learned to pack bearings during my apprenticeship in a heavy duty shop. We used a pneumatic packer for the bigger bearings but hand packed the smaller ones. I was told the only reason to grease the inside of the hub (and the spindle) was to prevent corrosion. However, boat trailer hubs are routinely fitted with grease caps like EZ Grease Caps and those hubs get completely packed, so pick your poison I guess. The advice to do your packing over a clean rag is a good one, and also CLEAN YOUR HANDS before doing this, especially the palm of the hand holding the bearing. Otherwise you’ll just transfer all that grit and grime from your palm right into the bearing.

 

Main thing is don't over tighten the adjusting nut

 

They came standard equipment on my 8 Ton dump trailer. The proper way to grease them is to jack up the wheel and rotate while pumping grease in. this allows both inner and outer bearings to be greased. Just pumping in grease without spinning the wheel will never grease the outer bearing.

Takes all of the fun out of it. You get all dirty and greasy and have a sense of accomplishment.

 

I have a general question...how often should wheel bearings be checked, as in tear everything down and physically inspect the bearings. I did this about a year ago and repacked the bearings. It has been left alone since. Car drives fine, wheels turn freely. Car is a Deuce Roadster that sees about 4,000 miles a year. It’s a pain in the butt to get it all apart and back together.

 

Both the shop manuals and the bearing manufacturers themselves, their instructions for tapered wheel bearings say exactly the same thing.

It doesn't have anything to do with lubing the bearings, I think that's where people get confused. But they obviously want the mechanic to do this, or it wouldn't be in there. I ignore stuff sometimes too, but I like to know the reason behind what it is that I'm ignoring. I think Chevy manuals further state to fill the dust cap 1/2 full with grease. Everybody gets pissed off at that too.

(Ford shop manual example follows)

"Pack the inside of the hub with wheel bearing grease. Fill the hub until the grease is flush with the inside diameters of both bearing cups."

It takes quite a lot of grease to reach a level flush with the cups. Keep in mind this procedure here is in addition to a standard bearing repack.

Obviously, one still has to pack the bearings or Bad Things will happen.

The only reason I can come up with, is to keep water out of the hub cavity in the first place, if say the driver was to ford a shallow stream or drive through a flood? It may be that if water gets in a hub, it isn't going to leave as easily.

Anyone know for sure? That's gotta be it though.To me it's kind of interesting how stuff can be right in the fucking manual, and people are all "Oh, hell no I don't do that." LOL !