lost an entire wheel and drum

Wild Card wrote:
Possibly melt was a poor choice of wording. And not everyone goes out and buys xyz premium spaceshuttle lithium grease.

Sure is funny that grease liquifies and drips from grease guns on an normal summer day.

And were not all talking to and about people who routinely maintain their hubs. Most who will read this could care less about their hubs and bearings.

The oil that you see leaking out of an unused grease gun is oil that has separated, or come out of suspension, not melted. The turning bearing will actually keep that from happening since it keeps the oil in suspension by the rotation of the bearing. Just like oil and water, let it sit and the oil will rise, keep it agitated and it will disperse, somewhat, in the water.

If you let the bearing sit long enough, some of the oil will indeed run to the lowest point. Another good reason to use your trailer rather than let it sit. :)