Repacking wheel bearings

Seems to me that if grease gets hot enough to liquify, you are either using the wrong grease or you have a problem extra grease in the hub won't help. Also, the tapered shape of the inside of the hub will have gravity make the grease run away from the outer bearing and toward the inner.

Master mechanic and fleet manager for 20 years. Hand pack as seen on u-tube, No extra grease in hub. Synthetic chassis lube, Pack bearings and complete brake inspection every 25,000 miles, Tighten nut while turning wheel then back off until nut is free and install cotter pin.

For those folks with the E-Z-Lube hubs with the charge nipple in the end of the axle stub; you can grease those reasonably safely without pushing lube out past the rear seal by waiting until you've come to a rest stop after an interstate haul. Just make sure it's not a cold day and your grease gun isn't kept in a cabinet frozen solid.

The trick is to make sure hub, and grease are as warm as you can get them and add grease with a slow stroke of the handle with only a couple of strokes being required.

The best way of course is to disassemble and inspect because everything from brake shoes to magnets should be checked seasonally in any case, then repacking by hand with a good amount of grease packed into the hub cavity as well. You want enough in the cavity that if enough heat is generated that liquification occurs, it runs TOWARDS the bearing and not away from it.

Last but not least make an effort to replace the rear seals yearly and with a double lip spring supported seal of better quality than either standard OEM or those included in some rebuild "kits."

Chicago Rawhide or CR have any number of conversion double lip seals in all sizes to suit just remember the WIDTH of those replacement seals is every bit as critical as the I/D & O/D. I have yet to see one though that would have been too wide to seat flush with the rear of the housing.

Dexter has a list of approved greases. 12 years ago I bought a big tub of Pennzoil 707L (on the list) Still using it. I hand pack the bearing, a swipe of grease on the race and a thin layer on the spindle to protect it from corrosion. No bearing issues other than replacing one because I dropped it and bent the cage.

Exactly like aruba5er. The grease in the center is for insurance in case things heat up and it doesn't hurt a thing. I pack the brgs and put a coating on the races and I wipe the excess off the inside of the inside brg before driving in the seal. I put a THIN coat on the seal area of the spindle and the seal lip to keep the seal from burning up. A few years later when I repack, I only wipe out the dark grease near the brgs. Craig

2oldman wrote:
There's probably a very good Youtube video showing this.

Yes, do some searches on Youtube! A couple that I watched showed how to pack the bearing itself with grease. You can purchase a tool to pack the bearing, but doing it by hand you'll be certain that every part is packed with grease.

I always used a bearing packer to insure all the voids in the bearing were filled. I also packed a bit extra. I think as important as the amount of grease is the quality. When I was running an eighteen wheeler I took different brands of grease and heated them in a lid to see which melted first. If I remember, Pennzoil Silver won the test. There has been a lot of advancements in lubrication since but I would still try to find the best grease available. It takes as long to repack with a cheap WangMart lube that may break down as a good one that will do the job.... IMO...

There are such bearings-cartridge bearings. Sealed and at some point throw them away and install new ones. Dexter has them, called Nev-R-Lube.

I've been packing wheel bearings for around 55 years by hand and always put a LOT of grease in the space between the bearings (front to back). I have never had a bearing fail. Yes it might be a waste of grease but I feel the little cost far outweighs the chance of failure. the little grease on the bearings can melt off, sling into the void and have a bearing run dry. By having a lot of grease it can warm up and get back into the bearings.JMO. Another thought, why don"t they make bearings like they use in electric motors. Sealed. No grease necessary. Just throw them away. Would not have to worry about getting grease on brake shoes.

rtaylor0830 wrote:
Hi this maybe a stupid question but when you repack your bearings how much grease do yo put on the races and spindle. Imake sure the bearings are packed very good and put a little grease on the races but I heard it does not have to be glob bed on for a land trailer is this true. I have the grease fittings on the hub but I do not like using them because I am scared of blowing the seal.

Dr Quick wrote:
When I repack bearings I coat the "races" and "spindle" with a light coating grease before assembly. When trailer is moving all the grease stays with the bearings, so as long as bearing are packed right, there should be no problems.

I agree. And I also agree that the quick lube hubs are not anything that you should use. For the same reason you cite here. And for the fact that before the grease gets on the bearings, you need to pump a whole lot of grease into the hub cavity. And that grease in there does absolutely no good for anything. Just a big waste of grease, time, and money.