How I remove and install axle grease caps

Westend thanks for the info. Hoping for the best.

ernie1 wrote:
Mex,
Today I just put in new wheel bearings for my rv and always wondered whether one should pack grease in the hub area between the inner and outer bearings and also how much. I asked around and got a variety of answers but none really definitive. So, today I packed the heck out of the hubs and am hoping for the best. Are you saying it's not necessary, not a good idea or it doesn't make any difference with the new greases?

Packing the area between the two bearings will do a couple of things: It prevents less rust to form in the hub. It will allow grease to melt/flow that is not inside the bearing.

As the bearings warm up grease flows within the bearing. It also heats that adjacent grease that you packed into the hub middle. That heated grease just outside the bearing now can flow to the bearing surfaces.

If you absolutely filled the entire hub, you may see that your dustcaps are moving. I'd pull them now and then to remove the grease inside.

Mex,
Today I just put in new wheel bearings for my rv and always wondered whether one should pack grease in the hub area between the inner and outer bearings and also how much. I asked around and got a variety of answers but none really definitive. So, today I packed the heck out of the hubs and am hoping for the best. Are you saying it's not necessary, not a good idea or it doesn't make any difference with the new greases?

If from the inside a good splotch of grease seals the hole then Clay Smith's trick will work fine. The days of Hectorite clay based greases* is long gone. What these greases did was wick oil from a remote clot of grease and keep a bearing well lubricated. Meaning the area between the inner and outer bearings could be packed with grease and last a long, long, time. That doesn't work any more so putting extra grease in the hub cavity is a waste of money.

*Example: Shell Oil's Darina AX.

While on the subject of grease caps, I have one more tip.
We have all seen how the grease always pushes past the seal at the spindle. This is only natural as the internal pressure increases with temperature or altitude. On all of my vehicles (except boat trailers) the first time I remove the grease cap, I place it on a hard service with the open end up and with a center punch I nock a pin hole into the center of it. The hole is so tiny that you should only see it when you hold it up to the sun.
Being the hole is so tiny, dirt and water don't pass, only air. So now as the internal pressure would otherwise increase, the air can now escape without pushing the grease past the seal.
In over 30 years of doing this, I have never experienced any ill effect or anymore grease leaking past the seals. I hope that many of you will appreciate this idea.
Just don't do this on a boat trailer, that is where you want to use the "Bearing-Buddy" to keep from sucking in water as you back the hot hubs into the cold water.

dougrainer wrote:
The Video shows REPLACING the Grease caps. WHO CARES if you Gorilla (dent/destroy) the olds ones OFF??????????????????????? You are replacing the caps. Now, if you are NOT replacing them, the Video is a good video. Doug

Thanks Doug! The old bearing buddies were trash bound and I don't think I hurt their feelings by hitting them with a hammer;)

RVhiker wrote:
I put a medium sized slot screwdriver where the lip of the cap meets the axle and tap gently; the cap separates a bit and then the screwdriver can pry off the cap. I use a gently applied rubber mallet to tap the cap back on. My caps don't dent, and they last forever. Of course, dented they last forever, too.

Same here

The Video shows REPLACING the Grease caps. WHO CARES if you Gorilla (dent/destroy) the olds ones OFF??????????????????????? You are replacing the caps. Now, if you are NOT replacing them, the Video is a good video. Doug

Channellocks! One of those tool brands where nobody else's is as good. Same with Vise Grip.

Rock the cap off with Channellocks or tap the screwdriver into the parting line of cap and hub.

Tap back on. If it won't go, can use the screwdriver to transfer the tapping to the rim that all these caps seem to have at the parting line.

Channellocks also work down in the front hub of dual rear wheel chassis.