Front wheel bearing lube

[STEVEBROOKS]

Per the thread in the "common sense tips" forum, can the front wheel bearings on our 4x4s be greased?



Thanx,



Steve

 

[Motorhead]

The FACTORY unit is sealed. The only way you get greasable bearings is to have a EMS or Dynatrac hub kit.

 

[S.Morris]

Can be greased through the ABS sensor mounting hole.

Requires removal of rotor to access abs sensor. Remove sensor(carefully).

Give about 10 shots of grease(rubber tip to hole) every 25k or so.

 

[STEVEBROOKS]

Did this last weekend, and wasn't too hard at all. Only problem was the "seal-off dispenser" I used on my grease gun. It's a Performance Tool item # W54214 (bought locally at Advance Auto Parts), and the rubber tip's OD (approx 3/8") was close to the ID of the ABS sensor hole, so I wasn't able to effectively seal the hole. After pumping approx 10 shots of grease, it pushed past the rubber tip. I wish it would have sealed tighter, therefore allowing me to pump grease until it (hopefully) pushed past the front/rear hub seal. Does anybody have a make/model # of seal-off dispenser with a larger OD rubber tip?



Thanks,



Steve

 

[Motorhead]

Your quote:

"I wish it would have sealed tighter, therefore allowing me to pump grease until it (hopefully) pushed past the front/rear hub seal. "

What can happen is that you will hydraulically push the WHOLE seal OUT of its place.

 

[steved]

The bearings can actually be split... and then greased.



They can also be greased through the sensor hole... if you spin the hub as you apply grease you will fill in the void, but even that will still leave some airspace. Your goal isn't to fill the void, but just to get some extra grease into the bearing.



Remember, its not that they are all that full of grease in the first place, so any added will be a benefit. The hubs I have had apart had under a teaspoon of grease in the... and that was pretty consistant.



You would really need to work at it to press the seal out, it would force grease past the seal before it pushed the seal out...

 

[STEVEBROOKS]

Made a tool to better seal off the ABS sensor hole. Bought a Kobalt "inflation kit" at Lowes (item #179681) and drilled/tapped a small brass plumbing adaptor I had laying around to make the rubber-tipped tool from the kit fit it. Screwed this to the end of my grease gun hose, and it works perfectly. Able to now pump more grease into the bearings, and no problems encountered so far!



Steve

 

[Andersonville]

My first wheel bearings lasted to 382k by doing the grease thru the ABS hole. I bought the rubber nipple grease gun adapter from NAPA. The R side got noisy so I had them both replaced. I asked the mechanic to pregrease them before installation. He just looked at me like I was nuts. 2wd truck here. Good Luck

 

[jelag]

I own several of these trucks... . and have at the time I've changed the U-Joints pulled the ABS sensor and pumped grease into it... I've also pressed apart the factory hub, washed and greased it and pressed it back together.....



With the proper equipment this is a simple task but takes up to 45 min to 1 hr per side once they are apart..... However that labor is a small amount in relationship to the cost of the replacement unit.....



We've now got at least 35-40K miles on the ones we've pulled apart and serviced...

 

[jwilliamson]

So do you guys pump the grease into the sensor bolt hole or the sensor hole? Sorry for bringing up an old thread but I'm frustrated that I only got 40k out of my hubs.

 

[jelag]

We had to remove the wheel, caliper, and finally the rotor to have access to the allen head fastener that holds the sensor in place... . before we pull the sensor we wash off the area to keep any dirt from falling into the hole... .

 

[tkerrigan]

You don't want to fill the the bearing with grease, that will make it run hot. I would suppose two squirts would be plenty if you are not taking it apart. Maybe four to six squirts if it has been cleaned.

 

[bighammer]

Pardon my ignorance, but is there a reason grease is preferred over heavy oil? Less worry of leakage?

 

[Andersonville]

The bearings aren't sealed with heavy oil and after normal heating and cooling the seal loosens up so oil would run out. I use marine synthetic high temp grease. Cerulean? from Valvoline