How to lube a hub assembly

[ryecreek]

just wondering what grease fitting i need (a pic would be good or a PN#)

i know i go through the abs hole

and what is the procesess to pump grease

 

[jelag]

I don't have a part number for you... but we've done all our trucks... . we purchased a Lincoln tool that connects to a grease gun that has a 3" long by 1/8" diameter rod that has a rubber nipple on the end... its design is to press into a small recessed grease fitting...

You have to remove the wheel, caliper and rotor to get the ABS sensor out... . we have an 04, 04. 5, 05 & 08... . we do this when we replace the brake pads... so we don't have a double effort in the labor operation... .

We use only a very high quality synthetic grease with a drop point of 450* F. or above, one that is designed for bearings... we actually hate the grease, you just can't get it off your hands, floors, cloths, but boy does it last... .

We insert the tube into the ABS sensor hole, push it down until it touches the sprocket for the ABS, and retract it 1/4" or so... . we give the bearings 4-6 pumps on the grease gun and sometimes have to rotate the hub to allow the grease to move around and push back out the hole... .

We re-install the sensor and put the rest of the truck back together...

We've had one hub pull apart when we tried to remove it to service the U-joint and found that you can press it apart with an arbor press, clean the bearings, grease them, and press the hub back together and re-install... when you bolt the axle to the hub with the large nut, you preload the bearings... the back of the axle shaft shoulders on the rear bearing and the nut clamps to the front bearing, thus the pre-load...

Does this cover it for you. .

 

[ryecreek]

thanks figured id do it while replacing rotors

even though both are under warranty no sence in the hassle

 

[jelag]

Please share why you'd replace the rotor's, are they worn down to below minimum thickness??? what kind of mileage do you have on this truck... our 04 went 160K miles before the first brake job...

 

[ryecreek]

did pads bout the same time(turned my rotors) THEN L side hub assembly went (turned rotor ALOT to repair) THEN R side hub assembly went (turned rotor a HOLE LOT on that one) now i had a noise and found the R side rotor was about . 050 out of flat ruined pads anti rattle clips and rotor so i got 2 new rotors

R side rotor was below spec at the low spot L side had . 020 left

 

[steved]

Don't overgrease... you can hydraulic the seal out.



Also, if you disassemble the hubs, you got to press the seal back in using a flat screw driver.

 

[STEVEBROOKS]

ryecreek,

See info myself and others posted at this link: https://www.turbodieselregister.com...cussions/212573-front-wheel-bearing-lube.html



Good luck!



Steve

 

[Udaloy]

I read the other thread, and don't understand two things. Why did someone state we wouldn't want to grease the hubs? On a lesser note, is it the sensor hole itself (I believe yes) or the hold down bold hole that gets the grease?

 

[jelag]

The hold down bolt hole is a small diameter hole(10 mm or 1/4")... the senor hole is about 2x's as large in diameter... (3/8" - 7/16") so its a simpler target... plus I'm not sure that the bolt hole is a through hole... I've never checked it... I don't know why you wouldn't want to grease them... but remember they are like trailer axle sets that can be greased from the exterior... they will eventually fill full of grease and than need to be serviced... .

Greasing the hubs will add some additional life as the additional grease will spread through the bearings and supply grease...

Remember that grease is a method to hold oil in a location even with gravity and other forces working against it... .

Does this help??

 

[steved]

I read the other thread, and don't understand two things. Why did someone state we wouldn't want to grease the hubs? On a lesser note, is it the sensor hole itself (I believe yes) or the hold down bold hole that gets the grease?

There is a school of thought that mixing greases can cause them to separate... lose their lubrication qualities. I have done this to two trucks, all have exceeded the 200k mark with the original hubs (one is pushing 300k). Typically, as long as both greases are the same BASE (both lithium or both aluminum complex), there should be no issues.

If you actually saw all the more grease installed from the factory, you would gain an appreciation for just how durable these bearings (and OE grease) really are... I remember opening the bearings on my father's truck to find less than a small spoonful of grease in each hub. We used nothing more than red Valvoline grease from a tub to grease his hubs at around 85k... he has right around 290k currently, and both hubs are good. I believe I used Pennzoil 707L in my 99. Regardless, we didn't clean the old grease out, just added new grease and pressed the hub halves back together.

YMMV