10.25 questions

[MTKirk]

The manual is pretty adamant about greasing the bearings, note the word "MUST".


I've installed a few of these with no failures thus far http://www.amazon.com/Timken-370047A-Oil-Bath-Seal/dp/B001542MN8 They are 2 piece type that comes with it's own installer. Whatever type of seal you get; Make dang sure your vent is functioning properly, excess pressure is what makes most seal leaks start.

 

[Black dawg]

Greasing the bearings wont cause an immediate failure or maybe never any issues at all, but I prefer not to do it that way.

I bet the ford book specd a grease at that time that was for sure compatible with the oil.

I usually get some oil on the bearings and races during install, and then over fill the housing, letting the hubs fill with oil. It can take a long time for the oil to get there. after some time, I pull the fill plug out, and let the excess out, It is surprising sometimes how little if any comes out.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Aight, then by all means, oh great one, please enlighten us how any of what you are saying based on personal experience trumps what the FORD MANUAL says and the personal experience of those whom have packed bearings in an oil bath system and zero failures doing so?

This actually seems to be a fairly hot topic among people who do this for a living. Some will swear it's fine, some claim to have had consistent issues. I haven't had any issues, cause I don't mix stuff unless I have to. And in this case I don't have to if I take my time putting it together.

Think about it, why is it OK to install carrier bearings "dry" (especially considering loads the ring gear side sees), but we MUST grese hub bearings? To me it all boils down to ensuring there are no dry bearing surfaces before things see a good work load - the diff gets flooded quite nicely as you fill the axle with oil, but the hubs being on the very end of the oil path may not get much of anything if the person doing the work decides to pull the truck out and go for a test-drive as soon as the axle plug is reinstalled. So one can either mess with axle angles and wait for hubs to flood properly, or they can temporarily grease the bearings so they don't run dry till the proper lubricant (the gear oil) eventually finds its way to them. If the grease is 100% soluble in the gear oil all should be good (which as Black Dawg said Ford specs all their fluids), but again with modern synthetic stuff how can one be absolutely certain that their particular grease of choice will gradually and gently dissolve into their particular choice of oil? Will some globs of slick goop just floating aroind in there prevent proper bearing lubrication - maybe not, but is this something you really wanna put to the test? I know I don't, so I make sure I don't put myself in that position in the first place. But then again I also like oil bath bearings on steer-only axles, while many many people out there think they are the devil would much rather run grease-type only.

 

[laserjock]

Well, I think I have some gear oil. Maybe I'll see how soluble the grease is in the oil.

I'll leave this here.

http://www.lastgreatroadtrip.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/gear-oil-comparison.pdf

It changed my mind on Royal Purple. Keep in mind it is a report from AMSOIL so not surprising they scored the best but if you look at the individual test results it's interesting. If you assume the tests were done correctly, it would seem that Redline or mobil 1 would be pretty good choices and Lucas and RP not so much.

 

[typ4]

Since everyone has an opinion, heres mine. First, use a good oil bath seal, follow the instruction sheet with the seal, lots of these are installed dry so the seal elements dont slip on the hub or spindle, if they spin ,they POUR oil out. Folks that have used rtv, you are damn lucky.
Some of the new semi truck seals now say to oil the part that goes on the spindle, only needs a little I think they are preventing cutting the ridges, regardless, FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTION SHEET.
My other mechanic at work didnt and is redoing 4 pete drive hubs tomorrow.
As for the grease, dont "pack" them, a light smear will do, I use a bit of Lubriplate 105, it will mix with the oils.
On the big rigs we pull the hub plug and give them each a half quart, guarantees no dry starts.
BTW my preffered seal is the CR, one rubber lippy to the spindle= higher grip pressure, hub side is steel and can be sealed with 518 if nicks are present.

Hope this helps.

 

[crash-harris]

I've had thoughts about drilling and tapping my Sterling hubs for those same hub plugs. I have a handful of them here that would make it to my work area when the guy filling the axles and hubs would stick too many of them to the axle when prepping. It would be a lot easier to ensure that the Sterling hubs have been filled and they have a magnet on them to pickup any shavings.

 

[79jasper]

follow the instruction sheet with the seal.[B/] Folks that have used rtv, you are damn lucky.

On mine I was instructed to use rtv on the spindle side, and the hub side.
It was a two piece/bearing type seal. So the inner piece needs to be stationary to the spindle.

We had a miscommunication on this exact subject before.
But I'm going on like 3 years with no leaks. And also I don't think I used bearing grease. I just filled the hubs as much as I could with the axle shaft out. Then parked sideways on a hill in both directions for a good 30 minutes, checked and refilled.

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[laserjock]

After much consideration and seeing what I can get in reasonable order, I ordered a set of the SKF seals 34384 with the repair sleeve just in case since I haven't pulled the Drivers side yet. Rock Auto with discount code was quicker than Amazon on this one.

 

[Agnem]

I like a good debate, so I'll comment on the grease versus lube this way. The manual is usually correct, and IF you do EXACTLY what it says. In other words, you need that grease that is that Ford part number, used with that gear oil that is that Ford part number. Now, having said that, I have never greased any bearing on a full floating hub. Neither do the techs that work at my Ford dealer, and went to the Ford training. *shrug* However, what we all do is make sure the bearing is in an oil bath before the vehicle is driven. There are several methods to ensure this. One is to pour some oil in the hub before you slide the axle in. As long as that side is jacked up, it will hold about a Dixie cups worth. The other way is to drive the truck slowly on an incline that will tilt the truck to the side. Using these methods, no one ever has a problem. Keep in mind that the oil fill hole in the differential is about the same level as the bottom of the axle tube. Normally, it would be hard to get oil to go out the tubes, but because once you start to drive, and the guts start turning, centrifugal force and the splash of that rotating mass will raise the oil level in the pumpkin to way above that fill hole and oil will spread out to the axle ends. Once captured in the hub, the oil will not go back toward the pumpkin, so once the level of oil in the pumpkin finds its resting point and the hubs are lubed, that's pretty much the way its going to stay. You will not get far at speed without the hubs auto lubricating unless your pumpkin level is low.

 

[MTKirk]

Just curious; What problem are we hoping to avoid by not greasing our rear wheel bearings?

 

[laserjock]

It's an oil bathed bearing there is concern that modern greases might not be soluble in the gear oil and cause problems such as oil starvation.

 

[leojr]

Regarding the adding a hub plug thought....are any of the axle retaining bolt holes in the hub all the way through and could be used as a fill plug?

(This thread has some good links to seals. Thanks!)

 

[fsmyth]

Since everyone has an opinion, heres mine. First, use a good oil bath seal, follow the instruction sheet with the seal, lots of these are installed dry so the seal elements dont slip on the hub or spindle, if they spin ,they POUR oil out. Folks that have used rtv, you are damn lucky.
Some of the new semi truck seals now say to oil the part that goes on the spindle, only needs a little I think they are preventing cutting the ridges, regardless, FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTION SHEET.
My other mechanic at work didnt and is redoing 4 pete drive hubs tomorrow.
As for the grease, dont "pack" them, a light smear will do, I use a bit of Lubriplate 105, it will mix with the oils.
On the big rigs we pull the hub plug and give them each a half quart, guarantees no dry starts.
BTW my preffered seal is the CR, one rubber lippy to the spindle= higher grip pressure, hub side is steel and can be sealed with 518 if nicks are present.

Hope this helps.

Yup. Agree totally. Same thing I said, but you said it much better.

 

[crash-harris]

Regarding the adding a hub plug thought....are any of the axle retaining bolt holes in the hub all the way through and could be used as a fill plug?

(This thread has some good links to seals. Thanks!)

Nope.

 

[79jasper]

Didn't someone talk about putting a fill plug in the axle shaft flange?

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