Date:         Sat, 7 Feb 2004 20:54:17 -0500
Reply-To:     "Daniel L. Katz" <katzd54@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         "Daniel L. Katz" <katzd54@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Re: Stub Axle / Grease: Enough Is Too Much

not having done this myself, i essentially agree.

nevertheless, i think it might be reasonable, taking great care, and using
a magnetized drill bit, to drill a very small hole and lubricate the
bearings by injecting in a tablespoon or so of 140 wt gl5 using a syringe.

gl5 vs high temp grease would be an issue for disk brakes, but not for
drum brakes. a small amount of gl5 would easily work its way into the
bearings, softening old, dried up grease, and keep the bearings bathed in
oil.

other things being equal, i would actually prefer gl5 lubricated rear
bearings. just think of all the 30 year old chevy's with differential and
rear wheel bearings bathed in the same gear oil - almost unheard of for
such wheel bearings to fail.

dlk




On Thu, 5 Feb 2004 08:28:52 EST, George Goff <THX0001@AOL.COM> wrote:

>In a message dated 2/4/04 6:37:36 AM, RAlanen@AOL.COM writes:
>
><< As an option you can drill a hole in the  bearing box then install a
grease
>fitting and squirt some general purpose  grease in there to buy you some
time
>and use for preventive maintenance after  you've replaced the bearings. >>
>
>Installing a grease fitting on the rear wheel bearing housing is not a
good
>idea because it is fraught with unwanted results.  First is the problem of
>drilling the housing without getting any chips inside.  Even if that is
manage to
>be done successfully, then in order to effectively renew the wheel grease
>through such a grease fitting would require pumping enough grease into it
to first
>fill every internal void.  The excess grease would work its way past the
>seals demanding a good cleaning of the resulting mess contained within
the brake
>drum.
>
>The real problem is that even after the clean up, this overly abundant
>application of grease would be churned out with use and likely
contaminate the rear
>brake shoes.  I'm reminded of an old advertising jingle: a little dab
will do
>'ya.
>
>George