A buddy of mine has a documented = 800,000 miles on his original rear wheel bearings on his 71 Westy. Prolly time to = put some new in there.

I use the Amsoil synthetic grease(sort = of a rasberry color) in most of those extreme lube situations.

Dimwitted Moose and Flying = Squirrel

----- Original Message -----

From: Stan = Wilder

To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM =

Sent: Wednesday, October 24, = 2001 9:41 AM

Subject: Rear Wheel Bearings.. = What Grease

In my many excursions to VW wrecking yards I've always made it a = practice of; practicing some of my repairs on donor vehicles at the = yards.

In removing the rear axle nut and the drive shaft (the one that = has the big nut 360 ft pounds torque) I've noticed that the grease in the rear = wheel bearings is about the consistency of 90/120 weight transmission = grease.

I'm thinking about removing my drive shafts, renewing the seals, inspecting the bearings and lubricating the bearings. I've got 278K on = my Westy and it just seems practical that the least I can do at this = mileage is an inspection.

What is the lubricant used in the rear wheel bearings?

These bearings seem to have an extraordinary life span but I = still feel committed to doing this inspection.

Stan Wilder
83 Westfalia Air = Cooled