The Ford Barn

Bruce Adams · 05-15-2010, 07:00 AM

Has anyone pumped grease into the rear wheel bearing alemite/zerk fitting with the hub being off?
Is it supposed to ooze out of the race like on a ball joint, or does it crawl out like on the speedometer cable?
I had dutifully greased my rear wheel zerks every six months, but one was dry, two years after bbeing new and greased, so following replacement and bearing greasing I did this excercise and saw nothing coming out. I cleaned the race/axle space with a wire in case of blockage and still nothing, following maybe thirty squeezes with the grease gun while watching it. There is no grease from the rear end in the area, so my outer rear end bearing is probably working well.
Any thoughts?
Thanks.

Tom Wesenberg · 05-15-2010, 10:18 AM

When you say "one was dry" do you mean the wheel bearing was dry?

If it was hand packed when installed, it should go for several years and still be good. When I remove the front wheels from my 1949 Chevy 1 1/2 ton truck fourty years after it was built, it still had the old long fiber factory grease and was doing great. I probably should have just left it, but I cleaned and repacked it with new grease.

Kurt in NJ · 05-15-2010, 10:49 AM

If your axle seals are bad (the ones inside the housing) most of the grease goes inside the rear, if you have rubber lip seals in the rear hub then even air will not escape ---if the grease can not push out the air then the grease will not make it to the bearing ( a modern part "improvement"), with the leather lip seal as original the air (and some grease) will escape.

As Tom said ,if it is "hand packed" during assembly ,it should be good till the next brake inspection ---the later axles (40s) did not have a fitting, they were just packed during assembly.

Every "modern" improvement has some effect on other systems.modern seals can caues leaks at places that would not normally leak

Paul from Maine · 05-19-2010, 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bruce Adams

Has anyone pumped grease into the rear wheel bearing alemite/zerk fitting with the hub being off?
Is it supposed to ooze out of the race like on a ball joint, or does it crawl out like on the speedometer cable?
I had dutifully greased my rear wheel zerks every six months, but one was dry, two years after bbeing new and greased, so following replacement and bearing greasing I did this excercise and saw nothing coming out. I cleaned the race/axle space with a wire in case of blockage and still nothing, following maybe thirty squeezes with the grease gun while watching it. There is no grease from the rear end in the area, so my outer rear end bearing is probably working well.
Any thoughts?
Thanks.

When I got my '29, I repacked the rear bearings by hand. I put the hubs back on and it took at least fifty pumps of the grease gun before I saw grease oozing out anywhere. it had been fifty four years since the car had last been serviced.

Bob A. · 05-19-2010, 09:18 PM

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Bruce, pack it by hand and your good to go. Take Tom's advice.

05-15-2010, 07:00 AM	#1
Bruce Adams Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Northport, NY Posts: 1,597	Rear Wheel Bearings Has anyone pumped grease into the rear wheel bearing alemite/zerk fitting with the hub being off? Is it supposed to ooze out of the race like on a ball joint, or does it crawl out like on the speedometer cable? I had dutifully greased my rear wheel zerks every six months, but one was dry, two years after bbeing new and greased, so following replacement and bearing greasing I did this excercise and saw nothing coming out. I cleaned the race/axle space with a wire in case of blockage and still nothing, following maybe thirty squeezes with the grease gun while watching it. There is no grease from the rear end in the area, so my outer rear end bearing is probably working well. Any thoughts? Thanks.

05-15-2010, 10:18 AM	#2
Tom Wesenberg Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Mpls, MN Posts: 27,582	Re: Rear Wheel Bearings When you say "one was dry" do you mean the wheel bearing was dry? If it was hand packed when installed, it should go for several years and still be good. When I remove the front wheels from my 1949 Chevy 1 1/2 ton truck fourty years after it was built, it still had the old long fiber factory grease and was doing great. I probably should have just left it, but I cleaned and repacked it with new grease.

05-15-2010, 10:49 AM	#3
Kurt in NJ Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: on the Littlefield Posts: 6,158	Re: Rear Wheel Bearings If your axle seals are bad (the ones inside the housing) most of the grease goes inside the rear, if you have rubber lip seals in the rear hub then even air will not escape ---if the grease can not push out the air then the grease will not make it to the bearing ( a modern part "improvement"), with the leather lip seal as original the air (and some grease) will escape. As Tom said ,if it is "hand packed" during assembly ,it should be good till the next brake inspection ---the later axles (40s) did not have a fitting, they were just packed during assembly. Every "modern" improvement has some effect on other systems.modern seals can caues leaks at places that would not normally leak

05-19-2010, 09:18 PM	#5
Bob A. Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: New York Posts: 158	Re: Rear Wheel Bearings Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements) Bruce, pack it by hand and your good to go. Take Tom's advice.