Shielded vs Unshielded Bearings

[LOUD MOUSE]

May I ask what GREASE are you using today to pack wheel bearing that way.
I haven't used petroleum grease since the 70's when I found HIGH TEMP WHEEL BEARING GREASE.
I use it with roller and tapered type bearing with never a problem.
I found it stayed where you put it and didn't turn to wax.
Put petroleum grease in your steering head and you may find what I did when the bike I bught from a friend started dripping "OIL" on the engine when the the temp of the day went high.
Now there are many types of that grease even in colors to show applications as for bearings used on trailers that carry boats and get wet as the boat is launched.
Just whet I use today. ...........lm

I too pack the hubs on my vehicles. The reason for me is that as the wheel becomes heated the extra grease can migrate into the bearings. I have noticed that on my truck the "extra" grease is always spread evenly inside the hub and has a smooth surface (if that makes sense) when I take them apart. Long trips and hot weather would come into play here. Also on a car/truck you can see where some of the "melted" grease seeps out of the bearing cap.

But that's just me.......grease is much cheaper than parts.

[jgger]

PostPosted: Mon Sep 05, 2016 10:00 pm Post subject:


May I ask what GREASE are you using today to pack wheel bearing that way.
I haven't used petroleum grease since the 70's when I found HIGH TEMP WHEEL BEARING GREASE.
I use it with roller and tapered type bearing with never a problem.
I found it stayed where you put it and didn't turn to wax.
Put petroleum grease in your steering head and you may find what I did when the bike I bught from a friend started dripping "OIL" on the engine when the the temp of the day went high.
Now there are many types of that grease even in colors to show applications as for bearings used on trailers that carry boats and get wet as the boat is launched.
Just whet I use today. ...........lm

I use High temp grease, Valvoline I think it is. But the application I was referring to was for wheel bearings in my pick up truck. Disc brakes and high temps have their influence on what is inside the hub. I agree with you about petroleum grease in a steering head, but if I cycled the bearings in the steering heat as much as the wheel bearing spins......then I better take some riding lessons! The amount of weep is minimal out of the caps on the truck, but there is still some.

I'm not saying the grease turns to soup, but I do think it moves around a bit in the truck/car hub. A momentary movement like a steering head could not ever produce enough heat.

But I'm an old man and could be talking out of the other side of my hat! But I am getting ready to re do the rotors on my truck soon and I will look much closer.

Btw I'm new here and don't know if I did the quote thing right.

[LOUD MOUSE]

That is the grease I use and I got it for free at the MIKEY THOMPSON races when I raced the Stadium Super Lites.
I used most of it to pack the 4 CV joints of the rear axle.
You are doing OK jgger. ................lm

PostPosted: Mon Sep 05, 2016 10:00 pm Post subject:


May I ask what GREASE are you using today to pack wheel bearing that way.
I haven't used petroleum grease since the 70's when I found HIGH TEMP WHEEL BEARING GREASE.
I use it with roller and tapered type bearing with never a problem.
I found it stayed where you put it and didn't turn to wax.
Put petroleum grease in your steering head and you may find what I did when the bike I bught from a friend started dripping "OIL" on the engine when the the temp of the day went high.
Now there are many types of that grease even in colors to show applications as for bearings used on trailers that carry boats and get wet as the boat is launched.
Just whet I use today. ...........lm

I use High temp grease, Valvoline I think it is. But the application I was referring to was for wheel bearings in my pick up truck. Disc brakes and high temps have their influence on what is inside the hub. I agree with you about petroleum grease in a steering head, but if I cycled the bearings in the steering heat as much as the wheel bearing spins......then I better take some riding lessons! The amount of weep is minimal out of the caps on the truck, but there is still some.

I'm not saying the grease turns to soup, but I do think it moves around a bit in the truck/car hub. A momentary movement like a steering head could not ever produce enough heat.

But I'm an old man and could be talking out of the other side of my hat! But I am getting ready to re do the rotors on my truck soon and I will look much closer.

Btw I'm new here and don't know if I did the quote thing right.

[G-Man]

LM - No experience, just common practice to find grease between bearings when I have pulled hubs apart. Modern hubs have sealed bearings and no problem there.

I just put some back in without really thinking about it. At the speeds we are talking you are most probably right.

G

When I was an apprentice auto mechanic about 1970 I used to replace wheel bearings (tapered bearings on the front wheels with drum brakes) often. I was told to pack the bearings with grease which makes sense but also to pack the inside of the hub with grease up to the level of the outer bearing race. I never understood the point of this because it seemed that the centrifugal force would tend to strip the bearing of its grease and the grease in the hub would never flow to the bearing because it would be uphill so to speak. The grease in the hub seemed to me to be wasted. This was confirmed by the lack of grease movement when the hub was disassembled later.

On my own car I did not pack the hub and never had a problem. Similarly with my motorcycles. The grease stayed in the bearing and none ended up in the hub as one might have expected. I think the truth is that the rotational speed of the wheel is just not high enough to strip the bearing of its grease.

Because the open bearings that were standard equipment on the CB77 required repacking periodically due to contamination of the grease, I finally ended up using fully sealed bearings and never had a problem. The sealed bearings would just fail gently and could be replaced as needed.

My suggestion is to go to a place that sells bearings and get another 6304Z (half sealed) bearing, pack it with grease and install it. (This is a standard industrial bearing.)

G-Man, if you have experience that contradicts mine, I'd love to hear it because the question 'to pack the hub or not to pack the hub' (apologies to Shakespeare) has been stuck in my head for more than a few years.

Tim