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TR2/3/3A Greasing the Front Wheel Hubs?

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K

karls59tr

Obi Wan
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How much grease should be put into the hubs? Reason I'm asking is I had a catastrophic bearing failure at speed a couple of years ago. Of course the failure could have been due to a number of factors but I'd like to rule this one out.
 
Pretty basic question, and I'm surprised that I can't give you an authoritative answer. The shop manual says to "pack" the hubs with grease, and I've always taken that literally--fill the volume with grease and also work it well into the individual bearings. If you grease only the bearing, the motion of the bearing will force out the grease, so filling the volume keeps grease in the bearing.

Or, maybe I'm all wet. I'd be interested to hear what others have to say.
 
Pack the bearings fully, and then pack the hub level with the rollers in the bearings. As the hub heats the grease becomes fluid and helps with lube and cooling.
 
CJD said:
Pack the bearings fully, and then pack the hub level with the rollers in the bearings. As the hub heats the grease becomes fluid and helps with lube and cooling.
Click to expand...
Why does bearing grease have such a high melting point if it is to become fluid?
 
I just did a google for specs. Most have an upper operating envelope of 325-350 deg. That is not that high if you run your car on the freeway or around town. What melting point did you find?
 
CJD said:
I just did a google for specs. Most have an upper operating envelope of 325-350 deg. That is not that high if you run your car on the freeway or around town. What melting point did you find?
Click to expand...
On the can of Lucas X-TRA Heavy duty grease it says...."Resists melting at high temperatures up to 560 degrees F. I guess what confused me was the term "melting"....They probably mean it is meant to "flow" at high temperatures but not to melt and liquify.
While were in the TR3 hub area do you tighten the wheel bearing hand tight then back off 1/2 flat? There should be very little or no movement when the wheel is rocked, correct.
 
If you are using a brand new grease seal, then hand tightening is not nearly enough. If you are re-using the old seal, then it "should" be as you describe it.

There should be a very slight play when you rock the wheel...not enough to feel in the hub alone with no wheel installed.
 
Back in the day gas station would have a press you inserted the bearing into and press moosh the grease out and the grease would go around the roller bearings 360 degrees then some grease was put on the race and axle with the finger and you were good to go.



As gas stations became less and less, I asked this old timer what he did. He would take the bearing in one hand and grease in the other hand and slap the bearing onto the other hand and the grease would squirt into the rollers with the impact of the slap 360 degrees around the each roller. Plus he would turn the bearing as he went so the rollers were greased 360 depress around the roller bearing and there their case. Then he would take his hands full of grease and put that extra grease on the axle and some in the cap. He suggested some people just smeared some grease around the outside and never actually PACKED the bearing and the bearing had dry spots. Now--- his way is how I do it.

Steve
 
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