Grease for repacking front wheel bearings

[rhurst]

I have taken front wheels off my 1923 Hudson and now need to repack my wheel bearings.  Does anyone know what the best grease to use for these old cars and bearings?  I am sure new products have been developed since 1923. The more I read the more confused I get.  Should I use Lithium, Moly EP or Marine Wheel bearing grease?

Robert

[edinmass]

Just use a good quality wheel bearing grease. No need to get fancy. I use Napa brand. Here is a photo of my 1917 White getting serviced for the first time in 104 years......it has 11,000 original miles on it. Photos from three weeks ago.

[Grimy]

I like to use a heavier wheel bearing (wb) grease on the pre-war stuff.  I think you can get fibered wb grease from the Model A suppliers.  The old fibered stuff used asbestos which is, of course, no longer available.  I still have a (diminishing) stash of Lubriko (brand) wheel bearing grease I obtained from a local bearing house about ten years ago.  It came in both tubes for loading into grease guns and in tubs.  "Density" is marked "WB."

 

IMHO, the heavier grease is necessary for ball bearings, but modern stuff is fine for tapered roller bearings.

 

See what your local specialty bearing house has available.

[rhurst]

Thanks guys.  Mine has two tapered bearing races so most anything should do.

Robert

[C Carl]

Make sure to use a synthetic grease, Robert. Talk to your local Mobil or Amsoil rep/dealer.    -     Carl 

[Mark Shaw]

Amazon.com: Valvoline Multi-Vehicle High Temperature Red Grease 14.1 OZ Cartridge: Automotive

 

[Larry Schramm]

I like the synthetic red grease like Mobil 1 

[Stude Light]

A lot of good input. Anything you buy today will be 1000 times better than what was available when your car was new and will work very well.

[Bloo]

Any high quality wheel bearing grease will be fine, but synthetic is hard to beat. I like Redline CV-2.

[Marty Roth]

I used to use a high pressure long fibre wheel bearing grease back in the 1950s through the '70s,

but now use a good quality red synthetic.

While any old wheel bearing grease is probably "good enough",

For the extra buck or two, is is just that level of reassurance.

 

Good Luck

Edited January 30, 2021 by Marty Roth (see edit history)

[Shootey]

Is it still standard procedure on the rears to fill the gap between the bearing and the inner seal with grease?  Mine’s a 1941 Buick?

[rhurst]

I agree with Marty

[hook]

On 1/22/2021 at 9:21 PM, Grimy said:

I like to use a heavier wheel bearing (wb) grease on the pre-war stuff.  I think you can get fibered wb grease from the Model A suppliers.  The old fibered stuff used asbestos which is, of course, no longer available.  I still have a (diminishing) stash of Lubriko (brand) wheel bearing grease I obtained from a local bearing house about ten years ago.  It came in both tubes for loading into grease guns and in tubs.  "Density" is marked "WB."

 

IMHO, the heavier grease is necessary for ball bearings, but modern stuff is fine for tapered roller bearings.

 

See what your local specialty bearing house has available.

They still make the stuff, although not with asbestos.

[avgwarhawk]

1 hour ago, hook said:

They still make the stuff, although not with asbestos.

This is good grease.  Strange kind of stringy feel to it. 

[dl456]

I don’t mind using sticky red or synthetics on suspension parts but I would caution against using it for wheel bearings .

This is all high temp / disc brake grease. Much higher temps than you will ever reach with drum brakes or no front brakes.

This grease will not become semi-fluid or flow at the lower temperatures of our old cars.

Drum brake and general purpose is Ok.

A case where cheaper is better.

Dennis

[60FlatTop]

Just from my collected thoughts I would go with a fibrous grease with the idea that it may provide a better cushion for the balls in case of a percussion. That is the killer for ball bearings.

 

Pennzoil has very good tech support and would be my first "Go To" source. Many year ago I flushed the third member of a 1931 Pierce-Arrow. The manufacturer's spec was an obsolete type. In pre-computer days I called them. They knew what I was talking about and made an informed recommendation for their standard 90W. That car may be due again.

[Grimy]

22 minutes ago, 60FlatTop said:

Just from my collected thoughts I would go with a fibrous grease with the idea that it may provide a better cushion for the balls in case of a percussion. That is the killer for ball bearings.

 

Pennzoil has very good tech support and would be my first "Go To" source. Many year ago I flushed the third member of a 1931 Pierce-Arrow. The manufacturer's spec was an obsolete type. In pre-computer days I called them. They knew what I was talking about and made an informed recommendation for their standard 90W. That car may be due again.

I know the car and our mutual friend who had it at the time, but it has gone to a an unknown-to-me new owner, but The Godfather still has his 1936 convertible sedan.  In 1929 Pierce went to a hypoid differential which takes GL-4 of whatever weight (90 or 140) climate and previous wear call for; pre-1929 Pierces take 600W or similar.

 

OTOH about calling oil manufacturers, 25 years ago I called S...L... in Los Angeles on the same question about my 1936 Pierce diff and spoke with a Ph.D. chemist who recommended their GL-6 synthetic, even though I suggested that I probably had yellow-metal components in the diff.  On a cross-country drive, at a pit stop in rural Wyoming to refill a leaky rear shock, I was aghast at the heat radiating from the diff.  I quickly found a parts store a purchased GL-4 (dino oil) and a drain pan.  The feared golden sparkles appeared in the draining oil, 900 miles from home.  I changed diff oil again while stopping to see friends in Des Moines, and there were virtually no golden sparkles.  Reason suggests that the GL-6 adversely affected the yellow-metal components....

[60FlatTop]

37 minutes ago, Grimy said:

I know the car and our mutual friend who had it at the time, but it has gone to a an unknown-to-me new owner, but The Godfather still has his 1936 convertible sedan.  In 1929 Pierce went to a hypoid differential which takes GL-4 of whatever weight (90 or 140) climate and previous wear call for; pre-1929 Pierces take 600W or similar.

I know the book called for something not readily available, probably the 140 and standard 90W was advised.

 

Lubrication outside of oil changes is very much overlooked in the old car hobby. That '31 had not history of ever being changed. My concern is always the amount of idle time many of these cars spend in garages that are not temperature controlled. My early education in junkyards where rearends were piled high and deep showed that a quart or more of condensation water would pour out of those third members if unplugged. People don't realize how much.

 

In the Pierce-Arrow instance I drained the unknown very black fluid through a lower bolt hole after driving it about 30 miles.. There is no lower plug in that one. Once refilled I took the car out for another 30 mile drive. I drained the brown fluid from that drive and refilled it. I would bet that is the fluid in it now. It is due.

 

This topic is on lubricating wheel bearings. It is surprising how many owners focus on the aspects of the lubricant then don't follow the instructions and adjust them too tight.

[Grimy]

11 minutes ago, 60FlatTop said:

 

This topic is on lubricating wheel bearings.

Indeed it is, but you, Sir, are the one who digressed to differentials....  Anent the original topic, here is what the Pierce OM has to say:

 

"....To adjust remove cotter pin from nut and tighten nut as much as possible.  Then back off adjusting nut one notch or until wheel will revolve itself.

"Bearings should be lubricated every 10,000 miles by filling hub cap [sic: dust cap to us these days] with grease and screwing cap into place."

 

 

[60FlatTop]

2 hours ago, Grimy said:

To adjust remove cotter pin from nut and tighten nut as much as possible.  Then back off adjusting nut one notch or until wheel will revolve itself.

That's how I do them.

 

Anent, I had to look up. As usual I also check the etymology. Derived from the old English, efen. You know I will be waiting for the old English term to pop up in conversation.

[dodge28]

I use fiber grease for all my wheel bearings. No need to fill the empty space between . Even good for smearing threads before installations. 

[EmTee]

6 hours ago, Grimy said:

Indeed it is, but you, Sir, are the one who digressed to differentials.... 

Don't forget that most rear axle bearings are not lubricated by the differential oil, but must also be periodically removed, cleaned and re-packed with grease. 

[Grimy]

10 minutes ago, EmTee said:

Don't forget that most rear axle bearings are not lubricated by the differential oil, but must also be periodically removed, cleaned and re-packed with grease. 

Many cars, including Pierce, had external fittings to service rear axle bearings (or plugs to be temporarily replaced by fittings for that service).  Thanks for the save @EmTee!! 🙂

[Bloo]

7 hours ago, 60FlatTop said:

This topic is on lubricating wheel bearings. It is surprising how many owners focus on the aspects of the lubricant then don't follow the instructions and adjust them too tight.

That's probably true, however most people who do know how to adjust a wheel bearing today probably only know how to adjust a Timken tapered roller wheel bearing. The New Departure ball bearings used in older GM cars (and some others) liked to be run tighter than Timken tapered rollers. They ran with a very slight preload. New Departure's own instructions from 1952 are on https://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com .

 

7 hours ago, Grimy said:

Indeed it is, but you, Sir, are the one who digressed to differentials.... 

Well, that was easy to do, because the topic was originally about front wheel bearings, but @Shootey's post, the first post that is not 2 years old, appears to be about rear wheel bearings.

29 minutes ago, EmTee said:

Don't forget that most rear axle bearings are not lubricated by the differential oil, but must also be periodically removed, cleaned and re-packed with grease. 

And I won't speak for him, but I think that is what @Shootey was talking about. I know some Buicks had that as part of the maintenance schedule, in contrast to Chrysler, who had (you can still buy it) a special Boron based grease that was intended to go on basically forever, and only be packed only when you replaced the rear wheel bearing. I have had to repack the Chrysler ones on occasion when they got washed out by a leaky seal. It's a real PITA. I wonder how that grease would work in a Buick? Hmmmm.....

 

2 hours ago, dodge28 said:

I use fiber grease for all my wheel bearings.

I had no idea you could get that today. Thanks to @hook's post I learned something today. I do recall around 1979 or so searching far and wide for some. I was finally able to source about 3/4 of a tube but that was all. "I know what you are talking about, but I haven't seen it in years" was something I heard a lot of.

 

In any event, it is probably time to ask if we are all on the same page about which end of the car we are talking about, and whether we are talking about ball bearings or tapered rollers (Timkens). As a reminder, @Shootey's question was:

 

On 3/4/2023 at 8:40 AM, Shootey said:

Is it still standard procedure on the rears to fill the gap between the bearing and the inner seal with grease?  Mine’s a 1941 Buick?

 

[dodge28]

No need to pack grease between the bearings. It goes no place during service. The lips of seals must be lightly greased when installing. The rear wheel bearings on floating axles must be pre greased with any type of grease before installing. 

[Shootey]

Thank you all for the help. I hope I didn’t create confusion. Allow me to lay out my particular facts. My Buick was restored in 2003 at which time the rear wheel bearings and seals were replaced. Fast forward to today. I acquired the car which has had 2000 miles put on it since 2003. I am now putting Century 2.25 inch brakes on my special which are currently 1.75 inches. To do so I need to remove the backing plates which requires removing the axles. I’m currently doing the rears. Since I have removed the axles and backing plates the rear seals and bearings are staring me in the face. So here is the question:

           Should I add grease to the bearings insitu or do I need to remove one or two seals, remove the bearings and repack the bearings and reinstall the seals and bearings? Or do I just leave them all alone? They all appear in decent shape. Thanks. 

[EmTee]

Well, given that you have the axles out, I would probably carefully remove the outer seal and inspect the bearing.  If it's full of grease and spins smoothly, I'd put it back together and drive.  It wouldn't hurt to smear a little extra grease into the bearing as you turn it, just to be sure...

[dodge28]

I would just put a little bit of grease on my fingers and smear the bearings and roll it around and leave them alone. 

[LakinZ]

I appreciate the Marine Wheel Bearing Grease, which is a reliable grease for utility trailer bearings. I have just bought a golf cart with a major wobble in the front tires. I threw this in a grease gun, pumped it into the zerk fittings, and 5 seconds into the test ride, the wobble was gone. This grease performs surprisingly well.

Edited March 13, 2023 by LakinZ (see edit history)

[avgwarhawk]

On 3/5/2023 at 9:00 AM, hook said:

They still make the stuff, although not with asbestos.

Ordered this and it arrived today.  Thanks for the tip.