Packing Wheel Bearings

[Grant L. Meredith]

On my 1928 Master, while looking things over on the front end ( I did find stuff to pay some attention to) the manual and the 1927 supplement book both state at a 1000 miles fill hub through the fill plug with grease.  
So I removed the large threaded part that the fill plug is in. Not much grease in there.  So going to clean things up and inspect bearings and such and before I grease this, how full is full?  In the books it says fill.

Im just concerned with over greasing and ruining the seal.

Also fill 4 hubs. I only have these on the front axle. And the part # doesn’t match what I can find in any literature. 
2nd pic is rear axle

 

Edited July 26, 2023 by Grant L. Meredith (see edit history)

[Mark Shaw]

I would pull the wheels and re-pack the bearings by hand.

[Guest]

When repacking bearings drop them in a Ziploc bag with the grease and close.  Work the grease in from the outside keeping your hands clean in the process.

[Grant L. Meredith]

4 hours ago, Mark Shaw said:

I would pull the wheels and re-pack the bearings by hand.

So don’t fill the whole void behind the grease retainer.  My trouble is understanding how to use that properly. Being it’s threaded I didn’t know if fill the void then screw the retainer in to force grease like a grease cup on clutch and such.  
Sorry if I sound dumb but I don’t want to cause issues.  Just do it right.  Hate doing the job twice 😊

[Hubert_25-25]

Grant, 

     I agree with Mark.  On my hubs, there is also a screw fitting that can be used to add more grease into the hubs.  It is poorly located and will not do the job that you want done.  The first photo is the screw location that is between the front wheel bearing races.  All you will do is pump a bunch of grease into a void between the bearings.

To do it right, do a proper wheel repacking job.

Front Wheels:  Remove the hub.  Clean out all the old grease. Inspect the races and each ball bearing.

Rear Wheels:   You have a Master so remove the axles.  Remove the large nut.  Again clean and inspect everything.  For people with Standards, the rear axle is different.  The axle stays in place when the hub is pulled.  The bearing gets greased, but you have to keep the grease off the axle and the hub surfaces as they are supposed to be assembled dry.  

 

Repack each bearing with new synthetic high temperature grease as used for cars with Disc brakes.  I recommend Redline CV2.  Modern grease will be like today when you go 100,000 miles or more before thinking about wheel bearings again.  Old grease - stick to 1,000 miles.     Hugh

[Mark Shaw]

30 minutes ago, Hubert_25-25 said:

Clean out all the old grease. Inspect the races and each ball bearing.

Inspecting the old bearings is very important. 

The balls often show pitting and can be replaced individually as needed as long as the ball cages are not too badly worn. 

 

[Grant L. Meredith]

Ok thank you for the info fellows.  I just see how pumping grease in that hole closed by the screw would do much. 

[28Buick]

I recommend a wheel bearing grease packer as it forces the grease uniformly into each bearing. The pic below shows an Amazon version for less than ten bucks. It has a standard zerk fitting. Once you have this tool you will not mess around with finger lube jobs.

https://www.amazon.com/Performance-Tool-W1218-Universal-Bearing/dp/B000FW2NYO

Edited July 28, 2023 by 28Buick (see edit history)

[Mark Shaw]

2 hours ago, 28Buick said:

I recommend a wheel bearing grease packer

Come on guys; getting your hands dirty is part of the experience of owning and maintaining old cars. 

I actually have an old (all metal) bearing packer that I only used once.  It wasted too much grease.

I have hand packed lots of bearings over the years and wiped the excess grease back into the can. 

Then I wiped my hands with an old rag followed by soap and water.

 

 

 

[trimacar]

I get a kick out of people who want to repack the bearings.....but modern enclosed bearings which can't be greased.

 

I'd let a knowledgeable bearing expert fill us in on how that might be silly.

 

Most early brass cars have been converted from races and ball bearings on the front wheels to modern roller bearings, some sealed, some not.....

[Grant L. Meredith]

49 minutes ago, Mark Shaw said:

Come on guys; getting your hands dirty is part of the experience of owning and maintaining old cars. 

I actually have an old (all metal) bearing packer that I only used once.  It wasted too much grease.

I have hand packed lots of bearings over the years and wiped the excess grease back into the can. 

Then I wiped my hands with an old rag followed by soap and water.

 

 

 

My uncle had one decades ago at his shop, he never liked it

[28Buick]

3 hours ago, Mark Shaw said:

Come on guys; getting your hands dirty is part of the experience of owning and maintaining old cars. 

I actually have an old (all metal) bearing packer that I only used once.  It wasted too much grease.

I have hand packed lots of bearings over the years and wiped the excess grease back into the can. 

Then I wiped my hands with an old rag followed by soap and water.

 

 

 

I too have hand packed lots of bearings over the years and returned the excess grease back to the can. Nothing can beat having a dark colored dog for an affectionate hand wipe. 🐕‍🦺

[Terry Wiegand]

I like 28Buick's bearing packer real well.  I used mine on the new Timken Tapered Roller Bearings in the front hubs of my car while putting the new wheels back on the axle.  This is a much better deal than trying to do things by hand.  Grease is forced under pressure to the INSIDE of the bearing which my fat fingers could never begin to do.

 

Terry Wiegand

South Hutchinson, Kansas

AACA Life Member #947918

[Mark Shaw]

12 hours ago, Terry Wiegand said:

Grease is forced under pressure to the INSIDE of the bearing which my fat fingers could never begin to do.

Terry, 

     If you are only using your fingers, you are doing it wrong.  

[Terry Wiegand]

Mark,

Exactly!  that is why the bearing packing tool is so important to use.  It makes sure that the grease gets to where it needs to be.

 

Terry Wiegand

South Hutchinson, Kansas

AACA Life Member #947918

[Larry Schramm]

The old style that I was taught was to wipe the bearing over your palm, not trying to put it in with your fingers.   I still do it the old way sometimes but I also have a bearing packer that I use below.  Depending on the job I use both.

 

Edited July 31, 2023 by Larry Schramm (see edit history)

[Frank DuVal]

Nitrile gloves make the hand packing cleaner! You can really scrape the grease into the rollers/balls with this method.

 

I have one of those nylon bearing packers somewhere.  Never handy, and what grease is in the nearby grease gun? But I always have my hands on me, and gloves nearby. 😁

[28Buick]

Going be zerk with too many fittings? There are so many zerk grease points that I lose track of which ones got the gun. Perhaps red poly dust caps on each after filling will ensure none are missed and avoid double filling. I doubt my Buick will use all 800 caps in this kit but it seems like the prewar technology  has hundreds of spots. Other colors are not as snug but grab as well, giving the option of a color code (any clogged stubborn fitting gets green).

[BuickTom87]

^ just ordered these cap fittings for all the zerk fittings underneath my 29 buick, I ordered the metal ones for the visable ones. Couldnt justify spending all that money for fitting covers for underneath the car.