[Zmagnette] wheel bearing lubrication
LannM at aol.com
LannM at aol.com
Fri Mar 7 18:45:08 MST 2014
Steve T.
My WSM calls out an 18G304 Puller and 18G304B Adaptor. Pictures from the
Service Tool Catalogue attached.
Lann
In a message dated 3/7/2014 7:26:51 P.M. Central Standard Time,
strovato at optonline.net writes:
Well, on the right side, I started to attempt the hub removal. I
tried the old trick of putting the brake drum on backwards, and using
it as a sort of slide hammer. That didn't work. I tried a three arm
puller and cranked it a bit, until it slipped off the hub. A three
arm puller isn't necessarily the best thing to try to engage on a
square part. I was a bit cautious and not really committed to
getting deeper into this today. I am sure I can come up with a
better puller for this in the future. The factory puller pulled the
studs, rather than trying to hook around the back. Anyway, I would
say that this hub is the exception to the "does not take much"
rule. For now, I cleaned up the mess I could reach. I took new
grease, and applied it to the outer bearing as well as I could. I
put it back together and the rest will be a project for another
day. It is definitely still on the to do list, though. As for the
inner parts that I never reached, the manual says that the inner ball
race bearing spacer and oil seal will remain on the stub axle, and
must be withdrawn with the aid of a separate extractor. It's not the
inner bearing, it is the spacer they think will be stuck. They list
special tool part no. 68895. I have no idea what that is. I don't
expect to find one, of course, but it would be interesting to see
what they had in mind. I didn't try the left side at all, but I did
make note in the manual that the left side of the car is left-hand
thread. That could be frustrating without that bit of
knowledge. There is also a statement to remove the grease retaining
disc and felt washer. The grease retaining disc is, I guess, what I
would call a metal washer. I didn't find any felt washer and I don't
remember seeing one in any of the diagrams. Anyway, thanks for the
advice and I'll get back to this another day with a bit more time and
tools.
-Steve T.
At 05:39 PM 3/7/2014, Fletcher Millmore wrote:
>Steve-
>If the grease is noticeably thin (or dry and solid), then yes,
>replace it. It likely got that way from too much grease and too much
>heat. Grease is just oil in a soap base, meant to meter the oil to
>the parts - what you see is the base disintegrated. Probably the OE
grease!
>
>Some hubs (random on identical cars) require a puller, and some do
>not. This appears to be a tolerance issue; there is NO reason that
>the bearings should be a "tight" fit on the spindle. It usually does
>not take much to pull the hub; two prybars behind the hub often do
>the job. Or bolt the wheel back on with the spindle nut removed, and
>smack it with a mallet from the back. Since a tight fit is not
>needed, I always clean up the spindle with emery, so that the
>bearings are a nice slide fit.
>
>If the inner bearing is stuck, it will pull the seal out of the hub
>as it is pulled, but normally doesn't damage the seal, which is
>likely dead of age anyhow.
>
>The inner spacer is a free fit on the spindle, no problem. Worth
>polishing the seal track with 400 and oil -high polished tracks eat
>seals. In addition to what I described below, I pack the space
>immediately behind the seal (bearing side) with grease; this is to
>provide lube to the seal, and to block water from getting to the
>bearing if the seal doesn't seal.
>
>FRM
>
>On 3/7/2014 5:13 PM, Steven Trovato wrote:
>>OK, so here's my wheel bearing update. Everything looks just fine
>>so far, except the grease in there now is very liquid. It's no
>>surprise at all that it is making its way onto my wheels. If I
>>want to do an official bearing inspection and service, I better
>>make sure I have some new grease seals around. I'm going to have to
>>use a puller to get the hub off, I checked. I am also going to have
>>to remove the inner spacer and oil seal from the stub axle if the
>>manual is to believed.
>>And this is supposed to require some other magic special tool. I'm
>>sure there is a way to do this with readily available tools, but I
>>am not in there yet, so I don't know quite what will be
>>required. So, I can either forge ahead, or clean things up a bit
>>and put it together as is for now. I agree with Fletcher about not
>>disassembling a known good hub, but I don't think there is any way
>>to keep the current nasty thin grease from leaking out without
>>cleaning it all out and putting some reasonable modern grease in
>>there. On the other hand, if I just put it together, everything
>>seems functional and safe for now.
>>Decisions, decisions.
>>
>>-Steve T.
>>
>>At 03:30 PM 3/1/2014, Fletcher Millmore wrote:
>>>Doesn't matter who made the bearings- all ball bearings are the same.
>>>
>>>Too much grease is evil. It just creates heat - which melts the
>>>grease out, and all over the wheels, or brakes if it goes inside.
>>>
>>>I pack the bearing, and smear all internal surfaces - including
>>>the cap - with grease to prevent rust.
>>>
>>>Remember that modern greases are far more stable than the old
>>>stuff, and last more or less forever - far longer than you will.
>>>
>>>Once you put a hub together correctly, properly greased, it should
>>>easily go 24000 miles, and likely 100,000.
>>>I never take a known good hub apart for inspection - it just wears
>>>out the bearing fits, and introduces dirt.
>>>IF the car is parked under water, or the brakes hang and get
>>>really hot, then it makes sense to "inspect and service" the bearings.
>>>IF the outer bearing looks a bit dry, smoosh some grease into that
>>>bearing. The only place that grease went is along the hub taper to
>>>the inner bearing.
>>>
>>>FRM
>>
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>
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