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oil volume landrover hubs
I have been running 60 cc for years, after running 80 cc for years, if you fill the hubs up the oil will leak through the seals or or pop off the rubber hubcaps when it expands, the hubs will run hotter.
Its easy to check the hub oil level, can put your hand on the hub after driving, (no heavy breaking), yes,= all good, -have oil on your rim ? no -its all good. But if you want technical rotate the drain plug to 4 o"clock position and some oil should come out. If i'm concerned there might be water in the hub I rotate it down to 6 o clock and drain some oil out to check, if the oil comes out "clean and bright", I rotate back to 3.30 or 4 o'clock and fill until it over flows. I can say that since using the county seal and going to oil filled, ( seal part number given earlier by another member) I have never found water in my hubs. I think the original defender hub seal is second class , I wouldn't fit one no mater what I was putting in my hubs.
The oil filled hub is oil bath lube , the oil spins with the hubs and the rollers roll through it, and the seals are always wet.
My car has original LR front axles, drive flanges, CVs, all oil filled. 220,000 kms, oil filling will benefit any LR car with any drive line component configuration. As mentioned earlier in this post and my earlier posts i have noticed the swivels seals are leaking slowly, there's a slow migration of oil from the swivels into the diff. But since my swivels have an oil level indicator plug its about 20 minutes to check and top up the level each year. ( drain a bit out of the bottom to check for water and top up to the correct level)
The wheel end splines and drive flanges will last forever if you put a teaspoon of grease in the rubber hubcap every year, I still do this even though my hubs are oil filled. ( maybe not the late model ones they seem to have a QA problem)
Regarding the rubber hub caps, I have never had a problem with them leaking, except when they get to about 5 years old, then they crack and start to leak slowly, but since they cost $8 i can live with that, and always have a spare or two in the car. i only use the genuine LR part and don't use any sealant on them, if you have oil filled hubs and there's oil leaking from the rubber hub cap it maybe there's too much oil in the hub, 80 mls is plenty. Easy to put in using a $1 plastic syringe from the chemist
The LR drive flange pictured below is drilled through and tapped 1/8" gas, its a fine thread tapered plug.The tap is not expensive, ( but buy a good one HSS, the drive flange is fairly tough material), and the plugs are cheap and easy to get at plumbing or engineering supplies. i use thread tape on them, but if you don't have any at the time its not a problem they seal without it.
The drive flange and axle pictures are original 1995, 220,000 kms, and I would say almost perfect condition. I didn't remove the seal from the swivel housing because i was too lazy. :)
I can't remember when i changed those bearings. Grease filled hub bearings have a big disadvantage, you can only lubricate the inside bearing by removing the hub, the grease will not flow there from the outside, the inside bearing is the one that is most vulnerable to contamination and fails the most in my experience. As mentioned oil filled has the disadvantage that when your seals go it will leak out, its usually obvious to you when they leak, you'll see the oil on your rim. I have replaced a couple of seals in the last 15 years, (100,000 km), but they were damaged because the wheel bearings were a little loos and the wheel was "rocking" in the stub axle.
cheers simmo
