Oil feed wheel bearings ???

[Phantum]

Morning all,

I have done a search and read through the "Good oil" on this subject and all the info is great. Thanks to everyone for all that. The rear bearings are very easy to do , however I am a bit confused when it comes to doing the front bearings! The vehicle is a 97 300tdi wagon.

1. Can the whole front end with the seals removed be filled with all the one oil? Bearings, swivel and diff as one.

or

2. Do I need to keep 3 separate compartments eg wheel bearings, swivel joint and diff all separate with seals in place?

or

3. Can I do a combination eg. wheel bearings and swivel joint and diff separate or swivel joint and diff and wheel bearing separete.

I have a wheel bearing and swivel joint complete replacement kit including one shot grease to do the job. I now just need the guidence for which option is the best, basically grease or oil for the front end?

Many thanks in advance

Regards

Phil

[JDNSW]

1. No. Swivel and diff levels are different.

2. No

3. You can do the swivel and wheel bearings together - this is the setup used for Landrovers up to the mid 90s.

John

[abaddonxi]

If you're converting the front do the swivel bearings and preload at the same time. Not much extra expense.

Filling the swivels is a pain and seems to take forever, it goes faster if you turn the wheels to full lock.

[Dougal]

Some people remove all internal seals and run oil from diff into swivels and the wheel bearings.
I have the swivel seals in place so the swivels and wheel bearings are one chamber and seperate from the diff.

It won't matter which way you do it until you get a leak. Then it's the difference between a few hundred cc's and a few litres.

[PAT303]

It won't matter if you fit seals or not or how well you do the job,within months all the lubes are mixed.I fill the front end of my defender with 90/140 gear oil and change it once a year. Pat