Thread: Wheel bearings beware.......

I've Never had any issues with running grease in bearings , There has been so far no apparent Spline wear on stub Axles , and no excessive wear on bearings etc . There is still regular maintenance involved even with oil , water ingress mixed with oil can still place wear on splines and bearings. oh and I have changed to double lip type seals with grease.

my only concern with running oil...is knowning my luck they would leak and I believe once you convert to oil you cant convert back..is that right?

Originally Posted by dullbird

my only concern with running oil...is knowning my luck they would leak and I believe once you convert to oil you cant convert back..is that right?

been running oil for years, no leaks.
if you want to go back to grease just put the axle seal back in.

cheers phil

Originally Posted by dullbird

my only concern with running oil...is knowning my luck they would leak and I believe once you convert to oil you cant convert back..is that right?

It is only recently that Land Rover changed to grease for lubricating wheel bearings and cv's. Until then they were oil lubricated and wheel bearings never failed.

When they changed to grease, they used a different seal in the hub. This seal will not keep oil in (and won't keep water or dust out).

If you change back to oil lubrication, it is necessary to use the double lip oil seal.

I can see no reason (other than inferior lubrication) why you couldn't revert back to grease after running oil.

Grease (non-synthetic) is emulsified oil (emulsified with metallic soap and some with water) - it is the oil contained in grease that does the lubricating.

Heat breaks the emulsification down, which usually leads to failure - oil will operate at considerably higher temps.

I suspect Land Rover changed to grease because of oil leaks. They most likely changed to grease for cv's because of oil leaks from swivel housing (usually due to adjustment of swivel bearings).

IMHO one-shot grease doesn't lube the cv's and swivel bearings as well as oil - which is why mine are oil lubricated.

i do my wheel bearings everytime the rego is renewed, i bit of an over kill but i have never had a wheel bearing failure

i have oil lubed bearing on the rear and still inspect them every year or prior to an extended outback trip

not good to hear, lucky you werent going down the freeway with a camper on the back kids in the car, on anather note who do you get to do your work around here

Originally Posted by Bush65

It is only recently that Land Rover changed to grease for lubricating wheel bearings and cv's. Until then they were oil lubricated and wheel bearings never failed.

When they changed to grease, they used a different seal in the hub. This seal will not keep oil in (and won't keep water or dust out).

If you change back to oil lubrication, it is necessary to use the double lip oil seal.

I can see no reason (other than inferior lubrication) why you couldn't revert back to grease after running oil.

Grease (non-synthetic) is emulsified oil (emulsified with metallic soap and some with water) - it is the oil contained in grease that does the lubricating.

Heat breaks the emulsification down, which usually leads to failure - oil will operate at considerably higher temps.

I suspect Land Rover changed to grease because of oil leaks. They most likely changed to grease for cv's because of oil leaks from swivel housing (usually due to adjustment of swivel bearings).

IMHO one-shot grease doesn't lube the cv's and swivel bearings as well as oil - which is why mine are oil lubricated.

from what year did they change to grease? iv got the 95 v8i and havent check mine
what oils did they use? i did oil seal on rear diff a while back and seen blue or green oil i think not 100% tho,

but will look at them before my november weekend on melb cup day

Originally Posted by matthewk

from what year did they change to grease? iv got the 95 v8i and havent check mine
what oils did they use? i did oil seal on rear diff a while back and seen blue or green oil i think not 100% tho,

but will look at them before my november weekend on melb cup day

I'm not sure what year they changed from oil to grease lube.

I use the same oil that goes into the diffs.