Thread: Front swivel hubs and what to put in them?

Originally Posted by pfillery

I am about to rebuild my front swivel hubs because one is leaking a bit of oil. I have just stripped a couple of others for practice (hey I'm a perfectionist) and it posed an interesting question - what is better in them, oil or grease? I know from reading these forums that people use the one shot grease when the seals are leaking, and according to the service manual it should be the same gearbox oil as the main box and transfer case. But I know a lot of people use grease too. Will never leak out past the seals.

So assuming I'm doing all the seals anyway, what is better? Oil or grease? Are there pros and cons for each that I should be aware of? I'm using the car more in town with the occasional trip in 4x4 land so I guess I want the solution that is going to be better for my axles in the long term.

Many thanks.

I am about to put a kit through the swivels this week.
Grease is okay if you wish to prevent old seals leaking.
If you are putting a new kit through and giving the swivels a birthday with new parts, then oil is always the way to go.
Oil provides the best protection and durability.
Matter of advice l have been given by various sources and only my opinion.

I have just stripped both swivels on my S3 and found them loaded with grease; however; both upper swivel pins and railko bushes were badly worn, indicating that they had not been lubricated for a long time.

The uni joints are plastered in the stuff, but I can't imagine how the grease could get inside them where the needle rollers are and the bottom swivel bearings were serviceable but exhibiting some marks; at least they were covered in grease! Most of the grease had been flung out to the swivel housing, where it had stuck and was the same colour as when it was new - in other words it had done nothing since it was installed. The grease was blacker around the uni joints indicating that something dirty, or hot had happened there.

I will be refilling with EP 90.

Some people like to use a mixture of one-shot grease and EP 90 but I can't see the point really; when the seal eventually leaks, it is only an afternoon's work to replace them,

Cheers Charlie

As shown by Charlie's experience, grease is quite unsuitable for the swivels. One shot or oil are the only suitable materials, and there is little advantage in either unless the seals tend to leak, when one shot will stay in better.

A couple of points worth noting, are that if the oil is getting out, then mud and water are probably getting in. So fix the seals, not use some makeshift to disguise the problem.

Also, note that loose swivel bearings will cause the seal to lose contact with the ball, so the first step in dealing with a leak will be to check the swivel preload.

John

So, JDNSW, is the swivel preload you refer to where they put a spring balance on it to see if it needs more or less shims? The kit I bought has the top railko bush and pin as well as the bottom swivel pin bearing and track, so if I'm fitting new ones, how do you establish how many, if any, shims are needed? I want to do the front end properly to avoid trouble later on, hence rekitting both sides not just replacing the one bearing that was faulty.

Are the railko bushes actually held in with anything or just a push fit? Some that I looked at had what appeared to be a locating pin - does this have to be drilled out first to remove the bush as this isn't mentioned in the manual.

Yes the pretension is tested by putting the spring balance on. The only way to do it is to put probably a couple more shims in than it had before (new bush will be tighter) and try it. If it isn't right you have to pull it out and change the number of shims. Might take a few tries before you get it right.

I didn't have to do anything with a locating pin, everything was in the kit. FWD Motors here in Brisbane have the full kits that include all your gaskets and such like. Price is comparable if not better than what I could buy on the internet.

TimJ.