Ford doesn't want you to do it but they have been doing it for many years. Are you supposed to buy a new hub when the grease runs dry? I will try to upload some pics from Pbucket.
The trick is to use the ABS sensor hole and it won't affect your sensor or give you a bad light.
If your outer hub is already cleaned and greased you can use a rag and a sandwich bag to cover
Plug the 3/8" hole so you don't contaminate the bearing. Clean the rust real well on the right of this picture. so you can re-use you old seals. Grease there also.
I used a funnel I had and a piece of tubing but you can use a smaller funnel by itself.
I used a whole mini tube of grease in the hub so you know it was dry.
It's important that you scrape and clean all the surfaces where the seals ride and add grease here too. That way you can re-use your old seals. If they are in good shape you won't need new ones. ( I know someone will chime in here but it's true) Clean the rust on the ride side of this picture real well and add grease here later also.
When you pack the needle bearings; cram a rag into the hole just below the bearing and use the can of pressurized brake parts cleaner on it them. Push grease into the bearing with your thumb until it won't take any more.
Great post,too bad I've just changed mine.
Don't you worry about too much grease in there?
No. It has a drip point of 380 degrees. I would rather have plenty than not enough. I will keep a eye on it and if there is a problem I will use less on the other side. I did wipe off the excess of course.
I don't mean to hijack the thread, but .... where did you get that SpringerPop? I have a real crappy lathe in my garage and it was a struggle to make two. I was going cut another pair to use a more robust o/ring, but I'd rather buy them. Thanks.
My front bearing units are a regular problem as my truck crosses rivers, etc. I would love to get in there and clean them properly and repack them, but pushing grease in is better than nothing.
I replaced the OEM hubs with manual Warns after a rock cracked one.
I really hate these bearings ... wish they just had a regular bearing/race/spindle.
First, I used my ABS sensor to get the dimensions.
For material, I chucked a short 1/2" bolt up in the drill chuck on my old ShopSmith, used a hacksaw, and a couple of different files.
While still chucked up, I used my Dewalt drill to through-drill it.
So, talk about a crappy lathe. A ShopSmith is a WOOD-working tool!
Take your time, have patience, and you too will have one, especially since you have a METAL lathe.
I gave my crude dimensional drawing to a guy on the 7.3 forum who is a machine-shop supervisor, and he cranked out a bunch of them for the guys over there.
Here's what I did to grease mine. A whole bunch of us on the 7.3 forum now have them in our toolboxes.
The downside is you CAN get too much grease into the hub, and it will cause no vacuum to be passed to the auto-hub locks, thus no ESOF.
I'd rather have dependable hub bearings, and manually lock my hubs when I need to.
There's no need to completely remove the hubs from the truck.
Pop
I had to remove the hub to get to the important needle bearings.
That is a cute little tool but all you need is a small funnel. The air comes out on the front side of the wheel hub so I don't see how it can effect the esof. I would rather do a little maintenence and keep my ESOF. Also; you can pump grease in hub the while on the truck with just a 3/8" O.D. x 6" tubing, a little funnel spout (cut off), and a mini grease pump. The only downside is that it is a little easier with 2 people; one to hold the grease gun tube against the funnel spout and 1 to work the pump.
I had to remove the hub to get to the important needle bearings.
THAT would be a good reason to remove the hubs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by EXv10
That is a cute little tool but all you need is a small funnel.
I found after first doing it without the zerk adapter that it was a whole bunch cleaner WITH it, that's all. Both ways will certainly work, and the important thing is that you DO the lube.
I grease the main hub bearing every year, but the needle bearings only every three.
I don't agree with you about the vacuum flow path, as I believe the vacuum runs through the bearing cavity. But I also have to say I'm not certain you're wrong, either, as I'm not positive it does.
I found after first doing it without the zerk adapter that it was a whole bunch cleaner WITH it, that's all. Both ways will certainly work, and the important thing is that you DO the lube.
I grease the main hub bearing every year, but the needle bearings only every three.
I don't agree with you about the vacuum flow path, as I believe the vacuum runs through the bearing cavity, but I also have to say I'm not certain you're wrong, either.
Pop
That would be a clean way to do it. I was reading the sta-lube website and they say my grease (I used) has a 380 degree drop (drip?) point but some of their grease goes to 470 degrees. I wonder if that grease can come out of there.
I don't mean to hijack the thread, but .... where did you get that SpringerPop? I have a real crappy lathe in my garage and it was a struggle to make two. I was going cut another pair to use a more robust o/ring, but I'd rather buy them. Thanks.
My front bearing units are a regular problem as my truck crosses rivers, etc. I would love to get in there and clean them properly and repack them, but pushing grease in is better than nothing.
I replaced the OEM hubs with manual Warns after a rock cracked one.
I really hate these bearings ... wish they just had a regular bearing/race/spindle.
Sta Lube makes a marine grease that is very resistant to water. If you can't get the grease gun tubes you can easily hand pack them.
Very curious about this and with people who have done it and how long it has lasted. Do you guys recommend doing this if you only have a problem, or as preventative? The main issue I see is something most people don't realize, you can have to much grease. The first thing that normally happens is the bearing will run hotter with to much grease. It needs to have room for the grease to form a trough with the bearings running through the trough. Grease is basically like a sponge for oil. Grease does not lubricate, the oil in the grease does, so you need to have room for this trough to form.
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Clayton Parks - Michigan
05 Ford SuperDuty 6.0 PowerStroke 4x4 Toyo Hypertech Magnaflow
57 Ford Ranchero 4x4 390 project
This is only a PM thing. Once you have a problem with the bearings, it's too late to do much but replace the hub.
Cookie88 on the 7.3 list has been doing this for a few years and has eliminated hub failures on his.
I rarely (if EVER) use 4WD, so problem with the grease not letting vacuum actuate the hub locks is moot for me. If I got into a bind, I'd just rotate the locks manually like those with Warns have to do anyway.
None of us can really subjectively say for sure how this will hold up in the REAL-long run.
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