I posted this in the lube section and it doesn't get much traffic. Thought I would try here. I have a 88 F250 and 96 F250... But pretty much greased wheel bearings are all the same.

Do you pack tapered wheel bearings by hand or use a tool?? I don't do wheel bearings often. Once a year or so. Not sure if I should try a packer or keep doing it by hand?

I was looking at one of these style. OEM brand is fair. But not sure on how people like them. Reviews are always mixed. Asking on here where people know how to use tools. Is there is a decent one (at a decent price) that would hook to a grease gun and blow out old grease?? Or always best to wash out and repack??

Any preference for grease? I usually use high temp wheel bearing grease... But did pick up a can of high tack red stuff. (Not sure if labeled wheel bearing or not.)

 

I’ve always done them by hand, my truck and trailer. I’m sure the tool is a lot cleaner haha!

 

I use the blue high-temp disc brake wheel bearing grease, by hand.

 

On my Ranger, the Ford manual calls the bearings to be cleaned with brake parts cleaner and repacked. I imagine it's the same on the larger side as well. I suppose that you could use one of those rubber tip grease gun adapters for repacking, but I wouldn't trust it to flush out the old grease; a part designed for a grease gun has channels to allow the old grease to flow out. A bearing doesn't.

Regarding grease, in my opinion the best grease is the one closest at hand (as long as it's listed for wheel bearing duty). You can head over to Bob is the Oil Guy and get their opinions, but I think that the specific grease doesn't matter nearly as much as hitting the proper service interval. Double check that your favorite meets the OEM spec and go for it. Most people don't ever service their wheel bearings and go 100k+... if you're cleaning and repacking every 30k, you should come out pretty far ahead.

 

I clean them in gas and then spray with brake cleaner. Every repack should start with clean bearing! I do mine once a year with the red wheel bearing. No clue what the color difference means!

 

The color doesn't mean much, but the spec does. At some point Ford started calling for moly grease on some wheel bearings and standard on others. Maybe moly for 2WD unit bearings and standard for 4WD hub/spindle assemblies? I'm not sure. It probably doesn't make that much of a difference in the grand scheme of things, but if you want to do things "by-the-book" it doesn't hurt to check.

 

Bearing packers are fun to use and look cool while working, but are messy as hell (I have a couple of them)
I just use a gloved hand and can get them done quicker and cleaner that way

 

I was taught in mechanics school to never use gasoline on any bearing surface. (manufacturing reps were adamant about this)

Particularly if the bearing is subjected to high heat.

It impregnates the microscopic pores in the metal regardless of how much you "dry" the bearings or race & dissolves/breaks down the lubrication at the precise metal interface where needed.

I use grease only rated for Ford disc brakes which is typically moly grade.

Packing by hand if done correctly forces old grease out of the bearing.

YRMV

 

Glove or no glove… a glob of grease in your hand is cleaner than placing the bearing in a packer?

I still have the same bearing packer I bought when I started Ford school back in 1993. You must pack bearings like the Flash since I can place a cleaned/ new bearing in the packer, press down the plunger and be done in a couple seconds. There is no way you can manually pack a bearing that fast. When I’m done I remove the latex/nitrile gloves and throw it away. There isn’t as much new grease that gets wasted either. Yes, I do still manually pack bearings if I’m not in a hurry or the packer is empty.

I use this since it has the Ford spec on the label.


Absolutely. You can see any old grease being forced out.

 

When I was younger, I also was taught this too, not just gas, but every cleaner. It's best to pack new grease to push out the old. I really don't think it matters too much.

I don't know if I have ever run across a grease that has ruined a bearing, but I have seen poor adjustments that cause failures. Matter of fact, I suspect every failed bearing was caused by the last tech not adjusting them correct. I have seen properly adjusted bearings last 300k miles, no grease change needed.

 

I've seen bearing grease in older Fords I know have been worked on many times that has the consistency of wax (paraffin).

I can only suspect that it was non Ford spec grease, but that's just my guess.

 

I usually just wipe off the old grease as best as I can before packing with new grease. The only time I might use brake cleaner is if I need a better look at the rollers. More often than not if the bearing is questionable it gets replaced.

What is really good is if after you wash the bearing in gasoline you use compressed air to dry the bearings. Make sure to get them spinning really fast so they dry out quicker.

 

https://www.lislecorp.com/specialty-...bearing-packer

I use that guy to pack them easily, works nice and fairly inexpensive. Yes, end play is important so mind the O.E. procedure.

 

I may have to get one of these..

 

I have the Lisle version but what the OP asked about in the first post is basically the same thing.