grease in closed knuckle front diff?
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 1,243
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From: Maple Ridge B.C. Canada
grease in closed knuckle front diff?
i was wondering if anyone has filled their dana closed knuckle front diff with grease,in stead of gear lube? i know it has to have gear lube in axle housing, and axle tubes.im talking about filling the actual closed knuckle ends,where the stubb shafts are. i was told by a mechanic that the seals always leak gear lube,so many guys just fill them up with grease. i dont know if this is true. would this be okay for the inner wheel bearings, stubb shaft u joints,etc. ?
Post Fiend
Joined: Jul 2006
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most of the guys that use grease for a closed knuckle front axles do so because the cup has too many pits or imperfections to hold oil.
If the front axle has locking hubs, then I would think you could put just about anything in there because the axle does not turn too much. However if you have a full time transfer case, and no locking hubs, grease might not be the best choice because even synthetic high temp grease can cavitate and cause an area to not get proper lubrication.
The best grease to find is good sticky stuff that will stick under high temps and pressures, but oil works the best. If 90W is too thin, I would try 140W before I put grease in there. Grease has advantages in water and some other areas, but, maybe the best overall solution would be to upgrade to an open knuckle and get all of the benifits of it, and never wory about those leaky old seals again.
If the front axle has locking hubs, then I would think you could put just about anything in there because the axle does not turn too much. However if you have a full time transfer case, and no locking hubs, grease might not be the best choice because even synthetic high temp grease can cavitate and cause an area to not get proper lubrication.
The best grease to find is good sticky stuff that will stick under high temps and pressures, but oil works the best. If 90W is too thin, I would try 140W before I put grease in there. Grease has advantages in water and some other areas, but, maybe the best overall solution would be to upgrade to an open knuckle and get all of the benifits of it, and never wory about those leaky old seals again.
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