M923 A1 Axle Question & Prep For Long Drive

[DampLemonade]

Howdy guys.

I'm active duty Air Force and the time is approaching for me to move bases. I'm anticipating roughly 1,200 miles to my new base and am currently planning on driving my 923 the whole way. The truck overall is in really good shape mechanically, to the point where I'm actually planning on using my truck to move all of my stuff instead of renting a moving van. I'm a young single dude so I don't have *that* much stuff.

Through google, I found a handful of threads where guys where talking about axle seals and I ended up going down a rabbit hole that got me more confused than it answered questions. I know a lot of heavy diesels, equipment, and it appears the older 5-tons too, use oil-bathed hubs instead of grease. I was reading this thread where it says the 939 hubs were originally wet hubs but the military "added a crappy outer seal to make them grease hubs, mainly to keep water out of the hub and axle." This, along with the TM only mentioning grease points and not axle oil, leads me to believe that 939s do not use hub oil, and that Lucas Red n Tacky on all the grease points should be safe and good.

My truck has no leaks anywhere (besides the injection pump drip which I'm working on), and I'm not planning on removing any wheels, hubs, axles, etc. My question is, am I just overthinking this whole axle oil vs grease business? Sometimes I am an overthinker, and my worst fear is a hub melting in the middle of nowhere. Especially if I'm supposed to change hub oil somewhere I wasn't aware of.

Besides that, for the long drive, this is my current list of work to do. Feel free to critique and add as necessary:
--All new tires - done
--Coolant flush - done
--Engine oil change, been using Mobil Delvac 1300
--Transmission oil change - 1x drain, refill, inline filter change done... Planning another drain + pan filter change + inline filter change + refill, Castrol TransSynd
--All 3 differentials drain and refill, planning to buy NAPA 80w90, GL-5
--Transfer case drain and refill - done, NAPA 80w90
--Hit all grease points with Lucas Red
--Fuel filter - buying spin-on adapter from mvparts soon, will use WIX filters

Thanks in advance and wish me luck! I'm still a few months out from leaving so I'm not in any time crunch *knock on wood*

 

[kendelrio]

On another note: you'll be tempted to drive as long as you can. Driver fatigue is a real thing and dangerous. Take breaks as needed and bring plenty of water!!!

 

[NDT]

All era 5 tons have always been grease lubricated wheel bearings. Suggest you follow the lube order. Suggest you use conventional moly EP grease on the bearings, nothing "tacky" lest something stick together off in the hub.

 

[Mullaney]

Howdy guys.

I'm active duty Air Force and the time is approaching for me to move bases. I'm anticipating roughly 1,200 miles to my new base and am currently planning on driving my 923 the whole way. The truck overall is in really good shape mechanically, to the point where I'm actually planning on using my truck to move all of my stuff instead of renting a moving van. I'm a young single dude so I don't have *that* much stuff.

Through google, I found a handful of threads where guys where talking about axle seals and I ended up going down a rabbit hole that got me more confused than it answered questions. I know a lot of heavy diesels, equipment, and it appears the older 5-tons too, use oil-bathed hubs instead of grease. I was reading this thread where it says the 939 hubs were originally wet hubs but the military "added a crappy outer seal to make them grease hubs, mainly to keep water out of the hub and axle." This, along with the TM only mentioning grease points and not axle oil, leads me to believe that 939s do not use hub oil, and that Lucas Red n Tacky on all the grease points should be safe and good.

My truck has no leaks anywhere (besides the injection pump drip which I'm working on), and I'm not planning on removing any wheels, hubs, axles, etc. My question is, am I just overthinking this whole axle oil vs grease business? Sometimes I am an overthinker, and my worst fear is a hub melting in the middle of nowhere. Especially if I'm supposed to change hub oil somewhere I wasn't aware of.

Besides that, for the long drive, this is my current list of work to do. Feel free to critique and add as necessary:
--All new tires - done
--Coolant flush - done
--Engine oil change, been using Mobil Delvac 1300
--Transmission oil change - 1x drain, refill, inline filter change done... Planning another drain + pan filter change + inline filter change + refill, Castrol TransSynd
--All 3 differentials drain and refill, planning to buy NAPA 80w90, GL-5
--Transfer case drain and refill - done, NAPA 80w90
--Hit all grease points with Lucas Red
--Fuel filter - buying spin-on adapter from mvparts soon, will use WIX filters

Thanks in advance and wish me luck! I'm still a few months out from leaving so I'm not in any time crunch *knock on wood*

.
Another thing to do is get yourself a hand held thermometer. Drive it for an hour, get out and walk around the truck zapping each hub. If you see one that is really hot, start looking for a way to drive off the road and start fixing it. Chances are your hubs will be just fine...

Make SURE that you take a spare set of fuel filters on the road with you!