Rear Hub Service and How much Grease to use.

[Capriceii]

I have been looking through the TM's but I have not located the Tandem hub service info. I am in the process of replacing all the grease seals because they are leaking, and after I have cleaned out all the old grease and repack the bearings, how much more grease do I need in these hubs? And which TM is this in? Thank you in advance for any help!

 

[fleetmech]

You can load those hubs up fairly full, just like a biggie sized trailer bearing. you do want to leave a bit of room for thermal expansion, but you definitely want loads of grease in there. IIRC I ended up using nearly 1 lb. of grease per hub.

jeepsinker has a great series of videos on youtube under the channel name 'Tactical Repair' which will walk you right through it, as well as lots of other deuce repairs!

Make sure you seal the keyway in the spindle! I used regular black RTV (with lots of patience for a full cure!) and so far, so good. I happened upon a can of aerosol RTV (like a can of cheez whiz) that is awesome for that purpose. You can direct the nozzle right into the keyway and get a good sealing fill with no fuss.

 

[V8srfun]

This is a highly debated topic from people saying fill them up to others saying you only need to pack the bearings and no more. Both sides have interesting arguments and I don’t know that either way is incorrect. The important part is that we regularly service the bearings so that we don’t experience premature failure.

I personally went heavy handed on the grease when I serviced mine last year for the first time. After all isn’t that the American way more is always better even if it really isn’t. But honestly I don’t feel that I have any particular advantage to using all that extra grease other than the fact that it made me feel better (like I was being extra nice to my truck) or something like that.

jeepsinkers video was very helpful for me the first time I did the service. One thing I did to keep the key way perfectly clean was wrap that portion of the spindle in electrical tape. This way there was no chance of getting grease in there when putting the bearing on. After the bearings were in place I removed the tape and had perfectly clean surfaces. I used grey silicone and the cork gasket and no leaks!!!

 

[rickdavis81]

I had read to use 2 tubes per hub when I did mine. I just bought the big tubs and used half per hub. I also saw where someone drilled and tapped their hub for a grease zerk, kinda like a bearing buddy on a trailer. So I did that too.

 

[V8srfun]

I had read to use 2 tubes per hub when I did mine. I just bought the big tubs and used half per hub. I also saw where someone drilled and tapped their hub for a grease zerk, kinda like a bearing buddy on a trailer. So I did that too.

Just be careful with how much extra grease you pump in because the back seal is just a dust cover and you can get so much grease in there that it will get on the brakes.

 

[NY Tom]

I do not see how the grease will get into the bearings just by being in the hubs. I packed the bearings well and left grease smeared liberally all over the inside of the hubs to help protect from corrosion.

Greased up the seals nicely, corked up the slot and down the road we go.

 

[m715mike]

I do not see how the grease will get into the bearings just by being in the hubs. I packed the bearings well and left grease smeared liberally all over the inside of the hubs to help protect from corrosion.

Greased up the seals nicely, corked up the slot and down the road we go.

I did this too and have had no issues to speak of.

Servicing bearings becomes quite a chore when you have two tubes (or half a tub) of grease to clean out of the hubs. Been there, done that too.

 

[Capriceii]

You can load those hubs up fairly full, just like a biggie sized trailer bearing. you do want to leave a bit of room for thermal expansion, but you definitely want loads of grease in there. IIRC I ended up using nearly 1 lb. of grease per hub.

jeepsinker has a great series of videos on youtube under the channel name 'Tactical Repair' which will walk you right through it, as well as lots of other deuce repairs!

Make sure you seal the keyway in the spindle! I used regular black RTV (with lots of patience for a full cure!) and so far, so good. I happened upon a can of aerosol RTV (like a can of cheez whiz) that is awesome for that purpose. You can direct the nozzle right into the keyway and get a good sealing fill with no fuss.

I was sorta worried, I did 2 and I packed the bearings on one and the next I put some extra in the wheel cavity. LOL Tactical Repair that is the only channel that showed the whole process. But in the 2 part on rear hub he skips over how much he put in the hubs. Love that Guy!

 

[Capriceii]

This is a highly debated topic from people saying fill them up to others saying you only need to pack the bearings and no more. Both sides have interesting arguments and I don’t know that either way is incorrect. The important part is that we regularly service the bearings so that we don’t experience premature failure.

I personally went heavy handed on the grease when I serviced mine last year for the first time. After all isn’t that the American way more is always better even if it really isn’t. But honestly I don’t feel that I have any particular advantage to using all that extra grease other than the fact that it made me feel better (like I was being extra nice to my truck) or something like that.

jeepsinkers video was very helpful for me the first time I did the service. One thing I did to keep the key way perfectly clean was wrap that portion of the spindle in electrical tape. This way there was no chance of getting grease in there when putting the bearing on. After the bearings were in place I removed the tape and had perfectly clean surfaces. I used grey silicone and the cork gasket and no leaks!!!

The electrical tape idea is great! I have fought keeping the key way clean on the first two. So I guess I will conduct an experiment, the drivers side just repacked bearings the passenger side I will add some extra, we will see how they look when I service them next.

Thank You!

 

[Capriceii]

I want to thank you all! This is why I love this community.

 

[frank8003]

Need grease for the bearing. DO NOT mix grease. But you know about that
TM says use GAA
Wheel goes around and around and throws grease out to wherever it can get to.
You could get nasties on Your brake drum with over application.
Always inspect and repair