Opened up my front hubs...
#11
The gear oil to lube the wheel bearings is for the rear axle. You can pull the seals to allow oil in. I install the bearings with grease, but let oil keep them lubricated.
On the front, gear oil does not go past the swivel housings. Because those housings leak oil, Land Rover replaced oil with grease and the seals have a good purpose. Sta-Lube CV grease works fine, but the All-Makes copy of the Genuine One-Shot tube is the best deal.
The front hubs ride on the stub axle and won't be lubricated by the gear oil in the axle or the grease in the swivel housing. Pack the bearings with grease. I've used Sta-Plex and the Lucas green urea grease. I haven't been able to find out decisively about compatibility, so pick one grease type and stick to it.
For bearings, I recommend Timken. Mine have been holding up great through years of hard offroad use even with wheel spacers.
Axles die from fatigue. They suffer plastic deformation when they're twisted past their elastic limit. After so many times, they're very weak and this results in an undeserved reputation for weakness. Fresh axles are not weak. Fatigued axles are. Change your axles before they break. If you're tweaking them frequently because you're running a detroit locker or big tires, then you may prefer to use some 4340 axles instead of changing them annually.
On the front, gear oil does not go past the swivel housings. Because those housings leak oil, Land Rover replaced oil with grease and the seals have a good purpose. Sta-Lube CV grease works fine, but the All-Makes copy of the Genuine One-Shot tube is the best deal.
The front hubs ride on the stub axle and won't be lubricated by the gear oil in the axle or the grease in the swivel housing. Pack the bearings with grease. I've used Sta-Plex and the Lucas green urea grease. I haven't been able to find out decisively about compatibility, so pick one grease type and stick to it.
For bearings, I recommend Timken. Mine have been holding up great through years of hard offroad use even with wheel spacers.
Axles die from fatigue. They suffer plastic deformation when they're twisted past their elastic limit. After so many times, they're very weak and this results in an undeserved reputation for weakness. Fresh axles are not weak. Fatigued axles are. Change your axles before they break. If you're tweaking them frequently because you're running a detroit locker or big tires, then you may prefer to use some 4340 axles instead of changing them annually.
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partsguru (11-30-2015)
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