greasing rear wheel bearings

[rr41mag]

How do you grease the rear wheel bearings without disassembling them? I used a cajun injector and to inject the grease. I think I got enough in them.

 

[Torxhead]

Rear wheel bearings are lubricated with the rear diff oil and only require a seal for maintaince. On the Dana 20 diff there is a adjustment for axle play that I have no experience with.

 

[NorthwestCJer]

AMC outer wheel bearings are not lubed by the diff oil. I have seen many people neglect these setups and then complain about the AMC20 because of failure.
I tear mine down and grease. I have seen people drill ant tap a grease zerk into the housing.

 

[Torxhead]

AMC outer wheel bearings are not lubed by the diff oil. I have seen many people neglect these setups and then complain about the AMC20 because of failure.
I tear mine down and grease. I have seen people drill ant tap a grease zerk into the housing.

I didn't know that, sounds like a design flaw. The grease zerk sounds good though, but I did not find any online procedure for it, i'll have to check a manual.

 

[JR74CJ5]

I drilled and tapped my 44 for grease zerks.

I can dig up some photos for you! It was very easy...



~ Jr

 

[Torxhead]

I drilled and tapped my 44 for grease zerks.

I can dig up some photos for you! It was very easy...



~ Jr

Yeah, JR could you send some, I would think it would be good to add an extra shot now and then.

 

[Old Dog]

Hey Torx, I'm not sure if this has the exact info your looking for but there's info about adding zerks in this link.Water 'Proofing' Ignition, Axles, Hubs, Ect. - JeepForum.com

 

[IOPort51]

The AMC20 wheel bearings run in gear lube, there in one seal and it is on the outside of the bearing. The oil level is above the level of the bottom of the tube.

The Dana 44 has two seals , one inside and one outside and the bearing should be greased at assembly.

I recently read a very interesting section on bearing lubrication in the Machinery handbook, one of the few references I take as gospel, excessive greasing of bearings causes temperature increase which leads to lubricant failure and then bearing failure. I am not so sure the Zerk idea is a good one.

I think, on the 44 I would choose to grease enough to cover and fill the bearings and allow plenty of room for the bearing to expel any excess and not be over packed. I know there are "High temp" greases but just to put perspective on things a good high temp/high pressure lithium grease starts to degrade at 250 degrees and for every 10 degrees above that temperature the life of the lubricant is shortened by 1/2.

 

[Torxhead]

Hey Torx, I'm not sure if this has the exact info your looking for but there's info about adding zerks in this link.Water 'Proofing' Ignition, Axles, Hubs, Ect. - JeepForum.com

Old Dog, that refers to the front Dana 30 axle assembly, but it was quite imformative. I do not think it is a good idea to drill into a structual surface like a spindle though, I did see one fail once, even with out the drilled hole. The spindles were eventually made stronger with the disc brake version I believe it was.
I would like to see a pic of that Dana 44 assembly that IO was describing, I haven't seen anything like that, other than in the Warn full floating axle assembly for the CJs and the inner one was optional.

 

[Old Dog]

Torxhead, I know jeephammer had one on the AMC20 , I was lazy though and didn't feel like reading the whole thread.

IO, the amc one piece shafts takes grease as there is an inner seal & outer seal. At least mine did.

I think rr41mag might be asking about his scout Dana 44 though.

 

[rr41mag]

I'm asking about the dana 44s. funny I drilled and tapped holes today for grease fittings 1/4-28 threads and a #3 drill bit

 

[tarry99]

Torxhead, I know jeephammer had one on the amc 20, I was lazy though and didn't feel like reading the whole thread.

IO, the amc one piece shafts takes grease as there is an inner seal & outer seal. At least mine did.

I think rr41mag might be asking about his scout d44 though.

Well for all you "Old Dudes" that own later model Jeeps here is some information for you : All of the early tapered axle Dana 44 rear axles had grease zerks factory installed and also a vent hole on top of the axle tube.....to let out pressure...........the rear end gears were oil bath but the axles were greased!

How about that?

 

[Old Dog]

Well for all you "Old Dudes" that own later model Jeeps here is some information for you : All of the early tapered axle Dana 44 rear axles had grease zerks factory installed and also a vent hole on top of the axle tube.....to let out pressure...........the rear end gears were oil bath but the axles were greased!

How about that?

that was back when jeeps were jeeps...before AMC bought them out and cheeped out on everything they could.
Oops I didn't just say that did I.

 

[Bowbender]

" OLD DUDE"? ....I resemble that remark!

 

[JR74CJ5]

On the 44 I picked an easily accessible location for greasing.

I cleaned out the inside and used paper towel to catch any shavings before going into the tube / seal.

Then tapped it...

and re-greased the inside after thorough clean out of any shavings etc...

Then some how (probably the beer taking over) forgot to take a finished picture with zerk installed... but i assure you its there

IO - Thanks! I tend to change my bearing grease more often than necessary... I wanted the zerk to ensure i could squeeze a pump or two in before taking a long trip up the hill and weekend of wheeling. Usually I clean out and re-grease every other trip or so as I can not seem to stay out of the water and no matter what i do it seems to get a little bit in from somewhere! (on the build plans...) I use marine grease to combat this slightly...




~ Jr

 

[thiswontbetooexpensive]

Looks great JR!

 

[Torxhead]

Thanks JR, interesting note about the water still able to get in. I have a little experience with drilling and using a hand tap. This thread has been a lot of help with information about greasing the various types of Jeep CJ front and rear axles. I would hope the OP got something out of it too.

 

[rr41mag]

In order for grease to reach the bearing it needs to be like trailer bearings. The example shown won't work. I just pulled my backing plate and axle out again to do this but unless you drill thru the race it won't work

 

[IOPort51]

I think what JR has will put grease into the bearing, it would feed it through the ends of the rollers, but there is no way for it to get out again. I would think that once the bearing area was full of grease or even if the air pressure was high enough, it would cause oil seal damage. Remember: a grease gun can generate a HECK OF A LOT of pressure. It will eventually pump into the axle or out the end of the axle, which ever is weaker. If water is the big problem, and I can see it being that, perhaps a vent on the outside of the bearing so the grease fills the bearing and cavity and has a place to escape that allows you to "change the grease" by pumping it through. I still think this allows for over greasing, over heating and premature bearing failure. On the other hand this would require regular highway driving and a pretty fair number of miles and it may help prevent water in the gear lube and that is a very good thing.

In order for grease to reach the bearing it needs to be like trailer bearings. The example shown won't work. I just pulled my backing plate and axle out again to do this but unless you drill thru the race it won't work

 

[rr41mag]

In his picture there is a gap between the bearing and that ring to allow for the grease to get pumped in there. I don't have that on my Dana 44 's. I took all that out yesterday and was looking at it. Like I said I would have to drill through the bearing race which isn't going to happen.