Hub and bearing assembly lubing

Topic: Hub and bearing assembly lubing (Read 1025 times) previous topic - next topic

Hub and bearing assembly lubing

January 29, 2013, 09:31:56 PM

Hi all
recently i hit the curb wit my corolla and it bent the rim and i now have to change the bearing assembly. i bought the original part from toyota and i was wondering if i have to add grease to it (i have the feeling i have to )it is already lubed like you can see in the pics tough. The parts guy at the dealership asked a technician if it has to be lubed more or not and he said to not lube it more but im in doubt.
i am also in doubt with the kind of grease that is already on it. is it synthetic grease or not. i have the feeling its cant be that good to add synthetic grease to mineral grease and vice versa. Sorry if that sounds like a newbie question but i would rather ask to you guys because alot of you guys seem to have several years of experience with cars, than to do it wrong and to shorten the bearings life because i did not do the job like it supposed to be

these are the pics of the new rear hub and bearing assembly that was shipped this way from toyota with some white transparent grease

thanx alot
Sebastian

Hub and bearing assembly lubing

Reply #1 – January 29, 2013, 09:35:04 PM

I'd grease it, especially since it doesn't seem to be the "sealed for life" type.

Might check on a forum for more brand specific info though. Some of the foreign car makes have done some oddball things over the years.

Hub and bearing assembly lubing

Reply #2 – January 30, 2013, 05:38:16 PM

ive tried to check on other forums but it is not very helpful
would you recommend to clean the existing grease with brake cleaner and then add new synthetic grease?
maybe mixing them isnt a good idea

thanx for the reply

Hub and bearing assembly lubing

Reply #3 – January 30, 2013, 09:07:54 PM

Normally it is not recommended to add grease to a pre packed bearing. Reason being Toyota uses a special grease. But i had a BMW in the shop that had another repair shop install 3 sets of new dealer wheel bearings and they failed??? I installed a dealer bearing also. BUT!!! I removed the race (pulled one side out) And to my horror the bearing was completely dry not one drop of grease. Turns out that BMW supplies there bearings DRY!!!! WHAT THE HELL !!! Further investigating the issue turned out to be a vendor issue. THEY FORGOT TO GREASE THEM WHEN THEY MADE THEM. So with that i packed the bearing before installing it and the pride of the GERMANS were smashed by a guy called RENZO. With that the BIG BMW drove off in to the sunset with properly greased wheel bearings. And a happy BMW OWNER.

BUT the bearing you posted looks like it is to DRY. I would clean out that grease completely and re pack with BLUE GREASE. Blue grease is the best on the market according to MOBIL. The HUB assembly you posted is not a sealed unit as we know it. It definitely looks like it needs more grease. Just me.

Also that bearing is a BALL BEARING TYPE. Normally they take different grease than ROLLER OR PILLAR bearings. That is what the engineers say. But i never had an issue with BLUE GREASE on either type. That clear grease is used on a lot of those foreign bearings. Just saying!!

HINT compare it to the old one you removed and see if it has more grease than the replacement. Good Luck

Hub and bearing assembly lubing

Reply #4 – February 01, 2013, 11:40:01 AM

thanx alot Tom and Thunderbirdsport302

Hub and bearing assembly lubing

Reply #5 – February 02, 2013, 12:10:01 PM

What you have there is assembly Grease

Tom
I've been able to re-grease sealed for life assemblies on hubs by drilling the seal with a little sixteenths inch drill bit and then using a syringe to inject grease

I would then plug off the whole I drilled with some silicon or whatever

I do agree with everything you said that those bearings look Dry

My riding mower showed up with no grease on any of the wheels and I only found this out after I had used it for a whole summer

This whole not adding grease problem is showing up in everything because at the end of the day I believe it's a way to cut costs

Hub and bearing assembly lubing

Reply #6 – February 02, 2013, 02:34:55 PM

Jay I agree 100% it baffles my mind as to the lack of grease these days in bearings. I for the life of me cant understand it. As you point out a lot of these pre packed bearings are to dry for my liking. Thanks for the heads up on the tractor issue. I agree with you 100%