Rear bearing grease?

ivoryjohn

ivoryjohn

Senior Member
The grease fittings for the bearings on the rear end of my Model A were gone. They were replaced when the new Flathead Ted Brakes were fitted and then the bearing was pumped with plenty of grease.

Now an old flathead guy says that MAY bite me in the butt because he remembers reading somewhere to not grease the rear bearings at all because you will fill up the drums with grease and get it all over the brakes. HE said the bearings got plenty of lube from the oil in the differential. If frogs didn't have water-tight butts they would..........you hear all kinds of stuff!

Anybody got a comment that is nonpolitical, not personally insulting, and answers the question?
 
I think you are right do not grease them. If I remember correctly some later 30s fords have plugs there. You can remove them and put in a fitting to grease here but only when you have a problem not as a routine. John
 
Hi John

On the driveshaft of your rear axle, there is a inner and an outer bearing.
The inner bearing is running in the banjo and will hopefully see lots of W600
differential-oil .

There is a gasket towards the brake! If this gasket is gone, the
axle-oil will find its way through a hole to the outside of the axle, will
drop down to your rims and show you there that there is something wrong.

The outer bearing sits in the brake-drum and this is sealed by a
gasket towards the differential and as well towards the brake..
The outer bearing needs grease for sure.
If you put in too much grease, it will find its way to your brakes.....

http://www.snydersantiqueauto.com/uploads/RearBrakeAssmblyExplodedView-10109.pdf

Might be wise to re-open and have a look if ithere is to much grease.

EVERY grease fitting needs grease!
Never put to much grease into the fittings.
 
Not sure if this is part of the original Model A setup or added later, but the early Ford hydraulic backing plates included a dripping catcher arrangement.

2007JuneMARCVirginia012.jpg


After I installed new seals in the ends of my axle housings, there was an upsetting squeak in that area; it went away after I injected one "pump" of grease in the fitting. Now, I make that part of my annual lube routine. I'm not sure exactly where all it goes, but I'd be very leery of injecting very much if your setup doesn't have the catchers.


Steve
 
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John,

Best way to grease the large caged roller bearing located in the rear drums is by hand. Take off the drums,remove the grease seals, clean the bearings thoroughly, re-pack the bearings by hand, install new grease seals, clean the brake surface and then re-install the drums and you are good to go. Do this every few years and do not pump grease into the axle through the grease fitting.
 
Do as Mikeinnj says. Most A's are not driven often and will seldom need to be lubed. There is a seal just inside the axle housing end, if it is installed correctly it forces grease from that fitting out into the wheel bearing. If it is in backwards, and many are, grease will go into the diff. It won't hurt anything but just lays in the bottom of the axle side-housing and is a pain to remove when overhauling the diff. Whatever you do, do not use an excessive amount of grease.
 
Jim,
Look at page 361 in the Service Bulletins, it looks like the way the seal in the axle housing is installed
it will let the wheel bearing grease into the axle housing and keep the gear lube out of the wheel bearings.

Bob
 
Mikeinnj said:
John,

Best way to grease the large caged roller bearing located in the rear drums is by hand. Take off the drums,remove the grease seals, clean the bearings thoroughly, re-pack the bearings by hand, install new grease seals, clean the brake surface and then re-install the drums and you are good to go. Do this every few years and do not pump grease into the axle through the grease fitting.
Click to expand...


That is probably the best way to handle this. I'm also not a fan of pumping too much fat. Especially not if the cars are only rarely used in the wet.

If the gasket is new and still oily goo runs into the brake, the diameter of the lip of the seal is damage. Then must help this here: A-1225-SL Housing Race repair kit.
Greetings Barney
 
Coincidentally, I was doing exactly this, this morning and I concur with you. The cars are not driven that much or that fast so what are we worried about?
I used a modern Moly lube, CV joint grease on one side and that ran out so I put some old long fiber, wheel bearing grease on the other side. I was thinking of getting some Lucas Hub oil and using that. It's clean and well lubricated, I should worry?
Terry


Mikeinnj said:
John,

Best way to grease the large caged roller bearing located in the rear drums is by hand. Take off the drums,remove the grease seals, clean the bearings thoroughly, re-pack the bearings by hand, install new grease seals, clean the brake surface and then re-install the drums and you are good to go. Do this every few years and do not pump grease into the axle through the grease fitting.
Click to expand...
 
I pull the rear hubs every 10,000 miles & repack the brgs & replace seal if needed.You can check the brakes at the same time.I never grease the brg,s with the grease gun.
 
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