packing rear bearings

[merrill]

getting around to pulling the rear axles and replacing all of the seals and bearings.

i purchased the fancy bearing grease recommending in the rear axle bearing tour.

do i pack the bearing as i normally do with front wheel bearings ,  grease in palm, bearing around index finger and then swiping the bearing thru the grease until i see it come out the other side.

seems like a silly question but i want to do this job correct the first time.

thanks in advance

[fosdicke]

It won't hurt to grease those before install however they are oiled by the 90Wt. Hypoid grease from the differential .

[ja17]

Actually the rear bearings should be packed with grease. The wheel bearing is isolated from the diff. gear oil by the inner axle seal. Try to keep the outer surface of the bearing and seat as dry as possible. You do not want to encourage the bearing outer race to move or spin after installation. If there is an indication that the bearing may have spun in its seat, you can put a few center punch marks on the housing  and some locktite before installing the bearing.

[merrill]

Joe
hi,
do you recommend using a tool to pack the bearings?

my experience with packing front wheel bearings with the standard index finger and palm of hand is generally messy.

thanks in advance

[ja17]

I still do it by hand. Yes it is messy. Also I use the red "Mobil 1" synthetic grease. Getting the self-centering barrel roller bearing to start in the axle housing, straight is always a challenge.

[merrill]

hi Joe,
well I have these 2 on hand, i bought the wurth for this project so i will most likely use it

[wwheeler]

I use the Wurth Sig 3000 for many things and it probably would work well for this. That grease has more tack and cling than any I have ever seen. And it is super high impact which means it can take heavy loads. Might check with mfg to see if it is good for roller bearings. 

[merrill]

Wallace
hi,
the data sheet from Wurth does not specify if this is for roller bearings or not.

I may just buy some mobile 1 red that Joe recommended.