rear wheel bearing life??? - NCRS Discussion Boards

rear wheel bearing life???

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  • Michael W.
    Expired
    • April 1, 1997
    • 4290

    #16
    Re: rear wheel bearing life???

    It's hard to know if the tool was effective or not with at least some part of the fleet achieving over 100K miles with NO maintenance at all.

    Comment

    • Dick W.
      Former NCRS Director Region IV
      • June 30, 1985
      • 10483

      #17
      Re: rear wheel bearing life???

      Originally posted by John Hinckley (29964)
      Roger -

      The "injector" is useless, and was never recommended by GM. Oddly enough, GM never specified any sort of maintenance or lubrication schedule for the rear spindle bearings.
      Makes you wonder why it was included in the essential tool kit for dealers?
      Dick Whittington

      Comment

      • Roger O.
        Expired
        • September 7, 2009
        • 209

        #18
        Re: rear wheel bearing life???

        Originally posted by Michael Ward (29001)
        It's hard to know if the tool was effective or not with at least some part of the fleet achieving over 100K miles with NO maintenance at all.
        Thats abuse ! Seriously though I have some cars that have 150K on them and all I did was use the injector every 20-25K.

        Comment

        • Roger O.
          Expired
          • September 7, 2009
          • 209

          #19
          Re: rear wheel bearing life???

          OK just for the record , I knew I didn't get this idea all on my own (I'm not that smart). Took a little searching but here is the recommendation from GM that the injector be used to at least lube the inner bearing. I know from experience if you pump slowly and allow the air to escape through the outer seal lip the grease will reach the outer bearing. I thought I remembered reading in an "owners manual" something about the recommended mileage interval but I could be wrong about that.
          John I think you are correct most of the earlier books said dis-assembly was required to lube the bearings , I found this in my 1980 manual.
          I would like to say this is not a fix for old bearings , and all the bearings now are old , it was a maintenance program. Once the bearings are renewed and done properly (like Gary does) most people will never need to mess with them again.

          Comment

          • John H.
            Beyond Control Poster
            • December 1, 1997
            • 16513

            #20
            Re: rear wheel bearing life???

            Originally posted by Dick Whittington (8804)
            Makes you wonder why it was included in the essential tool kit for dealers?
            Dunno - I don't have any Shop Manuals newer than 1971, and never needed any newer than 1967 . I just always ignored the "civilian" version of the injector (which is still out there), as it only affects the inner bearing.

            There's only one way to do rear spindle bearings correctly; that's my story and I'm stickin' to it .

            Comment

            • Michael F.
              Expired
              • June 4, 2009
              • 291

              #21
              Re: rear wheel bearing life???

              Removed my trailing arms today. They will be shipped to bairs as soon as the crates get here. Pretty much the last thing to do on my restoration list.

              Comment

              • Dick W.
                Former NCRS Director Region IV
                • June 30, 1985
                • 10483

                #22
                Re: rear wheel bearing life???

                Originally posted by John Hinckley (29964)
                Dunno - I don't have any Shop Manuals newer than 1971, and never needed any newer than 1967 . I just always ignored the "civilian" version of the injector (which is still out there), as it only affects the inner bearing.

                There's only one way to do rear spindle bearings correctly; that's my story and I'm stickin' to it .
                When the Chevrolet zone office managers swarmed in, and informed him he was "out of trust" and gave him 30 days to sell or close down, I went in and bought all the Kent Moore tools that I thought I might ever need (and then some). The bearing grease injector was in them. Brand new, never used.

                Some years later I had a car in the shop to replace the rear bearings and decided to try the injector out. I did one side with what I thought would be adequate grease. I pressed the spindle out and all it had done was grease the inner bearing, none in the outter. It would take a tremendous amount of grease to reach the outter bearing. I have to believe it would blow one or both seals out if you put enough grease in the housing to do both bearings.
                Dick Whittington

                Comment

                • Greg A.
                  Very Frequent User
                  • June 30, 1998
                  • 141

                  #23
                  Re: rear wheel bearing life???

                  FWIW, the same maintenance procedure appears in my 1978 SM, but also includes the statement in the second paragraph "Lubrication of the inner rear spindle bearing, at 30,000 mile intervals, is possible with J-24488."

                  By 1980, it looks like GM decided to delete the recommended interval.

                  Comment

                  • Bill M.
                    Extremely Frequent Poster
                    • April 1, 1977
                    • 1386

                    #24
                    Re: rear wheel bearing life???

                    Originally posted by John Hinckley (29964)
                    Roger -

                    The "injector" is useless, and was never recommended by GM. Oddly enough, GM never specified any sort of maintenance or lubrication schedule for the rear spindle bearings.
                    John, just FYI:

                    The '63 shop manual has lubing front and rear wheel bearings at 30,000 miles. This is when the rear bearings were a slip fit. The '64 and '65 shop manual specifically states for the rear bearings "No periodic lubrication recommended - Lube for life feature." No mention of rear bearing lubrication in the '66 manual.

                    Comment

                    • Roger O.
                      Expired
                      • September 7, 2009
                      • 209

                      #25
                      Re: rear wheel bearing life???

                      Originally posted by Bill Mashinter (1350)
                      John, just FYI:

                      The '63 shop manual has lubing front and rear wheel bearings at 30,000 miles. This is when the rear bearings were a slip fit. The '64 and '65 shop manual specifically states for the rear bearings "No periodic lubrication recommended - Lube for life feature." No mention of rear bearing lubrication in the '66 manual.
                      That's interesting , wonder if they changed the bearings or grease when they went to press fit ?
                      "Lube for life feature"... Tues. ,Wed.,Thurs. cars only !

                      Comment

                      • Michael W.
                        Expired
                        • April 1, 1997
                        • 4290

                        #26
                        Re: rear wheel bearing life???

                        Originally posted by Greg Anderson (30666)
                        FWIW, the same maintenance procedure appears in my 1978 SM, but also includes the statement in the second paragraph "Lubrication of the inner rear spindle bearing, at 30,000 mile intervals, is possible with J-24488."

                        By 1980, it looks like GM decided to delete the recommended interval.
                        Interesting stuff. We can only wonder why this task appears and disappears from the manual and even in it's most severe application only the inner bearing is mentioned.

                        Comment

                        • Roger O.
                          Expired
                          • September 7, 2009
                          • 209

                          #27
                          Re: rear wheel bearing life???

                          Originally posted by Michael Ward (29001)
                          Interesting stuff. We can only wonder why this task appears and disappears from the manual and even in it's most severe application only the inner bearing is mentioned.
                          Just a guess but when it was built in 63 it was slip fit and designed to be serviceable but the design was flawed and they had to make it press fit,after that it was not easily serviceable. It would have taken a major redesign. So run-em till they break.

                          Comment

                          • Roger O.
                            Expired
                            • September 7, 2009
                            • 209

                            #28
                            Re: rear wheel bearing life???

                            Originally posted by Michael Ward (29001)
                            Interesting stuff. We can only wonder why this task appears and disappears from the manual and even in it's most severe application only the inner bearing is mentioned.
                            I'm surprised more engineers aren't picking up on the inner bearing difference.
                            Doesn't the inner have to deal with torque ? I would think the cars that are accelerated faster would need more inner bearing maintenance or lube , is this correct ?

                            Comment

                            • Michael W.
                              Expired
                              • April 1, 1997
                              • 4290

                              #29
                              Re: rear wheel bearing life???

                              Not quite sure what you're referring to Roger. Do you mean axial load? I believe that's split fairly equally between the inner and outer bearings and of course why roller bearings were chosen over ball.

                              Comment

                              • Wayne M.
                                Expired
                                • March 1, 1980
                                • 6414

                                #30
                                Re: rear wheel bearing life???

                                Further to Roger O's post with the bearing greasing procedure using J-24488, Vette Vues Aug '96 reproduces an article from Chev Service News, Nov'92 issue, giving more info.

                                "A new higher load capacity lubricant Shell EP-BP, P/N 9985038, was released in Feb '72 for use in production. Engineering is recommending the following lubrication procedure for servicing all Corvette inner wheel bearings....new vehicles at 12000 miles and a 24000 mile intervals after...

                                [followed by Roger O's pic of GM geasing procedure text] .... [mentions new lubricator J-24488]".
                                Last edited by Wayne M.; July 24, 2010, 11:35 AM.

                                Comment

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