To Grease, or not to Grease???

[ignotus]

grease?

Thanks Gene. Either of your trucks have drive flanges with oil plugs?

So evidently the changeover happened sometime between '64 & '68.

Got a jpeg of one?

TeriAnn, Couldn't find one in my current inventory but I do have both styles I can take pics of.

I know that you wish to enhance your website with info and pics but for me the big questions are; What factory change happened to make not oiling the hubs current practice? If I have the hub(or model year) with the oil fitting do I still need to oil them, or can I get away with grease? Was/is there a change in wheel bearings and are all new ones supplied the "grease" kind?
From my experiences if you pack around a bearing with grease it will push a track thru the grease and the excess grease is a waste, unless it gets hot enough to melt the grease into the bearing......

"Inquiring minds want to know!"

gene

[jac04]

What factory change happened to make not oiling the hubs current practice?

The factory change was a new design with oil seals fittied to the stub axles to keep the oil in the SPH and out of the wheel bearings. According to the parts list, this change was made in October 1980.

I think the real question is; When were the service manuals revised to specify greasing the bearings instead of adding oil to the hubs?

[parrie]

I have to say that I'm really not sure which way to go here. Teriann, do you grease both front & rear hubs? Here's a pic w/ the fill plug.

[o2batsea]

Back in my leaf sprung days, I had these type flanges on the 109. I would always fill them with 140wt using a syringe. Two syringes full shot in there. Never greased a hub to my recollection.
Oh and lose the free wheel hubs. Those are for the Jeep folks. In a Rover you need not soil your Wellingtons.

[SafeAirOne]

Holy cow! 4 pages on this topic?

I'm confident that it if you do it EITHER way, your wheel bearings will last for decades--just pick a way and do it. This doesn't have to turn into another one of those "best way to double-clutch" threads...

[parrie]

I hear ya Mark...never did I think this would stir such a debate! After some more pondering I think I will go both ways...oil in the rear and since I will be converting to free-wheeling hubs w/o a fill plug, grease in the front.

[ignotus]

My 1971 Series 3 workshop manual(grey binder) has no mention of oiling hubs. Personally I haven't oiled for years prefering the grease method.

[yorker]

Thanks Gene. Either of your trucks have drive flanges with oil plugs?

So evidently the changeover happened sometime between '64 & '68.

Got a jpeg of one?

FWIW:

59/60 catalogue lists both types and the one with a filler as an option.
Without filler 217378
With 276033 this is member only no level plug.

http://www.series2club.co.uk/forum/f...;topic=51634.0


I'm pretty sure Rover's instructions for greasing the bearings predate the 1980 hubs. They were far less worried about combining lubricants in the old days than people are now. Back then they didn't have BITOG to tell them better.

http://www.landroveraddict.com/forums/thread.cfm?threadID=3955