Drill and tap rear bearing carrier for grease zerk?

Vanapplebomb

Has anybody done this for the rear trailing arms? It seams like a neater way to keep some grease in the bearing carrier. The carrier is completely exposed on the back side of the stock trailing arms, and it wold be super easy to drill a hole in the middle and tap it for a grease fitting, so I was wondering if I could stick one of those guys in there to make things a little easier.

The reason I can think of that might keep this from working is the seals.

Input please???
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http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=487021

Mal evolent · Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 2:44 pm Post subject:

grease which is heavy enough to lubricate axles is too heavy for a grease gun. axle grease has to lubricate axles runnung at road speeds next to brakes.

grease gun grease is for suspensions.
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Dale M. · Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 3:05 pm Post subject:

SamT · Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 4:50 pm Post subject:

Vanapplebomb · Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 5:18 pm Post subject:

Alright, just thought I would check and see if my crazy idea was worth a shot. Apparently not, Hahaha.

Thanks guys!
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1800 Type 4 Berrien 295

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=487021

tdonaldson · Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 5:31 pm Post subject:

lostinbaja · Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 5:35 pm Post subject:

I have replaced many rear wheel bearings in street driven Bugs, that failed because of lack of lubrication. I would say if you have it apart, go for it!
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Dale M. · Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 8:05 pm Post subject:

SamT · Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 10:13 pm Post subject:

77charger · Samba Member Joined: November 12, 2005 Posts: 1492

dirtkeeper · Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2012 12:26 pm Post subject:

I'm with Dale on this one. Seems pumping grease in would want to deform the seal ( in the wrong direction)as it pushes the excess out

GA_Boy · Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2012 4:09 pm Post subject:

I don't know one way or the other but if I found the necessity to insert a fitting it would be on the bottom and I would have a much smaller escape hole on top and pump slowly. When finished plug escape hole. No seal damage and water would be pushed out. Not sure, I could be all wet myself. Laughing

Marvin

donbarnes · Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2012 7:18 pm Post subject:

I've added zerks to the rear bearings on every bug I've had and never had any issues, my rail has them on both sides and the baja I just started will have them also. They may not do any good, but apparently don't do any harm, because I've never had a rear bearing failure....
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mtnroads · Posted: Fri May 08, 2015 10:42 am Post subject:

I too was thinking of doing this to my burro. I was thinking of packing bearings by hand & assembling without seals and pumping in grease to completely fill the housing. By hand I can't get it full, only about 1/2 way. My car will see some creek time so I want to keep water out. On my boat trailer I have bearing buddies that are spring loaded to keep grease under pressure. It leaks by the inner seal and is messy but it sure keeps the water out. I've replaced the bearings and seals on the trailer & the seal looked like any other wheel seal I've delt with. Even if you pumped in too much grease it wouldn't heart the seals, would it? Just messy?
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HERC · Posted: Fri May 08, 2015 11:02 am Post subject:

I wouldn't mind a couple of zerks for my elbows.
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race-desert · Posted: Fri May 08, 2015 5:12 pm Post subject:

i have done many on bugs and off road cars- i think it works great!

ORANGECRUSHer · Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 11:58 am Post subject:

IMO, it's a whole lot better to hand pack bearings when they're disassembled. Just pushing old grease out by way pushing new grease in is really only ideal for an open joint like a pivot point on a tractor where the old can be evacuated rather easily and wiped away and it's done quite frequently. Something like a wheel bearing with seals is different because as long as your seals are good in the first place the grease inside should have quite a longer service life on it's own since water and dirt should not be getting in there at all. If you push grease with a grease gun through you're not really getting all the old dirty grease out so just like changing automatic tranny fluid w/o emptying the torque convertor, you're only doing half the job. Which kinda makes it half-assy IMO. Not to mention any arguable damage done to the seals and the fact that grease pushed through a seal has now opened a hole for contaminates to get in that wouldn't have been in the first place. There's gonna be a mess too which has the opportunity to foul your brakes as well. So by zerking a wheel bearing you may be 'feeling' like your being proactive and going the extra mile to keep clean grease in her but in all reality your shooting your self in the foot. If you're driving in tough conditions and think your grease is getting fouled with water, no amount of zerking is going to remove all the moisture out of the cavity like repacking will. A more frequent schedule seems appropriate.
I find that I'm in my wheels often enough that the grease I put in there will be replaced long before it's useful life is up anyway. That being said, I have put zerks on the centers of my front bearing caps because this situation seems more appropriate to push grease from one end out the other kinda like a trailer bearing is set up. In actuality, it just makes it more convenient to top up the grease after I finish rebuilding the hub. A wheel center cap is then a good idea to cover the zert that is now hanging out there where it can get swiped off.
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dustymojave · Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 3:59 pm Post subject:

Yeah OC...I can see running the forest trails and splashing through creeks and big rain puddles with hub caps on your buggy. Do you prefer the ones with the spinners? Shocked

Funnin ya... kinda.

I use boat trailer wheel bearing grease in my offroad vehicles. For one thing, the water resistance is way better than with lithium or moly base greases. Also, the heat tolerance is better than any but very exotic greases. (measured as "drop point")

I've had rear axle bearing failure in rear wheel drive cars and pickups where the bearing is not a normal service item and is lubed with gear oil. I've had rear axle bearings in VW based offroad and on road vehicles which needed to be and got replaced. But I've never had a rear axle bearing FAILURE in a VW-based vehicle. Neither swing axle nor IRS.

I've encountered cars with zerks in the rear hub carriers. And lots of grease all over the insides of the rear wheels. Probably due to miss-use of the zerks and lack of normal maintenance.

A customer once bought a 2-1600 race buggy used and brought it for me to prep it for Baja. The car came to me freshly cleaned, but in need of prep. It had zerks on both rear hubs and on both front drums. When I took the car apart for inspection, the front and rear hubs had multiple types of grease, which had caused some of the grease to harden in the hubs. The bearings were fine, but may not have made it to La Paz if they had not been cleaned and re-packed. One front zerk failed during the 1st test and needed to be replaced. I had hand-packed the bearings and had not used the zerks, but the one that failed lost the check ball during the short test and spewed grease all over the Centerline and the side of the tire.

My buggy trailer (built new in 1978 by the same guys who built my Hi Jumper frame) came from the factory with bearing buddies on the hubs. Same bearing buddies and same bearings now. They get used regularly. I've never had a grease leakage issue with them. Gone through a LOT of tires on that trailer though.

Probably the most telling answer I can give to this question would be a two-parter:

1 - I HATE packing bearings (and CVs) Twisted Evil

2 - None of my cars have zerks in the hubs.[/b]
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Vanapplebomb · Posted: Sun May 10, 2015 8:58 pm Post subject:

Funny that this surfaced after a couple years. Funnier still is I am still kicking around the idea. Laughing

Seriously though, not so much to pack bearings, cause I don't mind that so much, but to make filling the bearing carier with grease easier. A lot of people don't pack extra grease in the housing, but I like to. It would make doing so much cleaner.
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1800 Type 4 Berrien 295

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=487021

Dale M. · Posted: Mon May 11, 2015 8:47 am Post subject:

There is no way any bearing can be properly greased other than taking them out, cleaning them and "hand pack"....

I have to agree with previous comment that I hate hand packing, but I seldom if ever have hand packed bearing fail by other then total misuse and did I mention I hate hand packing also....

My car carrier has grease zerks on spindles and I have been guilty of putting a shot of grease in once in a while but I also clean and hand repack bearing when ever I have hubs off to check the electric brakes...

And did it ever occur to you that the most trailers you see beside the road with one wheel off with wife standing guard and no husbands or tow vehicle in sight is a boat trailer?

Dale
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Drill and tap rear bearing carrier for grease zerk?
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