golfboy

I have a 1978 Pace Car with 47,000 miles. When should I expect to repack the front wheel bearings with grease? And do the rear wheels have bearings that also should be repacked? Any help greatly appreciated.

cagotzmann

Front: If they have never been touched: I would first check for play. Remove the dust cap and check for moisture. The age or mileage would vary based on the climate and driving style.

Rear: If they have never been touched: Without the proper tools (to remove the bearings) there is nothing that can be done to lube. Pressed bearings etc.

The health of the rear bearings can be checked my measuring end play and noise. To properly measure end play the half shaft needs to be removed. But you can get an idea by lifting the rear wheel and checking play of the wheel @ the 12 & 6 oclock position. Use very little effort. This should feel as almost no play. With additional effort you can check the yoke end wear, and with strong effort check the trailing arm bushings. A car in good working order should have very little play. If you can easily move the wheel @ 12 & 6 oclock position you most likey need the complete rear suspension worked on.


My 78 has 180k km and I am now on my 3rd set of wheel bearings rear. and 2nd set on the front.

7T1vette

Front wheel bearings should be inspected and relubed about every 24,000 miles, according to GM. Depending on your yearly use, you should inspect & lube at least every 5 years.

Can't lube the rears...regardless of what special tool is purchased to do it. When they need it, change bearings out and pack them with synthetic grease, IMO. If you don't want to use synthetic grease, go with the GM recommendations (which were developed before synthetics were readily available).

Barry's70LT1

A few years ago I disassembled my rear spindles to have a look at the bearings. They were original and were 40+ years old and 90k miles.

The bearings were in good shape, HOWEVER the grease was completely dried out and providing little or no lubrication.

A check for endplay or being loose would have given the appearance all was well. Not so, without lubrication, the bearings would have failed in the near future. A grease/time issue, not a mileage/bearing issue.

doorgunner

The above description is exactly what happened to my '68 project car with 57,000 miles on the odometer/original brake pads on the rear calipers which made me think the odometer was fairly accurate (also,the car was not drivable for decades because of mechanicalproblems)......I disassembled the rear bearings anyway and the grease was starting to turn "waxy".........however, I caught the problem just in time because the bearings and races looked/felt/sounded great. I reassembled using synthetic grease since my late model vehicle wheel bearings go 100,000 miles between re-greasing.

I wouldn't go more than 100,000 between servicings miles because even synthetic grease moves away from the roller bearings at that point which lessens lubrication.

7T1vette

Roller bearings should be COMPLETELY filled with grease (re-packed) to prevent loss of lubrication. Grease doesn't get slathered on...it gets forced into all the nooks and crannies in the bearing so it will always lube the bearings. There is a technique to manually pack grease into bearings; you can also buy devices that forcibly pack bearings with grease.

vette_jim

Same deal on my 73 with 70k, grease was there but had move away from the rollers. End play was factory perfect. I had one of those "greaser" tools with the zerk fitting I used before disassembly . My conscience wouldn't let me get away with it though so I disassembled. The tool did a great job on the inside bearing but the design of the bearing assembly prevents any grease from ever reaching the outside bearing. It is WORTHLESS.

mortgageguy

This is good advice. I repack my fronts every four years. It's cheap and easy.

doorgunner

Being a machinist I noticed that the housing could be drilled and for "flush-type" grease fittings that require the "needle-type" grease tip installed on the grease gun. I was required to do this procedure for certain customers who didn't have time to "shut down" their equipment for disassembly/maintenance....I use a .030" diameter carbide drill (bit) to drill through the bearing races/beveled the drilledhole and removed the sharp edge in the race so the rollers would not be damaged/used a larger drill to drill though the housing and drive flush-type fittings into the housing where they could be accesed at both with the needle-tip grease gun.

Then there would be no need to disassemble the rearspindles for re-greasing. It would require only "one shot" of grease every 50,000 miles in the small bearing and the larger rear bearing (it would probably take decades before enough grease accumulated inside the housing to be a problem---which would be time for new bearings anyway.

When I get around to the modification I will post pics.

7T1vette

That procedure will work just fine, if you drill the hole where the bearings DON'T track. Otherwise, that hole will be a stress-riser and cracking will begin at the hole.

Drill it in a 'good' place...no problem.

actionguru

Hey. you a coon ***. I'm half half. Born in Alexandria. lived nawlenz for a few too. Love to see how u drill this.

frankgv

Thanks everyone for your excellent advice. Believe me it is all very much appreciated. Thanks again.

derekderek

related thread...

skb40466

Great information on this thread as I approach my yearly PA State Inspection. Thank you contributors!