Rear wheel bearings: grease or gear oil, Alretta brake parts

[The_Handier_Man1]

From: caindian  (Original Message)
Sent: 5/30/2003 5:53 PM

Hello Classic Owners,

Long time member was posting a question regarding wheel bearings. I Have a 73 Indian (R22), M400 Chassis with Drum Brakes all way round, 413RB Motor, Holley 4160 Carb, Electronic Ignition, 727 Trans

After finding all the Brake parts needed to replace shoes, wheel cyls, springs, seals, and even the hoses (front & rear), Cost $650(Thanks Jeff-Alretta Truck Parts) I started the daunting task of Repairing My Brakes (had a rear wheel cyl leak).First problem I had was that the drivers side lugs were striped because someone before me had not realized that the LUGS are LEFT hand thread. Had to take drum to specialty brake shop to find and press in new Lugs and new Left hand lug nuts. Cost $110,60 in parts, Labor well lets say I got a good deal Because the Shop owner said (Cursing under his breath )it broke the shop press in the process. Keep in mind this is only the front so far. After the drum work was completed I replaced front brakes and hoses, repacked wheel bearings and now on the rear brakes. Now after removing drivers side lugs nuts and removing tires, I go for the axle. Bit tricky but I’m able to remove the dr side axle. See the hub lock nut. Guess what size this nut is. You need a special 8 point 2&7/8 in. thin wall socket made by OTC part #1933. Cost $26. 2 weeks after starting I am now into the rear brakes. Cost so far around $850 without master cyl. or boosters. Now for my Question ? Do you Pack rear wheel bearings with grease? It looks like the rear end oil might lube these bearings. In the Chilton book it is not clear about the rears. It just says pg 18 #5 of REAR "the bearings are serviced in the same manner as those in the front hubs". I have done brake work on 1 ton trucks before and the rears are lubed by the rear end oil. The bearings looked like no grease was ever applied. Will it hurt if I don’t Pack the Rear bearings ? Any members have gone down this road before? Any feed back would by greatly appreciated



From: denison
Sent: 5/30/2003 6:26 PM

The service manual says the rear wheel bearings are lubed with grease, but the manual is bonkers. I would put some grease on them, so they are lubed until the 90W diff. fluid finds its way over there, on corners, sloped roads etc. Its a good reason not to let the diff fluid level get low! I applaud your getting so much done yourself, and still using decent language. I am glad to know the wrench size, since I undid mine with a steel drift, not the mr goodwrench technique by any means. I did all that 12 years ago, the cost was $600 in 1991, and now have a leaking wheel cylinder again, 12 years later. I may again replace all 4 wheel cylinders.
An important caution - there is a rear axle breather you need to make sure it isn't clogged - or the hot air in the differential will force the diff. oil past the rear axle seals, and onto your nice new brakes shoes. My breather is a hollow bolt that holds a brake T fitting to the axle housing. I had to run a drill up inside to clean out the crud. Mine is a 72 D22 - actually I have two of them - same chassis, dame 413rb, holley 4150 spreadbore carb, points ignition, A727. . I hope you will also make sure you can get grease into all the spring shackles. Mine have 19 grease fitting each, counting the fitting on the 413 water pump, and on the brake pedal pivot. When I found a master cylinder it was well over $200 dollars, and I leaped to buy it. denison



From: chip
Sent: 5/31/2003 8:06 AM

i don't think you will do any harm lightly packing the rear wheel bearings with grease. it should be miscible with the gear oil. however, the rear end is a full floater and the center section reservoir of oil also floods the wheel bearings with oil. it has no inner housing seals like smaller differentials. the height of the fill plug also assures the correct level of oil on the ring gear and wheel bearings. high enough to lube and cool but, not to foam and submerge.
i do substitute 90W with a multi-vis synthetic. i think it works a little better.e



From: Tymhoff
Sent: 5/31/2003 8:18 PM

In the Chilton book for Dodge trucks from the 60's thru 80's it says that the bearings can be lubed by the oil in the rear end, but the main source of lubrication is the wheel bearing grease. When I had my rear wheel cylinder leak on my '73 Indian, I had never worked on a dually rear end before. Needless to say I used an old flat blade screwdriver and hammer to remove the bearing nut and I packed the bearings with high temp synthetic wheel bearing grease. By the way I have been able to find all parts that I have needed at Autozone here in San Diego! Just to get it home I had to replace the ignition coil, ballast resistor, ignition module. On the way home, the brakes took a dump (the leaking cylinder). After I got home the voltage regulator went out (it was charging both batteries at 16 volts and VERY bright lights). Runs like a champ now. Total cost so far.....less than 70 bucks for all that! So far Autozone has been great as long as you don't say it's for a Winnebago. I just say it's for a 1973 Dodge 1 ton D300 truck with a 440cid(same engine, ignition, brakes).



From: SeaRaySRV160
Sent: 5/31/2003 10:15 PM

Dunno if Dodge did it in '73 on their trucks(& my "new" 72 Winne is miles away from home at my cabin so I can't look) but Chrysler-Dodge-Desoto-Plymouth in the old days use to stamp a big "L" into the top of all the left hand studs on the left hand side of all their passenger cars. Will hafta look closely this weekend when I pay Winnie a visit.



From: chip
Sent: 6/1/2003 10:30 AM

after reading the post by Tymhoff, i went and checked several service manuals. i even checked other manufacturers specs for full floaters, and he is absoulutely correct. the consensus is the grease does the initial and primary lube while the gear oil is supplemental. sorry for the bad information. my apologies. chip!



From: ernie
Sent: 6/2/2003 7:40 AM

Gentlemen, Along these same lines I have started working on the brakes on my '71 Chieftan. Front brakes are done, however the rear brakes are presenting problems. I have been unable to find any parts with the exception of wheel cylinder kits-1 3/8". I can salvage the springs and have found a local shop to reline the shoes. After honing cylinders still show slight pitting. I would feel more comfortable with new cylinders. Does antone know of a source?
Thanks, Ernie



From: dave76Chieftain
Sent: 6/2/2003 11:51 AM

Ernie,
I see a lot of references on the net for Dodge Motorhome brake parts to:

Alretta Truck Parts Inc. 
P.O.Box 596 
Sherborn, Massachusetts 01770-0596 

brakeparts@mac.com

Website address:
http://ebiz.netopia.com/brakeparts/



From: denison
Sent: 6/2/2003 5:34 PM

I took my old wheel cylinders in, to a shop that did brake work on heavy trucks, they used the casting numbers from the wheel cylinder, and ordered up the four of them that I needed. Now I hope I can get them, and afford them, for the 2nd winnebago. Bendix used casting numbers, but Raybestos I dont think did so. denison



From: ernie
Sent: 6/3/2003 7:25 AM

Thank you all for your help once again. The folks at Alretta seem to have everything for this brake job.