Repacking front wheel bearing w/ high temp grease? (feedback wanted)

[Seis]

Beginning the replacement job tomorrow, and...

even though I think my mind may be made up on this, with the insane amount of people preaching that you would be stark raving mad to not repack the front wheel bearings with high-temp grease, I figured I'd go ahead and throw this question out there...

Why?

my original bearings have gone just fine for 156,000 miles and from what I've seen most people quote about 70-80,000 as the general life expectancy. I put barely 15,000 miles on my car a year and I drive a helluva lot,

so is this really something that is that crucial? or just one of those 'if you can might as well' additions?

[1.9..16vTurbo]

You can't repack front wheel bearings. They are sealed cartridge bearings. You can only repack the rears on your car

front wheel bearing


Modified by 1.9..16vTurbo at 9:29 AM 10-21-2005

[bulldog2.G]

Unless, of course, you can remove/install the seals...

[1.9..16vTurbo]

Quote, originally posted by bulldog2.G »

Unless, of course, you can remove/install the seals...

LOL... good luck...

[bulldog2.G]

Has been done, thank you.

[Seis]

this was the conclusion I'd come to last night, some people had mentioned "unless you have the tools" etc but I just thought this sounded nuts

[yellowslc]

Patience is the key. I prefer Neo HP800 grease for this application

[bulldog2.G]

HOOOwah.....

[GKONYA]

So what are they packed w/? Should be hitemp stuff in there already, right?

Take some pics of it apart if you can. I replaced mine and when we pushed the old ones out of the knuckled it just exploded.

Good luck

[1.9..16vTurbo]

That is the most ghetto thing to do, if you really are repacking these...

[James 93SLC]

Quote, originally posted by bulldog2.G »

Has been done, thank you.

Yep, and is very easy to do.
As long as you pay attention how it goes back together and get the seals positioned right, this will in no way hurt or damage the bearing.
Here are some quick pics I took on taking the bearing apart. This was a SKF brand bearing, so I'm not sure if the seals look like these on others. Please also note that it takes very little force with the screwdriver to pop the bearing apart and it doesn't damage tha ball bearings or the races. The other side can be popped out by hand.

Take a screwdriver and carefully pry the two inner races apart (one side will pop out).

Take the race and bearing out as one unit.

Take note of the order of the parts (seal direction is important...i.e. outer & inner)

Here are the bearings that just snap into a resin retainer.

Simply clean all the seals and bearing of the factory grease and then repack with a good synthetic (Redline CV Grease is awesome).
Hand pressure will press the the bearing back together. Be sure that both sides turn freely. If not, then a seal is not seated correctly.



Modified by James 93SLC at 3:47 PM 10-21-2005

[1.9..16vTurbo]

All that work to save you less than $30 on new bearings? You shouldn't own a corrado if you are that cheap

[James 93SLC]

Quote, originally posted by 1.9..16vTurbo »

All that work to save you less than $30 on new bearings? You shouldn't own a corrado if you are that cheap

Ummm...no, this is to upgrade the factory grease that comes in a replacement bearing.
i.e. original bearing goes bad.....buy new bearing....repack bearing with higher quality synthetic grease...install new bearing...be happy that it might not have to be replaced again in your lifetime.

It's called preventative maintenance

edit: damn spelling


Modified by James 93SLC at 3:58 PM 10-21-2005

[bulldog2.G]

Quote, originally posted by James 93SLC »

Ummm...no, this is to upgrade the factory grease that comes in a replacement bearing. i.e. original bearing goes bad.....buy new bearing....repack bearing with higher quality synthetic grease...install new bearing...be happy that it might not have to be replaced again in your lifetime.

Don't worry, man. You know he's always right on this forum, don't you?

[James 93SLC]

Quote, originally posted by bulldog2.G »

Don't worry, man. You know he's always right on this forum, don't you?

Hahaha...gottcha

[1.9..16vTurbo]

Higher quality? If you are buying F-A-G or OEM bearings there are no problems. Instead of buying the $12 bearings at Autozone, buy the $20 - 25 ones from TT or World Pac. I've never had a problem with a front bearing felling prematurely. After 100k miles a bearing better wear out

[bulldog2.G]

Quote, originally posted by James 93SLC »

Hahaha...gottcha

See?

[1.9..16vTurbo]

:sniff: :sniff: smell that?

[discoloredcurrency]

you mean corrado's dont have roller bearings? wtf!!!

[bulldog2.G]

Quote, originally posted by 1.9..16vTurbo »

:sniff: :sniff: smell that?

Yeah, and I just figured out....it's that extra $30 that I saved on my bearings, burning a hole in my pocket. Cheer up. You can't be as ___ as I am. Fill in with your choice of expletive.

[1.9..16vTurbo]

Quote, originally posted by bulldog2.G »

You can't be as CHEAP as I am.

Don't want to be

[bulldog2.G]

Got me.

[1.9..16vTurbo]

No hard feelings, I just can't clarify doing that. it's not worth the time

[1.8t rado]

Quote, originally posted by James 93SLC »

Yep, and is very easy to do. As long as you pay attention how it goes back together and get the seals positioned right, this will in no way hurt or damage the bearing. Here are some quick pics I took on taking the bearing apart. This was a SKF brand bearing, so I'm not sure if the seals look like these on others. Please also note that it takes very little force with the screwdriver to pop the bearing apart and it doesn't damage tha ball bearings or the races. The other side can be popped out by hand. Take a screwdriver and carefully pry the two inner races apart (one side will pop out). Take the race and bearing out as one unit. Take note of the order of the parts (seal direction is important...i.e. outer & inner) Here are the bearings that just snap into a resin retainer. Simply clean all the seals and bearing of the factory grease and then repack with a good synthetic (Redline CV Grease is awesome). Hand pressure will press the the bearing back together. Be sure that both sides turn freely. If not, then a seal is not seated correctly. Modified by James 93SLC at 3:47 PM 10-21-2005

how the helldid you get yours apart? i'm trying to do this with a set of F.A.G bearings and they will not come apart


Modified by 1.8t rado at 11:43 AM 7-1-2008

[cata]

Same here, having trouble with F.A.G. bearings, they just won't split apart

HELP!!!!i

[g6raddo]

Really if your going to do all that work just buy new bearings that is the right way to do it

[cata]

Really if your going to do all that work just buy new bearings that is the right way to do it

LOL far from it. These ARE brand spankin, fresh off the UPS truck, still in the wrapper.. I'm sure you get the point ...bearings. The issue is that I am building a reliable Corrado which I can beat the pi$$ out of for many years to come. With that in mind, everything is getting overkilled, not just replaced.

But in order for me to do that (by repacking them with high-temp grease), I must first get them apart. I feel like I already tried everything, short of blowing them up

[g6raddo]

Oh I c ok well **** man they really aren't made to be taken apart and I'm sure they are sealed any bearing you get brand new will last you 5-7. + years

[Redwall]

I bet the bearings will fail sooner if you tamper with the seal. They are sealed for a reason.


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[HavokRuels]

How can you unseal a "sealed" bearing?

[James 93SLC]

Good lord people....READ for comprehension! And why is this thread from 2005 being revived?

The OP point was to repack a NEW bearing with BETTER QUALITY GREASE than what comes in the stock bearing. Not to be cheap and re-using an old bearing.

And yes they come apart. How the heck do you think they went together?? Unicorn glue?

That bearing I showed comes apart very easily with only light pressure. Nothing was forced and the seals simply snap into groves. It's simply the reverse of assembly. Being "sealed" doesn't not mean "permanent assembly". Sealed is a term that describes the design and that it is ready to use as-is.

[HavokRuels]

Don't be a dick.

[cata]

Frustrating that so many of these responses were made without actually reading much from the thread At least someone took the time to confirm that there's nothing hidden that's keeping them together.

How the heck do you think they went together?? Unicorn glue?

Too funny

[cata]

Oh I c ok well **** man they really aren't made to be taken apart and I'm sure they are sealed any bearing you get brand new will last you 5-7. + years

I hope you realize that you haven't added much to this, other than state the obvious. Thanks for trying though

[Redwall]

Like you said "ready to use"
But please if that's what you want to do go for it

I did read the post and sorry but if you think you need to repack sealed bearings I'm just going to assume your not going to do it right.

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