Just curious to see how you guys pack your wheel bearings. Did mine this weekend when I did the front brakes- as i've always done. I do it by hand... what a pain. And ever since I've moved to synthetic, it's turned into real pain. That synthetic is more like sticky than slimy...

Do any of you guys clean the bearings? I've always wiped the old grease off, then washed them off with kerosene, let them dry, and then pack them with new grease. It occurred to me that it might be much faster if I just sprayed the bearings with brake cleaner.

 

I clean mine in the parts washer.

 

Wow.. over 24 reads, and only 4 answers. Does anyone repack their bearings around here?? Guys, if you don't do it, you really should...

 

i've repacked mine twice. once with the canister style packer, and the other by hand. don't forget to spin the rotor while torquing the spindle nut...

 

How'd that cansister style packer work? My grease gun is an air-powered gun; don't know how well the grease-gun-attachment would work. I might wind up spraying grease all over my garage I have no idea how many times I've repacked mine... bought the car in '94 with 65,000 miles... now it's 2003 with +247,000 miles- that's a lot of front brake jobs! And every single time, I repacked the bearings by hand. It's getting old!

 

i had no idea there even was a grease gun attachment! I'll have one of those. Last time I did it by hand, real messy.

 

Wastes a good bit of grease, but works great.

 

Pack 'em by hand, man. And, (Here's the trick boys!!!!!!!).....go get yourself a little bag of latex surgical gloves in the paint section at Lowe's ($2.25 for 10-15 pairs) or HD and pack 'til your heart's content. Then just take the gloves off when you're done and viola, your hands are STILL CLEAN!!!!


HTH...Ed

 

i have the same thing rb does, mine was made by lisle i believe, cost around 10 or 15 dollars.

 

LOL, ebmiller! I don't care about the grease; that's what Goop is meant for- clean hands.

RB & ede, ever use those with an air grease gun?

 

Bend over and I'll show ya'. :sillylol:

I've always done it by hand. I suppose if I did them more than once a year I'd have a reason to buy some type of tool, but I don't so I won't.

 

I pack mine with the same attachment as RB. And the leftover grease, just pack it in the cap then tap it back on. PepBoys has the latex gloves $3.50 for a box of 50 and worth every penny IMO.

 

yeah i've used air powered greese guns in shops i've worked in and at home. i bought one from wal mart ,i think, and it broke, or i broke it, (literally broke in two pieces) using the top part as a handle when i screwed it on and never got another. they're really nice to have around.

 

Cool, I think I'll go order one of those grease gun attachments! I think my main time-killer is that I don't know when to stop packing the damn thing! I just wonder how it'll act with an air grease gun... haha, I'll let you guys know if I get grease all over the garage when I repack 'em next!