Dodge City Posted May 19, 2021 Report Share Posted May 19, 2021 I am new to these old Mopar's and was curious about greasing the rear axle wheel bearings. My plugs for the grease access seem pretty corroded on the outside am I in for a stubborn fight in removing these? Any suggestions beforehand? How do you grease it just push it up into the hole? I appreciate any input... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plymjim Posted May 19, 2021 Report Share Posted May 19, 2021 clean them up with a wire brush, squirt with a bit of penetrating oil, remove with a 6 point wrench (socket or box). Push a bit of grease into each hole. Per the shop manual, don't over grease. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodge City Posted May 19, 2021 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2021 Plymjim, Appreciate the reply! Just didn't know if these were notorious for being trouble and I need to hit a few days with penetrating oil or pretty straight forward. The car hasn't been driven much in years, and I am going to change that and use pretty regular. Just trying to get all the maintenance caught up current so I feel better about it when I'm putting those miles on... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithb7 Posted May 19, 2021 Report Share Posted May 19, 2021 (edited) A couple of suggestions. Resist the urge to install a grease nipple. (zerk) You don’t want to be using a grease gun here. Seen here is a pic. A good tool box has at least a couple of syringes. Fill a larger syringe one with grease. Put the end into the hole. Add some grease under low pressure via the syringe. Larger syringes with a piece of fuel line are great for topping up tranny fluids and diffs under the car. You can also dip the hose down a half full jug of oil, suck out with the syringe and off you go! Smaller syringes are great too for topping up small reservoirs like brake master cylinder reservoirs in hard to reach areas. Works great. Clean. No drips. A little piece of hose over the syringe nipple, you’ll be dancing in the streets. Edited May 19, 2021 by keithb7 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodge City Posted May 19, 2021 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2021 Thanks Keith, point well taken! Every ol'cowboy has a bunch of them lying around. Great tip by the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booger Posted May 19, 2021 Report Share Posted May 19, 2021 Livestock syringes work great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rrunnertexas Posted May 19, 2021 Report Share Posted May 19, 2021 Keith, I saw the zerk fittings on my car when working on the rear brakes. What is the reasoning for not using a grease gun to put a "pump" or two of grease into them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithb7 Posted May 19, 2021 Report Share Posted May 19, 2021 A grease pump makes high pressure. You can apply too much pressure to the area and damage the seal. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcel Backs Posted May 19, 2021 Report Share Posted May 19, 2021 What is the best grease to use at this lube point? What volume of grease is ideal as to prevent infiltration into brakes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allbizz49 Posted May 19, 2021 Report Share Posted May 19, 2021 Great advice on the syringes. I use them on a regular basis on my cars and motorcycles. Also, if you live in California like I do, you can just walk around for 5 minutes and find a handful for free!!!! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBNeal Posted May 19, 2021 Report Share Posted May 19, 2021 (edited) Wheel bearing grease works as long as brand and type remain consistent...I have a plastic knife from a restaurant take-out pkg that I dip the tip into the grease can and feed into the hole...when grease starts to come out of the hole, it's full ? Edited May 19, 2021 by JBNeal 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilgore47 Posted May 19, 2021 Report Share Posted May 19, 2021 You should try to verify that there is good grease in the bearings while you have the plug put. I have read that the axel bearings tend to get over looked when doing maintenance. When I pulled the rear drums off the P15 I found that everything was covered with grease. The seals were bad. When I pulled the axels the bearings were dry and rusted and fell apart. The bearings were also installed backwards. All is fixed now. New bearings, seals and brakes. That rumbling noise went away. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rrunnertexas Posted May 19, 2021 Report Share Posted May 19, 2021 Oh, wow, what a difference. Looks great now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desoto1939 Posted May 20, 2021 Report Share Posted May 20, 2021 I went food shopping with my wife today at our local food store. They have a pharmacy in the store. I stopped at the desk to see if they had any syringes and i explained what I was looking to do with them. The Pharmacist gave me 4 syringes that are use to put liquid medicine into the moth of a child. They did not charge me for them. Just another possibility of a place to get some syringes. Rich Hartung Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg g Posted May 21, 2021 Report Share Posted May 21, 2021 (edited) I've got several left from dog medicine, also have one sold to inject marinade into meats for roasting. I have one to administer my atf/acetone penetrant mix. Beats blasting PB Blaster all over everything. And speaking of stuff that looses the aerosol before the can is half empty, has any one used the schader valve air compressor trick to recharge the can? Edited May 21, 2021 by greg g Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilgore47 Posted May 21, 2021 Report Share Posted May 21, 2021 When I have lubricants that loose pressure I punch a hole in the can and pour the contents into a spray bottle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodge City Posted May 21, 2021 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2021 I'll bite. What is the schader valve air compressor trick to recharge the can? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg g Posted May 22, 2021 Report Share Posted May 22, 2021 You remove the spray nozzle place the tire valve over the stem or The fitting and pump it up to about 20 psi from the compressor, the continue to use ti'll it needs a recharge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodge City Posted May 22, 2021 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2021 Greg G, that's a cool trick! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harmony Posted May 31, 2021 Report Share Posted May 31, 2021 I'm in the process of tracking down inner and outer axle oil seals, since mine are showing signs of leaking. There was a drop on the bottom of the outside of the backing plate coming down from the end of the axle. Plus a small puddle on the inside of the backing plate below the shoes. No sign of oil getting on my shoes yet. I've cleaned the backing plate with brake cleaner and driven about 50 miles with no signs of oil yet. So I don't think I'm in any danger yet. However since I was in that area I pulled out that plug that we're talking about here that allows grease to the bearing. Dark heavy oil like stuff started ozzing out. So I'm thinking the inner seal is allowing differential oil past that seal and it's mixing with the wheel bearing grease. Optimistically thinking, I suppose that's better than it being dry in there. But is that something I should be overly concerned about or just to keep it on the top of my priority list? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithb7 Posted May 31, 2021 Report Share Posted May 31, 2021 I put the Cat seals in my 38 Plymouth. I did not take any measurements of the seal to record. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James_Douglas Posted May 31, 2021 Report Share Posted May 31, 2021 One a side note... Some years ago I ran across a MOPAR or Other technical note that stated that the axle bearing end play on these pre-1955 rear ends should be upped. I cannot remember the extract numbers but it was from something like 8 thou to 15 thou. I can look through my paperwork to see if I can find the note. The reason listed was that with the all new "freeways" speeds were going up and the axles were growing with the heat generated by the higher speeds. This caused bearing binding issues. I know when I rebuilt both the '47 and the '49 rear ends, I added more play and I have not noticed any problems in doing so. So when one pulls out the axles to clean and repack the bearings...something to think about. James 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Labrauer Posted June 2, 2021 Report Share Posted June 2, 2021 I guess I'm missing something here. I don't know where there is a grease zerk to grease the back wheel bearings in these old cars. I have always had to take the wheel bearings out wash them in a solvent blow dry and pack new grease in by hand or use a grease tool from auto parts store. I have never seen on for the axel bearings before. What car are you all talking about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodge City Posted June 2, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2021 This on on a 1950 Dodge Wayfarer. To my knowledge may old Chrysler, Dodge ,Plymouths, Desoto's had them. There is a plug (can't remember if those were 7/16's or 1/2 inch wrench size on each side of the axle about an inch or two inward from the Brake backing plate almost on the bottom of the axle. Mine were really rusty but managed to get them out pretty easily and shove some grease into the hole and reinstall plug. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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