Posted by RDavis on Sunday, April 01, 2001 at 12:18PM :
In Reply to: diff. grease in outer hub posted by jan on Saturday, March 31, 2001 at 7:43PM :
Years ago when first inspecting my WM300 hubs,I found a outer seal on the rear that kept the heavy diff "oil" from mixing with the hub bearing grease,it was a leather seal.
The front did not have this outer seal as I discovered because it had the inner seal but it could be added to keep the diff oil out of the front hub bearings in case of the inner axle seal failure.Of course this would not prevent the diff oil from the steering knuckle and CV parts which would not hurt them but would be more prone to leak around the felt knuckle seal.
Modern vehicles do not use this outer seal on rear axles any longer but use the heavy wt. diff oil to lubricate the wheel bearings just as it does the diff. bearings.The reasoning for inner and outer seals was to protect the diff. bearings from harmful(metal) contamination from wheel bearing failure and visa - versa.Using the diff. oil to lubricate the wheelhub bearings does not hurt and keeps cost down but the level must be kept adequite for the oil to reach the wheelbearings for proper lubrication.
If the steering knuckle could be sealed adequitely to seal in the diff oil,it would be sufficent to lub all the parts but,
I personally prefer the old system of sealing to keep the diff lub. seperate from the wheelhub lub.,better safe than sorry!
If you submerse your axles in water,even if its only once a year I would consider keeping them packed with marine bearing grease,once again,better safe than sorry!
Finally, a pair of locking front hubs will provide a longer life for both the bronze bushing and seal. If water gets into the knuckle,that seal is the only thing to keep water from the diff oil !
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