Posted by Sherman in Idaho [72.47.153.28] on Friday, May 09, 2014 at 15:52:25 :
In Reply to: Front or rear? posted by Chriscase [107.194.22.254] on Friday, May 09, 2014 at 08:02:57 :
If no outer seal, the lube would run out and the oil run in. There are also people who, for whatever reason, simply remove the inner seal, dispense with the grease, and let the gear oil lube their bearings.
I would think there'd be a problem with expecting gear oil to lube the bearings because if the oil level got low (easier to do now that it has more places to leak out of) or you were driving a long way on even a gentle side hill, there'd be no oil on the wheel bearings. Must not be a problem, though, because my '67 Chevy with the GM Corporate rear axle went for years with nothing but about a cup of thin tar in the differential for lube, and when I pulled the rear axles to change the seals, I was surprised the bearings were still just fine.
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