is there a consensus on oil in the hubs?..

[kaz]

Doing a rear brake job. Pulled the hub and I see everything bathing in diff oil.
After studying MicroCat and Workshop manual I see (with my untrained eye) that only way oil gets there is through the Inner Stub-Axle Seal (FTC5268 as per MicroCat; RND671 RoversNorth).
So I took the stub axle off and I found the seal dislodged, so no wonder oil was there.
I don't really have the time to deal with that (need the truck tomorrow) so I'll push the seal back repack the bearings and finish the brake job.
I had a leak from there two years ago through a grease seal (breather was blocked) and most likely oil was circulating freely since then without any harm done (checked the racers & they look good).
In May I did front brakes and situation was the same, I just assumed seal was busted (or not there) and put everything together without much worries as I read somewhere years back that some of you just remove those seals and let the oil go into the hubs.
To put it to rest (for me) I'd like to quiz you on that:
-let the oil be there;
-or seal it?
My (limited) experience tells me that oil in there doesn't do any harm.

 

[Nomar]

My theory is forget the seals.
Make sure you do an equal number of left and right turns so that oil is distributed evenly to both sides.

 

[antichrist]

The oil vs grease debate has been going on since the 70's at least.

 

[KyleT]

my toy is oil in the back, grease in the front.

d2 is sealed grease, but most are oil anyway as the seals suck...

 

[kaz]

The oil vs grease debate has been going on since the 70's at least.

has any conclusion been reached?.
Or we have two schools here?

 

[ptschram]

I let it run free.

90 wt wants to be free like the wind!

 

[Tdi Hybrid]

The only reason Land Rover put a inner seal was to deal with the complaint that they leaked oil. You can either install the inner seals and grease the bearings or pull the seals like many do and let the 90 weight flow. Either way is fine. You will probably have more driveway marks without seals but no real issues.

I actually prefer the inner seal and good waterproof grease for the bearings. I also use a lot of RTV and no gaskets. Works really well. I drive my rovers everyday and hate getting oil everywhere.

All the best

 

[antichrist]

has any conclusion been reached?

Not that I've seen.
I run gear lube in my Series and grease in my coilers.

Part of the reason I run grease is that Land Rover went to a one piece stub axle/distance piece so any issues on the distance piece that might allow leakage is a lot more expensive to repair now.

But I've been thinking of through drilling one of the drive member bolt holes to allow proper filling of the hub and running gear lube. It's just not high on my list.

 

[kaz]

thanks for you input Gents.
For experimental reasons I left one side floating in oil, the other one greased.
report back on findings in distant (I hope) future..

 

[antichrist]

The only downside of gear lube would be possibly increased leaking.

 

[Jake1996D1]

The only downside of gear lube would be possibly increased leaking.

This is why most run oil in rear grease in front. I'm switching to this set up now actually. May run oil in fronts if I get around to it. As long as it's lubbed and water tight (mine wasn't) you'll be in good shape.

 

[Long Haul]

I know on my 53' reefer trailer the one axle has greased hubs and the other is oil bath hubs. The grease hubs generally run about 15-20* hotter then the oil bath hubs.


I have been running oil in the rear hubs of my D1 since I purchased it and havent had any problems other then a leaking seal.

 

[kaz]

you guys mentioned leaks?, OK, the 1st results of my experiment: it's leaking..
I guess I'll try silicone, any recommendations?
Looked at MG Chemicals, RTV Silicons, over 40 of them..

 

[Jake1996D1]

You need to RTV the flange with black rtv. And make sure the cap isn't leaking

 

[discostew]

Just make sure there is no oil residue on the sealing surface before the RTV goes on. Use brake clean , carb cleaner has enough oil residue to make the RTV not seal.

 

[no694terry]

diggin up a grave here. My rear seal is shot..F'in oil everywhere. Anyway i like the oil idea. So do i just pull the inner seals and replace the outer seal and rtv the flange or what. And where can i get new outer seals and have time to replace them by the Wilds

 

[Tugela]

I got mine from PT Schram. You are close enough that he could probably get them to you fairly quickly.

 

[no694terry]

I want the RTC-3511's i think. and remove the inner seals allowing the oil to "flow like the wind"

 

[KyleT]

rtv the flange???

it will leak out of the inner part of the bearing, around the rotor... just get a new bearing assy OR do what I did and get rid of them...

 

[Jake1996D1]

What's the condition of the stub axle? Mind was worn and even wtb a new hub seal it leaked like that. Replaced stub axle. Problem fixed.