| Author | Message | ||
     Andrew Clarke (Aclarke) Senior Member Username: Aclarke Post Number: 290 Registered: 10-2002 |
I'm in the process of changing my swivel ball grease. I removed the top "fill" bolts, then removed the drain bolts. The oil was BARELY draining out, and several hours later less than half of the grease has drained out if I compare it to the amount in the Genuine grease bags that I'm supposed to put in. The grease is black, which I guess probably means it's a good thing I'm changing it. Anyways, my question is: is this normal for so little to come out? If it's not normal, what should I do about it? Is there a way to flush it or do I need to take them apart? I'm not much of a mechanic so that would be a daunting task for me, but of course if it needs to be done then I'll do it (and learn a lot). Thanks! | ||
| Joe Blanchard (Joeblanch) New Member Username: Joeblanch Post Number: 15 Registered: 01-2003 |
I have always driven mine around to heat up the grease before draining. Heat also works before putting the grease in. If it is a cold day and you are trying to get the grease in or out. You could be there for a while. As far as the amount that will drain out. It depends on how much has leaked out. (If any...) And how long it has been between your last change can also be a factor. I found it has been normal not to recover all of the grease. I am not sure about the flush or taking apart as I have never had the need to do either. Guys with more experience might have a better or a least different point of view. Any suggestion from the other D'webbers. Also.. perform a search. That might yield some more answers. | ||
| John Cronin (Jec) New Member Username: Jec Post Number: 8 Registered: 02-2003 |
Past posters have talked of adding some 90 wt gear oil, driving around to mix and heat, and then draining. Haven't tried it yet, but I'm due soon. Also, do you know the trick of turning the wheels all the way to the right to fill one swivel, and all the way to the left to fill the other? It gets the innards out of the way of the fill hole so you can squeeze the new grease in. John | ||
| Joe M. (Little_joe) Member Username: Little_joe Post Number: 70 Registered: 11-2002 |
I'm confused and I don't mean to hijack this thread. The manuals for my 1996 DI specify 90 weight, I believe, for the swivels. Should I use gear oil or grease? And if grease, do I have to use Rover grease? Will Mobil1 work well? joe | ||
| John Moore (Jmoore) Senior Member Username: Jmoore Post Number: 450 Registered: 10-2002 |
Grease v. Oil the big swivel debate. Grease because it is less likely to leak out, Oil, because it's easier to change. Joe, I used syn in my 88RRC and checked it with every engine oil change. | ||
| Blue (Bluegill) Senior Member Username: Bluegill Post Number: 1993 Registered: 02-2002 |
depending on model year, you may not have the drain plug. I drained my grease while warm, filled with 85-140 gear oil, ran for a month, redrained (more of the grease came out), and refilled with 85-140. Good way to test the integrity of those swivel seals...  | ||
| Daniel Covaciu (Danielcovaciu) Member Username: Danielcovaciu Post Number: 60 Registered: 10-2002 |
Is this something that needs to be done on all DI trucks or just the earlier years. How do you change it if there's no drain plug? | ||
| Blue (Bluegill) Senior Member Username: Bluegill Post Number: 2000 Registered: 02-2002 |
find some sucker and give him a straw | ||
| Joe M. (Little_joe) Member Username: Little_joe Post Number: 71 Registered: 11-2002 |
"Joe, I used syn in my 88RRC and checked it with every engine oil change." Thanks John. Just to be sure, you're talking about synthetic gear oil? Guess I should have specified, I was curious about both Mobil1 universal synth grease and synthetic gear oil. joe | ||
| TPH (Snowman) Senior Member Username: Snowman Post Number: 277 Registered: 12-2002 |
Blue- Damn you do good pics! Did you just powerwash that truck? S- | ||
| Daniel Covaciu (Danielcovaciu) Member Username: Danielcovaciu Post Number: 61 Registered: 10-2002 |
Okay Thom, think your so hot with your fancy pictures (the one above is really helpful by the way)? Let's see a picture of your inertia switch. I bet you dont have that one. | ||
| John Moore (Jmoore) Senior Member Username: Jmoore Post Number: 452 Registered: 10-2002 |
Joe, I used mobil 1 syn gear oil. I can't recall the vicosity of the top of my head but it was a blend. Dan, Blue is not Thom! | ||
| Daniel Covaciu (Danielcovaciu) Member Username: Danielcovaciu Post Number: 62 Registered: 10-2002 |
Right! Thom is Muskyman. Blue is someone else. Sorry Blue. Please forgive my stupidity. I must say its easier to keep track of people with names like john moore or daniel covaciu. Must just be me. So how about a picture of an inertia switch blue. Lets see what you got! | ||
| Joe M. (Little_joe) Member Username: Little_joe Post Number: 72 Registered: 11-2002 |
Thanks John! joe | ||
| Jaime (Blueboy) Senior Member Username: Blueboy Post Number: 570 Registered: 02-2002 |
whats interesting on my RR is the grease has "lubed" the outer portions of the swivel while the one filled with 90wt. has stayed in without any spraying. this is after new seals. I'm going to change out the grease following Blue's method once it gets a little warmer. Jaime | ||
| suraporns (Phuvihok) New Member Username: Phuvihok Post Number: 1 Registered: 03-2003 |
To completely drain it off, you must remove the spindle and then wipe off all the old grease. Steps of removal. 1. remove the wheel. 2. remove the snap ring. 3. remove the drive member with socket no. 17mm 4. remove the caliper mounting with 4 bolts. 5. remove the hub nut, if you don't have the special tool it can be removed by using a screwdriver in combination with a hammer. there are 2 hub nut in and ex which has a lock washer in between. 6. now you can pull off the rotor(disc break). 7. remove the spindle, be careful the gasket torn out. 8. now you can clean up all the old grease of the swivel and put the new grease in. And take this chance cleaning up the 2 bearing and relubricate. Note: all bolts are thread locked so difficult to unbolt Belive me not difficult to do it yourself. | ||
| Geoff 93 RRC (Geoff) Member Username: Geoff Post Number: 50 Registered: 11-2002 |
My swivels used to have grease. I filled them with gear oil, drove around to let it mix for a few days, then they drained completely. I didn't use the drain plug - I undid the bolts holding the swivel gasket retaining plate and let the flood begin. Of course afterwards both swivel seals leaked until I replaced them with new ones. Cleaning up the old ones and filling the lip with grease helps for a while. | ||
| Blue (Bluegill) Senior Member Username: Bluegill Post Number: 2016 Registered: 02-2002 |
I don't see a problem with a grease/oil mixture, unless your grease was contaminated (water/dirt). To get as much of the grease out as possible, I used an ordinary straw and sealed it to the fill hole with duct tape. Clean the area around the fill hole before you remove the plug so you don't get all that grit in there. Blow through the straw into the swivel housing, and out comes the grease. Best served when warm. | ||
| Blue (Bluegill) Senior Member Username: Bluegill Post Number: 2017 Registered: 02-2002 |
P.S. superporn's method will certainly work too, but it's overkill in my opinion if your goal is to just replace grease with oil. | ||
| Andrew Clarke (Aclarke) Senior Member Username: Aclarke Post Number: 292 Registered: 10-2002 |
Well I finally finished my little job. I actually let it drain for a little over a day and hardly anything at all came out. So I dumped some GASOLINE in and drove around the block and then drained it out. Yes I really did. I didn't realize at first that unless you have the wheels completely turned, you can't really get the grease in so I wasted some of it before I tried turning the wheels. After that it went in with no problem. I hope those Genuine one-shot thingies have a bit of extra grease in them for newbies like me. Now I have to change my differential oil, 5-spd transmission fluid, and transfer case oil. | ||
| Scott Phelps (Scottp) New Member Username: Scottp Post Number: 1 Registered: 03-2003 |
I see people deciding between full on grease and 90 weight, would I be better off splitting the middle (sorta) with 120 or something? | ||
| Blake Luse (Muddyrover) Senior Member Username: Muddyrover Post Number: 726 Registered: 02-2002 |
gaseline, lol cool. | ||
| Lawrence Tilly (L_tilly) Member Username: L_tilly Post Number: 96 Registered: 02-2002 |
At least for my 96 (and I belive all D1s...might be wrong), 90wt is what is recommended in the owner's manual and service manual. The grease came along later. You can use the grease without problems and many people w/ leaky swivel seals say the grease has cured that. However, people who play in water with their Rover often recommend sticking w/ the oil since it is very easy to flush after trail rides if you had a risk of contamination. Getting water out of a swivel full of grease is a harder (but not impossible) process. The Oil vs. Grease topic here on DWeb is sort of a holy war, but without actual conflict. I guess it's a holy cold-war. Members of each camp are very happy with their choice, but I have rarely seen this blow up into a "mine is better than yours" argument. It's not like the retained vs. cones or worm vs planetary jihads, where it is SO obvious that "they" are wrong.  Lawrence lnctilly@metrocast.net 96 Disco "Beowulf" NH, USA | ||
| Blue (Bluegill) Senior Member Username: Bluegill Post Number: 2020 Registered: 02-2002 |
damn dude, did you really pour gas in there? | ||
| Jaime (Blueboy) Senior Member Username: Blueboy Post Number: 572 Registered: 02-2002 |
so if its cold out - just mix the grease with some kero, open the plug, light the fucker, and out it comes flames et all. Jaime | ||
| Andrew Clarke (Aclarke) Senior Member Username: Aclarke Post Number: 300 Registered: 10-2002 |
Yeah I did. I figured it wouldn't be a "bad" thing since I took it out after a few minutes. I was going to use some sort of degreaser but after looking around my garage gas seemed to be the best mix between practical and inexpensive. | ||
| Blue (Bluegill) Senior Member Username: Bluegill Post Number: 2029 Registered: 02-2002 |
I doubt your seals liked that very much. I wonder if you could have blown the front wheels clean off if you got on the highway? | ||
| Reed Cotton (Reedcotton) New Member Username: Reedcotton Post Number: 31 Registered: 01-2003 |
If you were to put a solvent in there, gasoline would not be that good an idea. Never mind the explosive properties, gasoline is pretty buch a universal solvent. It may make things too clean, even for a few minutes of running. Metal-on-metal is just not good without lubrication. Jamie's suggestion of Kero(sine) without ignition would be better. Using 90wt as mentioned above would be best. Now if you have everything apart, and want individual parts squeeky clean, the old environmentally gas is just great. As long as you have asbestos arms, face, hair, etc... -Reed | ||
| Andrew Clarke (Aclarke) Senior Member Username: Aclarke Post Number: 301 Registered: 10-2002 |
Yeah I figured it wouldn't be great for the seals, but OTOH for maybe 5-10 minutes I figured it wouldn't be in long enough to make a difference either. If I'd had diesel, kerosine, or light weight oil around, I would have used those. I just drove around the block, enough to swish the stuff around a bit. |
