| 51woodie | -- 04-10-2026 @ 7:18 AM |
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Starting preseason service on my '46 Super Deluxe Coupe. When I bought the car, I cleaned and packed the front and rear bearings with CRC SL3131 grease. I now have 7500 miles since the job was done, and I'm questioning if I need to repack the wheel bearings. Questions: Do I need to repack at 4500 miles? Is the leftover half can from seven years ago, still useable? If not useable, is there a recommended substitute? Because SL3131 grease is sodium-based, it is highly incompatible with modern lithium-complex or aluminum-complex greases
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| carcrazy | -- 04-11-2026 @ 12:55 AM |
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The wheel bearings should be repacked every one to two years or 5,000 to 10,000 miles. You can use Sta-Lube SL 3131 or an NLGI Grade 2 Grease. If it were my car, I would pitch out the old grease and install freshly purchased grease.
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| TomO | -- 04-11-2026 @ 10:39 AM |
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I am not a chemist or a mechanical engineer with bearing experiance, but here is my opinion: Yes you should clean and repack your wheel bearings at the time specified in your owner's manual or at least every 3 years. Shelf life of a sodium based grease is 3-7 years in a sealed container and much less in an open container. AI search says CRC New Generation Wheel Bearing Grease for Disc and Drum Brakes is asubstitute for it. My experiance with AI is that it need to go to school for a long time before I would trust it. The front wheel bearings are similar to modern bearings and I would feel safe using the New Generation grease on them. I would monitor the bearings by examining them every 1,000 mile for a few years and then if there is no wear, extend the interval to 2,000miles. I don't know of any modern applications of the type of bearing used in the rear.axles. You could use the same procedure as the front bearings, examing the hubs and bearings when you stop or start using the car. Tom
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| 51woodie | -- 04-22-2026 @ 5:36 AM |
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With limited response to my post, I thought it was best to pull the hubs and repack. Using my limited knowledge of tribology, I decided that the SL3131 I had left from previous service was good to use, as there was no oil/soap separation . One side looked "greasy", while the other side looked dryer. I didn't pull the seals, just washed, flushed, blew dry then repacked. Thank you Tom for your reply, and I think I will go with a 2000 mile interval to repack. The part of the job that makes me nervous, is torqueing the axle nuts to 200 Ft/lbs., thinking that will strip the threads.
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| TomO | -- 04-22-2026 @ 10:21 AM |
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When you repack bearings, you should always remove them from the car and inspect them for wear. On the rear axle you should also check the bottom side of the axle housing for wear. This is where the most wear occurs and it is also the wear area that causes axles to break. New seals are important, because you do not want to contaminate the brake shoes. Contaminated brake shoes could cause you to lose control of the car in an emergency situation. 200 ft.lbs. will not strip out the axle threads. The axle and the nut are designed for that force. Tom
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| 51woodie | -- 04-22-2026 @ 12:06 PM |
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All good advice Tom. I didn't remove the seals, as I had no spares, and removal generally destroys them. I will order some for the next repack. The rollers looked good after cleaning, and I took great care to work the new grease into the rollers. You are right about the underside of the axle "stub". There is some pitting on the underside of both "stubs", so I will need to plan a fix for that. I understand there are repair sleeves available, a recommendation for a supplier would be appreciated. I believe the axle assembly would need to be removed to have a machine shop fit the sleeves? Is there an alternate repair?
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| carcrazy | -- 04-22-2026 @ 3:06 PM |
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There is an alternate way to get around the worn areas on the bottom of the rear axle shaft housings. You can simply turn them upside down so the clean unworn portion of the housing faces down toward the bearing. This will still require you to remove the axle housings from the banjo housing. This repair will probably last for as long as you own your old Ford.
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| pauls39coupe | -- 04-22-2026 @ 6:57 PM |
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I would look for a fiber type grease which will stay in place on the roller bearing on the rear drums. Yes replace the seals they are available from most of the early Ford vendors. The rear axle bearing surface can be repaired by machining the surface down and having a sleave pressed on. This is a job for a good machine shop with a large lathe. Save the axle shims/gaskets and mark them as to which side they came from. The shims set your differential bearing pre-load and the spacing of the ring and pinion gears. Very tricky if you don't get that correct. Sorry flipping the axle housing upside down won't work because it would place your spring hangers and shock mounts upside down.
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| MrHenderson | -- 04-28-2026 @ 5:38 PM |
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What an interesting idea - flipping the axel housing. Since there are conflicting opinions I wonder if it is a solution for some years but not on others?
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