Front wheel bearings oil recomendation

[jjrbus]

I'm going to fill and flush my front wheel bearings, I do not want to change to grease at this time. Da Book, calls for sae 30 engine oil.  Da Book is 27 years old! have they come out with anything better?
                                                                                    Work?/Play safely Jim

[Beatenbo]

I still run the same ole Rotella T40 engine oil in my hubs.

[busnut104]

I have always run 90 weight. even added a little stp at times.

[Brian Diehl]

C&J Bus Repair in Bloomington, MN (where I take my bus for service) filled my front hubs with 90w gear oil when they redid the brakes 2 years ago.  HTH

-Brian

[pete81eaglefanasty]

 When i had mine done they put 85/90 W gear oil in the front hubs, also the
boggie. Brian is right.  about the 90 W oil, Never had a problem with it been 4 years now.

          Pete

[JohnEd]

Guys,

I am not qualified to call anyone wrong and am not doing that.  Please, no sword play here.  Socratic method at play.

GM specifies "30 wt." oil in "da book" you say.  Many of you are using 90 wt. gear oil and one is adding STP to the gear oil.  That seems to be a RADICAL departure from the specification.  At every turn you seem to fall back to the GM spec to justify your every move, or nearly all.  I agree with you on that and I also agree with you when you depart from the spec on those few occasions.  Your arguments and rational bear great weight with me....truly.  So, wtf ? Over.  (quoteing Soc.)

I have a "newer" auto that calls for 5-20 wt. oil in an engine that turns 6.5Krpm easily and for prolonged periods.  Prior to this baby my axiom was "30 wt. till 30K miles and 40wt. thereafter.  I lived in So. Cal.  I changed it out to 20w50 when I went skiing.  Then I started doing some reading and learned that the engine is assembled like a watch and the oil spec is for real.  Guess I am dated....nah, I know I am.

Respectfully yours

JohnEd

Note:  That means "what'er the facts".

[Beatenbo]

Really had me thinking. I have run same engiine oil in wheel bearings in 5 MCIs and 5 GMCs and never had any problems.Always thought that was the thing to do. Seems like 90 weight would be a little stiff in cold weather and would take quite a few miles to warm up wheel bearings. On the flip you do run 90w in rear bearings and diff. but I'll stick with the Rotella T there's always a jug or 2 in the bin if I need to add little. Happy Bussing

[jjrbus]

I was very surprised at the ansewers. When I posted this I thought Da book is 27 years old, maybe they have come out with something new? Or maybe MCI had changed the specs. I have to agree with JohnEd. How do I justify useing 90 weight in something that calls for 30 weight? Even if a professional shop uses it dose not mean it is right. I had tires put on a professional shop, being new I questioned the man about thier procedure on jacking ect. His reply was that there employees were all well trained and knew what to do. A year later I had to replace the studs at a cost of $200 bgecuse some well trained professional put my tires on with a 1 inch impact and a 50 horse compressor to about 1000 ft pounds and distorted the studs!
                                                                                                                    Work?/Play safely

[Clarke Echols]

Wheel bearings are wheel bearings are wheel bearings are wheel bearings.

They are tapered roller bearings.  The only difference between the bearings on the front axle and
those on the back drive axle is size.  They all work the same way.  If they work on 30W motor oil
(probably recommended because it's easy to get *anywhere* in case you need to add some),
they'll obviously work on 90W just as well if you can also run them on wheel-bearing grease,
whether it's lithium all-purpose grease or molybdenum (moly) grease used on disc-brake wheel
bearings on cars and light trucks.

Having to replace lug bolts because some lame-brained, knuckle-headed, idiotic, beyond stupid,
lazy, moronic, so-called "mechanic" took his testosterone-laced impact wrench to a lug nut has
nothing to do with lubricants.

The reason I'm ranting about the mechanic is because my daughter took her Subaru to a local
brake shop for a rear-brake repair.  They replaced the pads and discs, then gave her an estimate
for about $800 worth of other work that was "needed", including new front pads, "swirling" the
discs (not turning them on a lathe), and new lower ball joints.  When I took the left front wheel
off to start the work, I broke two lug bolts due to their over-torquiing.  Had to replace all five
bolts.  The pads were only about 45-50% worn from new, and did NOT need replacement.

I called the shop and they told me to bring it down and they'd look at it again.  When it was
on the rack and the "mechanic" got his impact wrench out to pull the right-front wheel, I told
him to get his torque wrench instead and do it manually so we could check the torque.  He
protested profusely, citing his extensive experience and certifications by ASE and a bunch of
other outfits and there was no possible way they could have screwed up.  He asked me what
the torque spec was, and I told him it didn't matter.  I wanted to know what the torque was
as they did it at the time of the inspection.  He finally did.  Set the torque wrench to click at
85 ft-lbs (spec torque for that vehicle) and it clicked without moving the nut.  It took 95
foot-pounds to break loose.  He told me I didn't know what I was talking about when I told
him it takes less torque to loosen than to tighten a bolt at a given tension.

I explained my credentials, but he was adamant.  Finally the boss came over, told him to take
the car off the rack and do nothing more.  I asked about the cost of replacing the over-torqued
lug bolts.  He said that was my problem, not his.  I replied, "See you in court."  He said, "Fine."

I'm now taking this to the state attorney general and local DA for prosecution of violation of
Colorado motor vehicle fraud statutes.  There is a minimum $500 fine for the business and for
the mechanic (employee, the law says) who made the "estimate".

There is also a recovery by the owner of the vehicle of 3 times damages plus attorney fees.

My advice:

NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER EVER take your car to a quick-lube
joint (my son lost his engine due to sloppy work at the local Jiffy Lube and the owner refused
to take care of it and wouldn't allow his insurance company to evaluate the problem), or to a
"just brakes", "brakes plus", or any other brakes joint.  Always secure the services of a competent,
independent mechanic who has a solid reputation for competence.  It may cost a few bucks more
and take a little more time, but your pocket book will thank you in the long run.

The local Ford dealership told me that the same Jiffy Lube mentioned above serviced a guy's
Ford van with 10W-30 instead of the 5W-(whatever is required) enine oil, and they had the
engine in their shop for replacement because of it.  The fill cap on the engine specifies the oil
to be used, but they ignored it.

My good friend, the former DA for decades, cringes whenever I tell him I can really appreciate
why some people solve their problems with a shotgun.

Clarke

[niles500]

JJ is right - I still had to step back when the Lube guy said 5w-20 on my son's new mustang or the warranty would be voided - what the heck do I know - FWIW -

[jjrbus]

 As always these threads can be informative when they get going. I was not comparing wheel studs to lubricants. I was infering that just becuse the pros do it, does not make it right. Our buddy Sam the bus converter was a pro right? I guess there  would be pros and con's on that 
I find Clarkes post interesting, if they recommend 30wt becuse it is eaisely available, why did they not reccomend 40wt, thats what the thing runs on.
Now that I think about it a bunch of years ago I had the opposite experience. I had the tires on my ElDorado rotated. I was driving on the thruway and heard a strange noise. Upon inspecting the car I found the nuts on the one front wheel were loose. I had sat in the lounge and watched the guy put that tire on and use an impact wrench to tighten the nuts!
                                                                              Glad you guys are here for me Jim

[JohnEd]

jjrbus,

I was surprised at Clark's post also.  I enjoy Clark's posts and I am not smart enuf to take issue with anything he has said in the past.

Clark, can you respond to jj and my own reservations about DD calling out a viscosity because it might be conveinment to find though it is different than the specified crank case grade that you would carry?  With all respect (and I mean that).

John