Hot take: most folks overgrease wheel bearings and it causes more damage than undergreasing

I watched a guy pack a wheel end for a Peterbilt with nearly a full tube of grease last Tuesday and told him he was gonna cook the seals by hour 200. He laughed, but when we pulled it apart 600 miles later out near Bakersfield, the inner bearing had grease so hot it had turned to liquid and washed out the cage. Has anyone else had customers argue that more grease equals better protection?

2 comments

2 Comments

charlie_ellis10d ago

...and that's exactly why I keep telling guys a little grease goes a long way. People think they're "seating" it when they're really just blowing out the seals. A bad grease job is way worse than a dry bearing.

simon_coleman10d ago

Oh man, actually I gotta push back a little on the dry bearing thing. If you run a bearing totally dry on a high speed application, that thing is gonna seize up way faster than if you just put a little too much grease in there. Overgreasing can blow seals but it usually doesn't kill the bearing itself as quick as running it with nothing.