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Topic: Front And rear Axle Oil Change (Read 2993 times) previous topic - next topic

Re: Front And rear Axle Oil Change

Reply #20 –
Quote from: Travelin' Man –
At the frequency I change my oil I've always been a dino guy, with no knowledge of synthetics.  But, when I spoke with the Meritor rep
the other day he told me they would not mix.  Since then, with the forum's input and some reading I've found out otherwise.  Apparently the only downside to mixing the two is a reduced life for the synthetic as it's diluted.
But when you look at the change interval of 100k on the hubs. How many years would it be until needing it again? I probably wouldn't be alive.

Re: Front And rear Axle Oil Change

Reply #21 –
Or 3 years?  You can make it!!

Re: Front And rear Axle Oil Change

Reply #22 –
My Foretravel chassis guru mentioned not mixing the hub oils also

Re: Front And rear Axle Oil Change

Reply #23 –
Quote from: amos.harrison –
All synthetic oils blend with dino oils.  You do not need to worry about contamination.  Note how many engine oils are actually blends.  Don't bother trying to get all the  old oil out unless the oil is contaminated.
Shush, service centers and other entity's don't want people to know facts. Ka-ching, ka-ching.

Re: Front And rear Axle Oil Change

Reply #24 –
Suit yourselves.  You can tell me it's fine but the Foretravel dealerships twenty year chassis mechanic friend of mine said not to do it if possible. 

Re: Front And rear Axle Oil Change

Reply #26 –
I run sentinel lubricants Semi fluid grease #4 in my front hubs full synthetic. Once it's in no more worries with leaking seals and such. Been in there since 2005 no issues.

Re: Front And rear Axle Oil Change

Reply #27 –
Quote from: Travelin' Man –

What Happens If You Mix Regular and Synthetic Oil?
If you "routinely" mix oils you may not get the full effects. An oil change is not a routine mix. Otherwise we would have to blow out all of the galley's and bearings, and wipe down the internals to get all of the other oil out. I'm just a 95 %'r I must confess.

Re: Front And rear Axle Oil Change

Reply #28 –
Quote from: wolfe10 –
I use 80-90 synthetic.

And my "method of change" is a bit different, because as craneman said, you can not easily get all the old oil out.

I use an old (ya, 50 years old) transmission suction pump through the large fill hole to remove all I can.  Overfill with new oil. Drain again.  Fill to proper level. Drive it.  Next convenient time, repeat.  Each "procedure" takes only 4-5 minutes and, unless there is a problem with the bearings (like metal, water or other contaminant in the oil), I am comfortable with the process.
Exactly what i do. And also did as a FT tech. Got approval to do it from Nac (back then)

Re: Front And rear Axle Oil Change

Reply #29 –
Full syn only .  Any blends  take on the coking specs of the lowest temp coke point. 

Re: Front And rear Axle Oil Change

Reply #30 –
Quote from: bbeane –
I run sentinel lubricants Semi fluid grease #4 in my front hubs full synthetic. Once it's in no more worries with leaking seals and such. Been in there since 2005 no issues.

Is this the stuff I've seen referred to as "hub oil?"  Is it just a question of removing the old lube and adding new or is it  required to change parts?

Re: Front And rear Axle Oil Change

Reply #31 –
No parts need to be changed unless you have a leaking seal.

Re: Front And rear Axle Oil Change

Reply #32 –
As I understand it the hub needs to be removed and drained and cleaned before synthetic is added if you want 100% synthetic

Re: Front And rear Axle Oil Change

Reply #33 –
Unless someone can convince me to do otherwise I'm going to go with Brett's (wolf10) suggestion on how to change the hub oil using Stump's recommendation of Lucas Hub Oil.  Then later if I am concerned about the actual concentration of dino versus synthetic I will change it again in half the synthetic's life.

The leak stop feature is the selling point.  I don't have a leak, and I don't want one.  It's just like using the radiator stop-leak as a
preventative measure.

According to James at FOT and the appearance of my oil I don't even need to change it, so adding as little as 50% synthetic
can't do anything but good. 

Re: Front And rear Axle Oil Change

Reply #34 –
The duty of lubing the front wheel bearings is so easy, it's likely ANY type of oil will work fine.

Re: Front And rear Axle Oil Change

Reply #35 –
I pulled the little drain plug on the hubs and let them drain for over an hour and old stuff was still coming out. Refilled with lucas hub oil (more like cold honey) and its still nice and clean. Used less than half the bottle to totally refill, which took a few refills as it percolated back into the inner bearing. Let it sit an hour before you declare it full. The stuff is so thick it takes time.

A "flexible funnel" or form a funnel makes quick work of draining the hubs without making a mess. I learned about it from a youtube howto video and it worked well.

Re: Front And rear Axle Oil Change

Reply #36 –
I replaced the 4 gallons of rear differential oil and greased the chassis yesterday.  Next time I will be glad to have someone else do the differential - what a mess and I thought my arms would fall off after pumping all that oil.  On the other hand, I will never have someone else grease the chassis.
 

Re: Front And rear Axle Oil Change

Reply #37 –
Quote from: Sven and Kristi –
I replaced the 4 gallons of rear differential oil and greased the chassis yesterday.  Next time I will be glad to have someone else do the differential - what a mess and I thought my arms would fall off after pumping all that oil.  On the other hand, I will never have someone else grease the chassis.

What kind of a pump did you use?