When lubricating truck hub bearings think like a Dippy Bird

2022-11-23 12:51:08 By : Ms. Double Ng

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Protecting both sides of the trailer floor is the best way to combat corrosion and maximize service life and it's one company's mission to solve this industry problem Cross Joint Bearing

When lubricating truck hub bearings think like a Dippy Bird

Road Ready introduces its next-gen connectivity platform

The tools to properly diagnose truck service needs to avoid a nightmare

Sonepar taps Penske Truck Leasing to provide electric light-duty fleet of Ford E-Transits

Peterbilt rolls out its SuperTruck 2, autonomous truck at ATA MCE

Popular Posts Protecting both sides of the trailer floor is the best way to combat corrosion and maximize service life and it's one company's mission to solve this industry problem Road Ready introduces its next-gen connectivity platform The tools to properly diagnose truck service needs to avoid a nightmare Sonepar taps Penske Truck Leasing to provide electric light-duty fleet of Ford E-Transits Peterbilt rolls out its SuperTruck 2, autonomous truck at ATA MCE Connect with us advertise with us

Protecting both sides of the trailer floor is the best way to combat corrosion and maximize service life and it's one company's mission to solve this industry problem

Road Ready introduces its next-gen connectivity platform

The tools to properly diagnose truck service needs to avoid a nightmare

Sonepar taps Penske Truck Leasing to provide electric light-duty fleet of Ford E-Transits

Peterbilt rolls out its SuperTruck 2, autonomous truck at ATA MCE

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Fleet Equipment covers all the latest industry news and in-depth features related to trucks, tractors and trailers, including detailed information on the latest equipment components. Fleet Equipment tracks industry equipment trends, focusing on the issues that help fleets run the most efficient and productive trucks on the road. Fleet Equipment’s detailed editorial focused squarely on the equipment makes it an excellent resource for every fleet. The experienced editorial staff provides insights and solutions based on their many years in the trucking industry. Access to digital editions, contests, news, and more are ready for you today!

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Components: When lubricating truck hub bearings think like a Dippy Bird

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Jake Schell is the associate product manager for Mitchell 1’s Commercial Vehicle Group.

Not long ago, someone asked how I come up with ideas for these articles. How exciting it would be if I could claim the topics rolled from my mind because of vast personal technical knowledge and experience. Granted, to a degree the article ideas are the result of some 40 years in the industry. Nevertheless, the story ideas generally have their origin in the things I see during an otherwise typical day.

For example, the Dippy Bird.

The Dippy Bird is this toy bird filled with a dyed liquid and bulbs on either end, and when the fluid shifts back-and-forth, it looks as though the bird is drinking. Variations of this toy have been around for decades, so the odds are high most have at least seen one.  Seeing this unique toy slosh the dyed fluid back-and-forth brought to mind a drive axle, and how the axle lubricating oil flows from the center out to the hubs and wheel bearings.

The rear axle wheel hubs typically are lubricated by the gear oil in the axle assembly. Without that gear oil reaching the hub bearings, overheating and damage can take place quickly. As long as the axle is properly filled, the bearings will be getting the needed lubrication. There is a time particularly available for hub bearing damage to occur, namely when the hubs are being serviced.

When the hubs are off for service, there may be a tendency to pack the rear hub bearings with grease as though they were front axle wheel bearings that do not receive lubrication from the differential. The heavy wheel bearing grease will lubricate the bearings for a while.

Unfortunately, wheel bearing grease, particularly when cold, will block the flow of gear oil needed to fill the hubs and lubricate the bearings. This will also make for a lowered gear oil level once everything warms up and the wheel bearing grease dissipates–provided the bearing is not damaged before everything gets warmed up.

Most service instructions indicate that the bearings should be dipped in the gear oil used by the differential during assemble. Nevertheless, always check the service information specific to the component being serviced.

Once the hubs are assembled it will be time to refill the differential. Some hubs will come equipped with a fill plug to add lubricant at the hub. Be sure to follow the recommended procedure for filling hubs equipped with fill plugs. For hubs that do not have plugs, gear oil in sufficient quantity still needs to make it to the hub.

In comes the inspiration from the Dippy Bird. Once the differential is filled to the proper level, one side of the axle should be jacked-up first, so that gear oil will flow into the hub over a minute or more. Then, the procedure should be repeated for the opposite side. Lastly, recheck the gear oil level and add as necessary. This should provide a good long drink of nourishing gear oil for the nearly dry hub bearings.

Visual cues such as the Dippy Bird and many other mundane things in the world can help remind the  technician to make small but important steps during vehicle service. Thankfully, such visual cues also help me come up with article ideas.      

Additional tips for repair and maintenance of Class 4-8 trucks may be found in the Mitchell 1 ShopConnection Truck blog: https://mitchell1.com/shopconnection/category/truck/

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When lubricating truck hub bearings think like a Dippy Bird

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