Light Oil In A Gutted Truck Rear End?

L

Lanse

Well-known Member

• Apr 14, 2019

• #1

Hello everyone,

So, I'm building a trailer from a 1 ton truck. I've removed the axle shafts, ring, pinion, and everything from the rear end to save weight and lower rolling resistance. All that remains are the (fully floated) hubs, and the housing itself.

I'm wondering, would I be okay using some type of 303 light oil in this? Normally I wouldn't think of it, but as there are only 4 wheel bearings left in this rear end, I don't see why not. There are no gears meshing, no torque going through anything, etc. Just the four bearings. Some have suggested that I pack the bearings with grease and use no oil, but I'm not really comfortable with that. The 303 oil costs a fraction of what gear oil does and I can't actually think of a reason not to use it here. I understand it'll heat up more, but with the now empty cavity it will hold GALLONS of oil to disperse the heat, thus I'm not concerned with this.

Thoughts?

 

I

in-too-deep

Well-known Member

• Apr 14, 2019

• #1

Engine oil would be fine, too. Heck, filter some used engine oil and dump it in.

 

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warbaby

Well-known Member

• Apr 14, 2019

• #1

Grease the bearings and fagettaboutit!

Your trucks front axle wheel bearings have been (hopefully) running in wheel bearing grease for far more miles than that trailer axle ever will and you probably dont worry about them.

Sure you might fill that trailer up with some heavy loads, but the side load strain exerted on the front spindle bearings during a turn at speed all day, every day will probably surpass any periodic strain put on those tag-along rear axle bearings

 

M

moresmoke

Well-known Member

Location

E ND

• Apr 14, 2019

• #1

Same thought here, I would grease pack and get on with life.

 

L

Loren in Iowa

Member

• Apr 14, 2019

• #1

Pack 'em.

 

S

Steve@Advance

Well-known Member

• Apr 14, 2019

• #1

I agree, pack with grease, put the old seals in if they look good.

You'll want to repack them about every 20 years or so though!

Is it going to have brakes?

 

S

SVcummins

Well-known Member

• Apr 14, 2019

• #1

Tractor hydraulic oil is also a gear lube and performs also as gl5 type gear oil that?s why it can protect the gears in a 600 horsepower tractor but it?s also hydraulic oil . I?d pack the bearings and then fill it with 303

 

B

Bob

Well-known Member

• Apr 14, 2019

• #1

NO reason to put so much oil in the "gutted out" rear end for it to reach the axle bearings.

Pack the bearings with a reasonable amount of wheel bearing grease, and keep it simple.

This is NOT an "out on a limb"/goofy idea, some trucks (IH, from the 50's, 60's, 70's, as an example) used a seal at the end of the threaded axle stub to keep the rear end oil out of the wheel bearings, and they left the factory packed with grease.

So it's already been done, no risky/reinventing the wheel idea here.

 

G

GordoSD

Well-known Member

• Apr 14, 2019

• #1

Hundreds of thousands of heavy boats traveling on trailers with just greased bearings.

 

M

marloweg

Well-known Member

• Apr 14, 2019

• #1

u will have to weld caps over the axle tubs to keep oil in and dirt out and cut the axle shaft of the end caps and bolt back on then how will you get oil in the bearings? .just grease them and put it back together still should plug and cut the axles as axle will have no support in the center with the diff gone

 

P

Paul Janke

Member

• Apr 14, 2019

• #1

I have put it a stopper inside the housing where the axle was removed which has a bolt in it which expands the outside of the plug when the nut on the bolt is tightened. I used caps made for the trailer or front steering axles which have the removable center plug for use on oil hubs. It worked out very well.

 

S

ss55

Well-known Member

• Apr 14, 2019

• #1

Would a one ton axle have full floating axles where the axle housing carries all the weight and the axle shafts only carry torque? If so, could you pull out the axles and the differential to save weight and make covers for where the axles and differential were?

 

5

504

Well-known Member

• Apr 14, 2019

• #1

Just for your peace of mind,all Chrysler rear ends(car and light tucks) had seals between the gear lube and the axle bearings. You did, and do, just run wheel bearing grease in their axle bearings. If you really wanted to be trick,knock the drums off and drill a hole in the hub (Leave room for the rim )and add a grease zerk.

 

S

Sprint 6

Well-known Member

• Apr 14, 2019

• #1

Why not put a cup plug in the axle tube to keep oil in the hub. Then cut the axle off and keep the axle end to use as a cap. Then drill and tap the center of the axle, now cap, for a pipe plug. Put it all together, fill the hub with 90wt, and install plug. I would be thinking about brakes. Any trailer capable of the weight that axle is is going to require brakes.

 

4

4play

Well-known Member

• Apr 14, 2019

• #1

The one thing about packing with grease is you can forget about it probably forever. With oil in there, you still have two hub seals, axle end seals, diff cover gasket and pinion seal that can fail and cause fluid to leak out and toast bearings.

 

C

CenTex Farmall

Well-known Member

• Apr 14, 2019

• #1

I used two exactly as you are and just greased them. No problems in years of usage. Or you could do like Sprint6 is suggesting.

 

C

caterpillar guy

Well-known Member

• Apr 15, 2019

• #1

If the greaseing is so good then why did all the truck makers go to oil bearings in the axles including the steer axle? I would just plug the hole with a soft plug like Sprint 6 said then put a cap with the oil hole on fill and forget. No need to even have the bearings apart.
Yes the axle will be the floating axle of sorts where the housing carries the weight.
If greased without plugging the shaft hole it will get dirt in there and eventually ruin the bearings and seal.

 

MarkB_MI

Well-known Member

Location

Motown USA

• Apr 15, 2019

• #1

Hmm. With no axles, would oil in the differential housing ever make it out to the wheel bearings? Packing the bearings with grease would make that question moot.

 

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PJH

Well-known Member

• Apr 15, 2019

• #1

A local guy used to cut the ends off of the one-ton rear axle housing and then replace the center section with a large piece of pipe. The axles were removed, and the hub ends were covered with a 1/4" plate with a grease fitting in the center. I don't know how he kept the grease from migrating into the new center tube - surely he added a stopper of some sort near the ends of the new center section. I'd ask him if he was still alive. He converted those rear housings for use on round bale trailers that he built for people. The trailers looked slick and well built.