cleaning trailer wheel bearings for re packing

no idea but i have always used KERO seems to be more effective to get the grease out, as for petrol no idea

Anthony - I read that somewhere and thought "Yep that's right" but cannot for the life of me remember why now. Bet the world (or your bearings) would not come to an end if you use petrol, but turps is a lot less stinky to use.

Just remember not to make the bearings too tight - always have a little bit of movement in them!

Have fun!
Max

Petrol will do a wonderful job cleaning the grease from your old bearing but due to its flammability there are safer options.

Regards
Spinifex

Anthony,
I have used petrol on nearly every wheel bearing clean that I have performed over the last 20 years (since the start of my apprenticeship
back in 1987) and have never had any problems. Just make sure you use an air gun to blow dry the bearing/s. But don't try to spin the bearing with compressed air as this can cause damage to the bearing and yourself, as it can fly apart.

BUT...when using petrol or any other chemical or using a compressed air use/wear the appropriate safety gear.

Greg

I've always used metho.

You may want to consult the MSDS for petrol. Modern petrol has stuff like benzine and assorted aromatic hydrocarbons to reach the required octane ratings. these can be absorbed through the skin.

Kero, being less volatile and having less if any additives would be safer option. It also leaves a thin oily film on the bearings.

I remember back in the day I would be washing out a bearing with $2 worth of fuel. was about 5litres then(maybe more). Whilst I was washing them out I would have the bearing in one hand and a paint brush and cig in the other.
Now days I would still use unleaded but there is definatly a film that appears????? either stick with it or as I do, my hot water cooker uses metho so I will use metho after cleaning my bearings and use the metho to make my coffees on my next adventures.........
Having said all this. If you plan to have the machine sitting around then it really does not mater because the film no matter what it is will dissapear when the truck is doing 110kms an hr..
I would not use kero or turps unless I was going to burn the excess film off.
Mate the trailor bearings if I remember rightly will be either ford falcon front (1086) bearings or holden front (Cannot remember the part number).
Just use petrol...
I have used it for 20 years but I must warn you "Do not try this at home"
Peter

As long as the bearings haven't been contaminated with dirt or water I just use a bearing packer to push the old grease out as it pushes new grease in, never had a bearing fail since using this method and the correct grease.
The bearing packers are worth less than $15, a cheap cartridge grease gun which is kept specifically for wheel bearings and only use Castrol APX grease (or similar from other brands).
NEVER use HTB in trailer bearings or most 4wd's, the bearings do not get hot enough to melt the HTB and the only ever get what they are originally packed with and wear rapidly.

Not everyones cup of tea but I found an Ultrasonic Cleaner at my local "recycling centre' & bought it for $10!!!! its a ripper!!! before that I used to put some solvent degreaser in a spray gun, set it to a straight fine pattern and out doors hold the bearing in fingers and blow/clean the old grease out with the degreaser filled spray gun....You just have to have somewhere you can do it where the old grease & degreaser can settle without killing to many weeds....I would not reccomend the use of water soluable degreaser with bearings under any circumstances. The solvent degreaser you can by from the elcheapo places, "Export Quality" is the brand, works very well like this sprayed directly from the can.
Cleaning the bearings before repacking has only to be done approximatley, they do not need to be surgically clean and as I'm sure some of our practical thinkers will say simlpy force out the old grease by packing the bearings from one side with new grease, this is the way "proffessionals" do it. I'm actually thinking of changing over to the "oil lube system" it makes changing the lubricant so simple.
The other question is how often does one do this, I do the Gin Palace every 12 months because it says so in the instructions and the grease I take out seems new, certainly not dry, cracked and oxidised but I guess this is good insurance as a dry hub away from home could cause disaster as well as a through "Why didn't you get Lube Mobile to do it" from SWMBO.....

Hi

When I was apprenticed as an electrical fitter mechanic in the 1960s I was told by the tech teacher that petrol is corrosive and should never be used as machinery cleaner / solvent. Petrol engines wear out much more quickly than diesel because of the corrosive nature of the fuel.

We used a high quality and expensive solvent that was later banned because it caused cancer in the liver and depleted the ozone layer.

We used kero or turps only if we didn't have a special bearing solvent. We were banned from blowing bearings dry with compressed air.

Cheers
Phil

Hi all and thank you for your comments.

I ended up using kero to clean the bearing. It was interesting to hear everyone view. cheers Anthony