How to lubricate CMP wheel hub ball joints ?

[Mark Towers]

Hi,

My 1944 F60s LAAT front passenger side ball joint is heavily soiled with thick brown grease at the 6 o'clock position. The opposite ball joint is nice and clean with no grease build up.

I would like to ensure both joints aren't dry .... I've looked at my lubrication chart in my Maintenance manual which states (B3) (chassis lube, every 1000 miles or monthly)

How do I get the oil inside the hub ? I can't find any filler plugs or grease nipples ?

Is there a seal that I may need to replace ? Where might I find such a seal ?

Any help is much appreciated!

Mark

[T Creighton]

Hi Mark,
The ball joints are packed with grease on assembly either new or after repair.
After rebuilding the steering ends on my F30 I fitted grease nipples instead of the plugs at the bottom of the inner stationary housing (MBF3 page C17) for a top up if there was much leakage from the ball joint grease retainer seal.
Manual MBF3 on page F16 explains about the seals. They are a sandwich of rubber material with felt on each side.
I had to make some by stretching out the old seal to get the correct length and making a strip about 3" wide of neoprene with felt glued (Ados) on each side and clamped between two boards until dry. Total thickness is about 3/8" to fit in the slots of the two piece housings if I remember correctly.
You can then measure the proper width you need and cut them from the sandwich you have just made.
I think mine finished up a bit too tight in the slots (they have a spring behind them in the slot and should be able to move in and out) but they seem to work ok.
I hope this helps,
Regards, Terry.

[Phil Waterman]

Hi Mark

Your questions are ones faced by every CMP owner, and while the search feature on MLU is a little clunky, you don't want to miss out on what has been said on the topic of Greasing the Front Drive Joints and the Grease Seals.

Here is a list of some of the threads you might want to read through, I had an advantage in figureing out word (ball) to search for and narrowed it down with poster who had responded to previous threads in this case myself.


http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/sh...highlight=ball

http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/sh...highlight=ball

http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/sh...highlight=ball

http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/sh...highlight=ball

On my each of my CMPs I have taken the ball drive units completely apart to clean them during thier initial restoration. What a messy job.

After that I at first added gease through the plug on the ball, then when I had to take one of the units apart again I noticed, because of the color of the grease, that adding grease through the plug the new grease was staying on the out side.

Then made up the little grease injector so that new grease could be injected straight into the center of the ball. I made two different versions of this over the years but they share on point is they are made of soft material so as not damage the machine surfaces inside.

On the seal replacements, I have been using leather as a replacement, seems to have worked.

Keep us posted on what you find as you get into yours, pictures and individual experience, keep expanding the MLU knowledge base.

Please never hesitate to post a question.

There is one more previous thread that I will try and find which shows another type of drive unit that doesn't have the grease plugs but instead is lubricated from the end of the shaft. http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/sh...all#post224561 Found it.

Cheers Phil