cleaning grease from hubs

andrew honychurch · #1 07-02-11, 18:36

Being a rather lazy individual and trying to minimise the ingrained oil that gets on ones hand I am looking for an easy way to clean the thick grease from the wheel hubs on my Carrier. I need to send the wheels off to be blasted but the insides are stacked full of grease and its a time consuming and filfthy job. Can anyone think of a really easy way to do this please? I have thought of using a gentle blowtorch to melt it out, or cover it with solvent and jet wash. The latter will make an enormous ammount of mess where I steam clean. Maybe its just good old fashioned hard work, but worth asking the experts!

rob love · #2 07-02-11, 18:46

Remove the bulk of it with a putty knife. To get deeper into the hub recess, you can notch the side edge of the knife so the knife forms a bit of an L shape so you can scrape a bit deeper.

Then just use rags on the remaining grease, with some solvent on it to finish it all off.

You can wear gloves if you want to keep the grease from the hands. In my last stint in Kandahar, we would hand out the latex surgical gloves by the box for the mechanics to use.

Things seemed to change from my days as a mechanic. We weren't afraid to get out hands dirty.

You will want to watch for sand getting trapped in the grease nipple holes. It won't help your bearings down the road if you pump grease through the tacelamite fittings and force the sand towards the bearings.

andrew honychurch · #3 07-02-11, 21:27

not a bad solution! I was obviously going to take out the grease nipples and blow through with an air line afterwards. I shall pick up a putty knife at the weekend and try that. I have the surgical gloves but I must say the break very easily. Maybe I should try wearing two at a time? Anyway good advice. If anyone has an even easier solution please let me know as it still sounds like a fairly mucly job!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bob Carriere · #4 07-02-11, 21:38

At the barn we let the other guy do it..... tell a friend of the trememdous sense of accomplishmnet he will have after cleaning out your hubs.....

Seriously disposable latex or blue nitrile gloves covered with the cheapest cotton gloves will work wonders...... the cotton will keep the rubber gloves from ripping or punctures........ cotton gloves can be purchased in bundles of 10 or 12..... if you use latex and some solvents/degreaser they may make the latex go soft and your gloves fingers will stretch to twice the size... then fall apart.

Caution.... some solvents....like chloroform for degreasing .....will migrate right through the gloves to your skin....then stay longer in contact with your skin under the glove ....... in a way you are better to not use gloves and have it evaporate quicker.....

While scrapping away at 60 years of hardened old grease/sand keep repeating to your self.....I do this for fun....I do this for fun....I do ......

Bob C

andrew honychurch · #5 07-02-11, 21:45

thanks Bob...I did one wheel this afternoon and was saying " I am doing this for fun" but actually I dont. I enjoy the fit up and the cleanish restoration stuff, but this is horrible. Its a plain old mucky discusting job and I felt sure there must be an easy way of doing it. Maybe the latex gloves within ghe cotton gloves will do. I like the idea of the putty knife to get the worst out and then MK1 finger to get out the rest before a solvent wash. I keep thinking I have done the most horrible job on this restoration and then I find another. Its a sort of masochism that I enjoy, but mainly I enjoy the finshed result!

Hanno Spoelstra · #6 07-02-11, 22:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by andrew honychurch

I like the idea of the putty knife to get the worst out and then MK1 finger to get out the rest before a solvent wash.

Andrew,

I used wooden paint stirrers (the ones you get for free when you buy paint) to scrape out the grease. Set up the drum over a plastic oil changing tray. Use a spray can with brake cleaner/degreaser and an old brush to clean off the remains, this drips into the tray. If you take your time, your hands will not get that dirty.

HTH,
Hanno

Richard Farrant · #7 07-02-11, 23:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by andrew honychurch

Maybe the latex gloves within ghe cotton gloves will do. I like the idea of the putty knife to get the worst out and then MK1 finger to get out the rest before a solvent wash.

Hi Andrew,

Forget latex gloves, the best to use are vinyl, a lot stronger and will last longer, I use them for jobs such as yours and when painting.

Phil Waterman · #8 08-02-11, 00:17

Hi

While cleaning the grease out of what are basically wheel hubs is a nasty job, look at the issue of cleaning the grease out of the front ball drive units of CMPs packed with grease and gear oil is even nastier. As these units according to the book should be repacked every 5000 miles (who does that) are more of a challenge.

I've tried all the methods suggested and they all work but all are nasty, here are a couple of others, steam cleaning fast and but blows the old grease all over the place. Standing the whole thing in a 15 gallon drum of gasoline not bad but smokey the bear shows up as soon as you dispose of the gas grease combination by lighting it off, to much smoke.

Hot tank, this one works good as setting the whole ball unit in a tank of 180 degree degreaser works pretty good. Engine rebuild shops generally have these units for cleaning engines before they start rebuilding. Last time I went this route think it cost me $25 + a $5 dollar charge to dispose of the grease they skim of the tank.

Another approach that I use is a small hot water heater in my shop which I kick the thermostat up to about 140 F works pretty good. I actually use the water system in my C60S BEAUTY which provides hot water for the shower. At the end of the camping season I turn the thermostat on the 2.5 gallon instant hot heater up to 140 F then through a hose and spray head I have really hot water at about 2 gallons a minute which cuts through grease well.

I suspect that the grease in your Carrier is that really nasty dried out time of wheel bearing grease, in which case to really get it clean getting the unit warm is going to make all the difference in the world to getting it clean. Question are you leaving the bearing races you plan to use in the hubs while they are being sand blasted? If so be sure to cover them well with several layers of duct tape. One quick blast on a bearing race from a sand blasting nozzle and you will need to replace the bearings.

Cheers Phil

andrew honychurch · #9 08-02-11, 05:37

Thanks Richard and Phil. I take it you mean kitchen type gloves Richard, which I think will work better. The problem is once you get the grease on the gloves you cant get it off but at least they wont break!

Phil some great ideas here as well. Actually the grease is not the really hard stuff but there is just loads of it. Dont worry about the bearings, as i opted to take this out with the seals etc. In fact the insides of the wheels are really not bad but I wanted to sand blast and could not cover up the hubs satisfactorily enough so took the strip down option.

I have been using paraffin ( kerosene?) as a solvent but it doesnt really dissolve the grease that well, so was wondering about petrol or something else. We have a product in the UK called GUNK which then has to be washed with water which I am not so keen on as water and bare metal rusts.

I intend on taking out the greasers and cleaning the access hole before blasting. Once done it will all get blown out with the air gun before reassembly. I would not mind but on the T16 Carrier there are 11 wheels hubs to do! thx guys

Bob Moseley (RIP) · #10 08-02-11, 08:17

Hi all - I do not believe what I have read here. Obtain a shallow container large enough to accomodate the wheel hubs. Pour petrol into the container and work it around the grease with a stiff paint brush. Dry off with your compressor air gun. Use remaining petrol to wash the grease off your hands.

Get a little dirt on your hands

Bob

Lynn Eades · #11 08-02-11, 09:01

No bloody wonder you guys have big fires over there. Kero is much better stuff. its not so......Sudden Death!! It doesnt dry off and leave crap behind, and you can wash it off with water, and dry it off, and it wont go rusty straight away either.
Andrew the satisfaction comes at a price.

andrew honychurch · #12 08-02-11, 09:32

Hey Bob.....I know what you are thinking, whats he on about getting his hands dirty! As these are complete rubberised road wheels for the bren carrier it would not be advisable to drop the whole thing in a tin of anything solvent as it would attack the rubber. Lynn, I think I had better stick with the parafin then! It leaves a better finish afterwards and should protect the metal. thx

Bob Moseley (RIP) · #13 08-02-11, 11:57

Hi Andrew - your first post said hubs not road wheels so I took that to mean the rear hubs holding the sprockets. The amount of immersion time that the wheels would be in the petrol would not effect the rubber. I re-rubber the road wheels and have to use a flame torch to remove the old rubber. The rubber is also adhered to a substance called ebonite that forms the bond between the rubber and the metal of the rims. This is all explained in my thread on wheel re-rubbering. If you are still worried about the petrol/rubber thing, sit the wheels on top of a smaller container holding petrol, or as Lynn suggests, kerosine, and still use a stiff brush to wash the grease away with your choice of the two solvents.

Hey Lynn - I agree kero is a good solvent but kero to petrol is like diet beer to real beer or decafe coffee to real coffee. Live a little dangerously.

Bob

andrew honychurch · #14 08-02-11, 12:32

well guys thanks for all the advice. I have doneit now. Just hit the job hard this morning, scooped out all the grease, washed with kerosene and then sprayed water soluble solvent and washed off with the jet wash. Filfthy job but a great day to do it as its really warm here and there is a good sun to help dry them out. Should be ready for the blaster now. Now i have got to get myself clean! cheers Andrew

Phil Waterman · #15 08-02-11, 13:35

Hi All

Andrew is correct with kero is a good combination, again warmth is key to making it work at its best. In the summer if I'm cleaning parts like this I put them out in the sun to warm up. The Gunk/Kero seems to work better once it and the grease are above 70F. In the winter I have a parts warm shelf that is about 5' from the hot air discharge for the furnace I put the parts to be cleaned on the self until they are warm. Then I use the Gunk/kero and it seems to clean work much better.

I was kidding about using gasoline to clean parts, your correct it is far to flammable and once mixed with grease and grime to hard to get rid of.

Cheers Phil

clarkray · #16 08-02-11, 13:51

Hi Andrew,my sand blaster had an easy solution.He got large washers to cover the bore and seal and ran a bolt thru and tighten it so no sand would get into it.

andrew honychurch · #17 08-02-11, 14:14

it did think of that, but I wanted to clean out the races and put new seals in anyway. There seemed a lot of grease on the wheels themselves so new seals would be an advantage I think.

Hanno Spoelstra · #18 08-02-11, 15:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by clarkray

He got large washers to cover the bore and seal and ran a bolt thru and tighten it so no sand would get into it.

Good tip, grease or no grease, you will want to protect your bearing races from the effects of sand blasting.

H.

andrew honychurch · #19 08-02-11, 16:54

oh I quite agree. I have taken all the races and cups out. What you see in the photo is the edge that the cups drive up against. This way I should have no sand at all once I have cleaned them once more and blown them out. Well hopefully less than driving in the western desert may have ingested.