Quote Originally Posted by loop View Post
greased,maintained hubs are fool proof and have stood the test of time. I have driven many miles with a missing dustcap/bearing buddy thru the Texas heat with ZERO damage to the bearing. When i realized it was missing i made a few of stops every 10 or so miles to check for heat or other probs. ended up driving over 90 miles at 70+ mph on IH10 before i found a wal mart to buy a replacement. There was no noticeable change in teperature. No way in the world would an oil bath setup last that long if it lost a seal.
Ive made my living in mechanical maintenance and repair for 35 years and seen a lot of lube related failures. In proper applications,failures due to lack of grease happen slowly and are more often than not caused by lack of routine maintenance,whereas oil related failures can happen very quickly when a lip seal seal is damaged.
I wouldnt consider running grease in a LU or rear end nor would i run oil in a relatively low speed (e.g. wheel bearings)application
Oil bath hubs are a marketing gimmick to replace a system that isnt broke with an inferior one.
Exactly!!!!!