Front Swivel Hub oil Seals

You can be either lazy or thorough.

The lazy approach is to cut the oil seal so that it can be pulled over swivel where it meets the axle tubing without needing to undo much else. Make sure the cut is at the top when you install it. Unfortunately, this renders the seal less effective as the metal spring that tensions it is also cut in the process.

The thorough way is to follow your Haynes manual instructions - remove road wheel, disc brake assembley etc... until you can separate the swivel from the axel tubing and then slide the complete oil seal into place.

So far, I've only done the 'lazy' approach on my old Series 3 Land Rover and, I have to say, didn't find any real problems with oil leaking past the seal.

--> Greg

If you look at the spring carefully you can find where it joins and unscrew it to refit just twist the end of the spring so it screws itself in and is under tension this will stop it comeing apart

Andy

Oh! Jeez, I had a 1966 Series 2a and changed the seals on the swivel housing by cutting the seals (join at the top) and undoing the tensioning spring and screwing it back into itself. It was a nightmare to do and is really pointless as the spring has to be stretched a bit for you to gain a decent grip on it. I ended up removing the wheels, brake assembly, hub etc. anyway about a fortnight later! What an absolute ball ache! You could always drain the oil from the housing and fill it with swivel housing grease. It wont leak as much then!

My 2a was fine for about 2 years until 2.30am one morning one of North Wales' finest boys in blue decided to park his escort estate van into the rear of it...said he swerved to miss a dog!

Cheers, Ian Symonds '93 110 CSW

It is possible to remove the hub and swivel assembly from the axle without dismantling too much. Simply remove the brake calipers, unbolt the swivel housing from the axle and slide it out (with an assistant taking the weight so it never hangs on the drive shaft). You can then remove the old seal, and slide the new one along the drive shaft.

Assembly is the reverse of removal - just be carefull to line stuff up correctly and not allow the hub to hang on the driveshaft.

Tip: If you keep your road wheel to hand, you can use it to support the hub assembly whilst you change your oil seal. Also, load it up with grease before you put the new seal on - much less hassle than trying to fill it with the filler plug!

Paul

GREASE? I thought they should have oil in them? What is the correct stuff they should have in them? is 50k a bit soon 4 them 2 have gone?

Dave '99 Td5 90

On or around Mon, 15 Sep 2003 09:15:59 +0100, "grege" enlightened us thusly:

if you refill it with one-shot grease at the same time it's less likely to leak. Mind, some of the said grease has snuck out of one of my swivels..

also sounds like the CV joint on that side is getting old. Rattles on full lock.

On or around Mon, 15 Sep 2003 18:31:21 +0100, "Foxhunter" enlightened us thusly:

The grease in question is special stuff which comes from Landrover, part number STC3435 it says here. Once installed, you're not supposed to need to change it, hence "one-shot" grease.

comes in a sachet which contains enough for one side, so you need 2. This is instead of EP90 gear oil. Note that it's NOT normal grease out of a tin.

Would you say the genuine LR grease is the better option? or should I stick with the oil?

Dave '99 Td5 90

On or around Mon, 15 Sep 2003 22:33:32 +0100, "Foxhunter" enlightened us thusly:

dunno. I think LR now use the grease as standard, though. Which doesn't necessarily make it better.

I'm not at all sure about this, but there is a rumour doing the rounds that LR have gone back to oil - anyone else hear this?

Richard

Do a Google Groups Search

Its not an especially difficult job to do - you might want to have a good look at the swivel balls though - if they are corroded then you'll need to change them at the same time otherwise you'll just destroy the new seals.

There is also an oil seal inside the stub axle which is worth changing when its all apart - it is hidden behind a bush though and I've never managed to work out how to extract that myself. A quyick trip to a dealer usually sorts it though!

Mike.

Drain the hubs and fill them with the special grease LR supply.

Cheers Gary

Then wait until it gets to the stage where either 1) the leak is soooo bad the grease starts leaking out (and remember you can't just top it up cos that grease is so thick it won't just overflow when full) or 2) wait until you get a little bit of water in your swivels and instead of grease running round your CV you've got sludge, either way you'll have to strip your swivels, clean em out & replace the oil seal. In my opinion it's best just to bite the bullet & replace the oil seal to start with.

Stu

On or around Sat, 20 Sep 2003 23:07:58 +0100, "HobGobSnakyWaky" enlightened us thusly:

but I still reckon the grease is handy. Yer typical CV joints have grease.

I couldn't agree more. I've recently stripped down & rebuilt my front swivels due to leaky oil seals. One started leaking oil badly about 18 months ago so I switched to grease, Gradually in that time the grease had started to leak out as well. When I took them apart the one that didn't leak was in wonderfull condition and was well lubricated. The leaky one was manky as hell.

the grease is good stuff. just no point putting it in a swivel thats manky to start with and either wont hold it or will leak. For what it's worth, might as well strip down the swivel, clean it up & replace the seals. The grease should last for ages then.

Stu