Series swivels - to grease or not?

Depends why you are doing it, in my case I tried it on a leaky swivel but it leaked the grease as well, the only cure for me was to replace the housing.

Peter.

I don't have any experience with it, but the problem is whether it adequately lubricates the railco bush- should be no problem with the U-joint. However, unless you have just replaced the bush, it will be saturated with oil (assuming you have had oil in the housing!) and will take a long time to dry out. If you are doing it because the seal is leaking significantly, you need to remember that if it is leaking out, it is probably leaking in - and the mixture of one-shot, mud, sand and water won't do any of the parts any good

- and you won't know any better until things start to go bad. JD

I pulled down an axle which had been using grease instead of oil not long ago. The grease was firmly splattered around the inside of the swivel housing, the axle was remarkably dry and greaseless. The grease "fixes" the swivel leaks, but the axle uni joint needs oil to bathe in.

Good feedback - thanks. Results probably depend on temperatures, how much it is used, what type of use, and whether it has free wheel hubs. JD

On or around Tue, 16 Aug 2005 13:11:33 +1000, JD enlightened us thusly:

AIUI, FWH causes a starvation of oil to the Railko bush, anyway, if used for long periods in free mode.

WRT the grease... unless it's very cold, the correct grease is semi-liquid and will not stay all around the outside. Once running and if in use for more thana few miles, the axle will warm up due to brake heat and other friction, and the grease should then flow.