18-10-2020, 12:41 AM
On a good surface lip seals are very effective. Many modrns function regularly awash.The problem with Sevens is that the felts have invariably seriously worn the axle tube end.
All been laboured here before but to recap; Filling the diff to plug hole is unnecessary and almost sure to lead to trouble. 13 bhp and efficent spiral bevel does not need a lot of oil. The seals inside the axle tube should be in good conditon and ideally modern lip seals. Unless wading, the bearings need only be packed with grease whenever apart, and not the whole hub space. None are going to stay untouched for 60,000 miles. The steel washer for the felt must be retained so the bearing does not move endways in the hub, develop clearance, and pump grease/oil. Sealed bearings are not intended to block the through flow of any copious oil reaching them, although do.
(Ball races work on the merest trace of lubrication. Modern sealed wheel bearings contain very little. Tapered rollers which do not recirculate as do balls, stay together for tens of thousands of miles and survive despite very dry appearance.)
All been laboured here before but to recap; Filling the diff to plug hole is unnecessary and almost sure to lead to trouble. 13 bhp and efficent spiral bevel does not need a lot of oil. The seals inside the axle tube should be in good conditon and ideally modern lip seals. Unless wading, the bearings need only be packed with grease whenever apart, and not the whole hub space. None are going to stay untouched for 60,000 miles. The steel washer for the felt must be retained so the bearing does not move endways in the hub, develop clearance, and pump grease/oil. Sealed bearings are not intended to block the through flow of any copious oil reaching them, although do.
(Ball races work on the merest trace of lubrication. Modern sealed wheel bearings contain very little. Tapered rollers which do not recirculate as do balls, stay together for tens of thousands of miles and survive despite very dry appearance.)