Cleaning Wheel Bearing Grease from Hub

[Doberman]

A friend bought a 2011 Alpine at the end of last year. He pulled it to Florida for the first camping trip/extended stay. After he got here, I asked if he had any information about the wheel bearings maintenance records. He had called the previous owner and was told the dealership had repacked them just before he traded. FLAGS went up based on many people reporting dealerships using air powered grease guns and blowing grease seals and I talked him into pulling them and checking.............guess what? Yep, the two we pulled had grease on inside of hub and shoes. He picked up new brake assemblies yesterday for all four wheels.

What say you......... what is best way to clean the grease out of the hubs or will they have to be replaced?

[dieselguy]

Grab some rags and solvent, keytone, lacquer thinner, brake cleaner, or whatever and go at it. 20 years ago I'd have added gasoline, but it costs too much nowdays and the environmentals would have a cow.

[Tom S.]

Brake clean will clean out the grease in the hub, just make sure you are in a well ventilated area. Even if you are outside, you might want to put a fan next to you. If you really want to pinch pennies, you can even clean the grease from the shoes by baking them in a oven - but given the price of shoes and the grief you'd get from the wife, I don't recommend it. The drums require more inspection. Clean them, and if you notice any shiny spots, chances are they have heated up and hardened. If that's the case, they 'might' be turnable by someone who knows their stuff, but most likely will need to be replace instead.

[Phil P]

Hi

Keytone and Lacquer thinner evaporate too fast for me so I use Mineral Spirits some cans at the hardware store are just labeled Paint Thinner.

Phil P

[rohrmann]

When I replaced the brake assemblies, since they included the new shoes as well as the new magnets, I had to have the drums turned. We are currently near Fresno, CA, and was told there are only two shops in the area that turn the drums with the magnet surface, which needs to be turned with the new magnets to get good braking. Was only $25 per drum. Oh, when the drums were turned, the machinist completely rinsed every bit of grease from the inside of the hubs along with the metal from the turning operation.

[Doberman]

Thanks for all of the input. We will clean them up and see how they look. Weather is supposed to be nice again Friday or Saturday here in Central Florida so we will change the Brake Assemblies then.