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I think I know the answer to this but I'd be looking for a little confirmation before proceeding! New wheel hubs for 1940's and up Chiefs are available from several sources and they all seem to come with a grease fitting for the roller bearings on the left side. My hubs (front or rear) have no zerks or even holes to thread them in. But the lubrication guide of the Indian Rider's Handbook tells you to re-pack the bearings every 6000 miles and grease them every 1000 miles. So what I'm curious about why it is that my hubs, and they certainly appear to be original, don't have any grease fittings... is this the way they were supplied in 1946 or do I have some later "cheapo" hubs that were supplied without the grease fittings? Thanks!
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Pisten Bully is Harry Roberts in Vermont. -
Hi Harry
The hubs were actually removed to pack the bearings before grease fittings.Even the brake drums had to be dis-assembled. Labor was cheap back then, even spark plugs were cleaned and replaced. Ask a mechanic to do that today, even with $7-$15 platinum plugs and you'll get a laugh. I have a lot of the old flat rate books and at $1 an hour it was funny. If you do use a grease fitting, especially on later hubs, don't be a moron like I was and cad plate it! Leave it black and the judges will never find it, unlike mine, that almost had a sign on it, "I'm Here!!!!" -
From a restoration perspective, '46-'47 hub is correct with no zirc. '48-'53 is correct with a zirc.Comment
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Also, there is a chance that your brake drum support area will be slightly different on a '46. '46, the face that mates with the drum, the casting is contoured around the 6 lug holes. The later hubs filled in the casting and added more "meat" to contact with the drum.Comment
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That's great information, thanks! Bill, can't quite picture what you mean when you say "contoured around the 6 lug holes"... was it sort of "scalloped" or such at each lug hole position?
Bob, I hear you on when you talk about labor in a previous time.... running my 2-choke Japanese motocross bike in the sixties I constantly was fouling plugs, often I'd have to jump on my bicycle and pedal up to the corner filling station where they had a bench top spark plug cleaner/blaster. Put the plug through a rubber hole in the top, run the air and it would quickly blast the plug clean. Not sure what they used for blasting medium, but I had no money and I bet I blasted a single plug at least ten times with no ill effect. Maybe those bench top blasting machines will make a comeback now that a single fancy plug can cost as much as $15-$20!Pisten Bully is Harry Roberts in Vermont.Comment
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They were mini-sand blasters, usually said Champion on em. They'll never be back, the damage a piece of sand could do to today's engines is huge. The engines today use piston ring to wall pressure as a emission control. You're not going to see ring jobs on anything past 2000 or so.Comment
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Bearing grease
One of the bad things about "zerks" is that usually the wrong grease was pumped in. There used to be 2 totally different greases, chassis and high temp wheel bearing. You can guess how long chassis grease would last in a wheel bearing! Almost all of today's greases can do both, even though it's pink or purple! If you have "wheel zerks", use the proper grease.
While on the subject, on the late Chief brake drums, you can buy, Grainger number 5972K46, double sealed bearing for the drum. 2 advantages here, a really good grease is used at assembly and you never have to grease it! Chuck the corks and lock er' down! Forget it's there,unless the nut comes loose!Comment
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The sealed bearings that I got from Greers seem to be quality ones as well, if weight is any indication, the Greer supplied bearings have a solid heft to them. I've purchased supposedly "good" quality bearings before that come from China and you can feel the difference.... they just don't weigh as much. I won't use them.Originally posted by cdf6333 View PostPisten Bully is Harry Roberts in Vermont.Comment
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What was the manufacturer and number on the bearings from Greer?Comment
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I don't recall seeing a manufacturer's stamp on it, the bearing number was 3205 Z, could be NSK or SKF? It's installed now so I can't see it.Pisten Bully is Harry Roberts in Vermont.Comment
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