<VV> Greasing axle bearings

[Clark Hartzel]

On a late model Corvair the rear axle hubs are similar to a front hub in
that there are two bearings with a space between them.  It is possible to
drill and tap a hole in the cast iron housing and pump grease in there.  Of
course you will not know if the grease ever goes into the bearings until you
see it oozing out of the seals and getting on your brake parts.
On an early Corvair the axle bearing is one assembly consisting of two sets
of rollers and two outer races in a stamped steel housing.  The housing
could be drilled for an oil hole but there is not enough thickness to screw
a zerk fitting in there.  The other problem is the area between the rollers
is covered by the A-arm flange so let me state this with great certainty:
You cannot add a grease fitting to an early axle bearing.
Now that I have said that, someone will surely pipe up to say they did it
somehow!  I think the only hope would be sticking an insulin syringe thru
the rubber seals and trying to squirt some grease in that way.
I spent 37 years working for a machine tool company and talked many times to
bearing engineers and sales reps.  They all say the same thing:  
1.  You should never take an old bearing off a shaft to regrease it and     
    press it back on.
2.  You can't "rebuild" a bearing by taking several apart and using the best

    pieces to make one good one.
3.  A bearing only needs a thin film of grease on the balls or rollers and

    the races.  The bearing will throw out the extra grease it doesn't need 
    and you should never fill up the space between bearings with grease.
Clark Hartzel (with flame suit on)