MTFCA Forum

In the Ford lubrication chart, when it says things like "two complete turns every 500 miles," does that refer to simply turning the cap of a cup full of grease two revolutions or filling the cap and turning the full contents in twice?

It means turning the cap two full revolutions. Of course there needs to be enough grease in the cup to allow the two rotations of the cap to displace that amount of grease.

I'd be thinking the other way, no way would I only give the rear axle, uni joint and drive shaft bush just 2 thread turns every 500 miles, 2 caps full and then some.

Yep, just looked it up in a 1914 owners manual, as tim states the chart says, a few turns every 500 miles but answer for dope cups # 120, it's fill cup 2 to 3 times.

I put in the cups with a zerk fitting under the cap. When I want to add grease, I want to add grease, 2 whole turns on one of those dope cups just doesn't cut it as far as I'm concerned.

I'm with Martin. I dont yet have the cups with zerks except for the U joint so I pull the rear axle cups and put on a zero and pump away. I also raise the rear end off the ground and give the wheels a spin or two to distribute the grease better. Someday lazy bones here will switch the rear axles to the cups with zerks.

Is there such a thing as too much grease ? Where does it go ? Odd there's no confidence here that "Henry knew best". Grease may be the slippery slope that leads to . . . water pumps ? Then other non-purist modifications ? The horror !!

FWIW, filling the cups and turning them in a bit is cheap recreation at our house. Some family members think it's a treat.
Yes, we may waste some. On the other had the excess squeezes out and makes a water proof seal in some places.
Share the fun.
Rich

Like most, filling and turning the dope cups on the T is fun maintenance.....hands on style

If you do use a grease gun, and a Zerk, pay attention to the amount of pumps you use for sufficient grease. The biggest grease cup on the T is for the Universal Joint, that one is easy to gage as you fill and turn and fill and turn until grease oozes out around the ball cap. For the upper drive shaft bushing, always do two or three fills. Any extra goes into the torque tube, can't hurt! The rear axle Hyatt's can use that too, those bearings are doing heavy work.

For a side-by-side of Dope Cup fills and complete twists until empty......to individual pumps of the grease gun out a Zerk, you can see my photos.

Gives you some insight on how many pumps you need with a Zerk to meet the volume of grease the Ford dope cup gives

I have to confess that I've purchased grease cups with the zerk hidden under the cap. My reason for the question was to gauge how much grease to add at each interval. Thanks to your responses I've got a better idea.

When I removed the original grease cups I was dismayed to find that most of the cups had so much paint on them they were painted shut. Fortunately, the associated parts don't appear to have suffered much.... probably because the car wasn't driven much. I plan to do better.

I agree that overgreasing shouldn't be a problem under most circumstances. My one concern is the outer rear wheel bearings. With modern neoprene seals on the inside and outside, you've essentially got a sealed bearing so where would all the extra grease go? Would it ooze out around the axle/seal margin?

My one concern is the outer rear wheel bearings. With modern neoprene seals on the inside and outside, you've essentially got a sealed bearing so where would all the extra grease go? Would it ooze out around the axle/seal margin?



Experience for me, and with modern inner and outer seals, is the red grease that you pack there when removing, cleaning, and inspection of those outer Hyatt roller bearings........after running for 3000-5000 miles...... it just liquefies and turns runny and dark with age and who knows what, but isn't doing its thing.

Here is my rear Hyatt, with the normal every 500 miles of filling and turning the dope cup several times.....still was looking lube poor

So, pulled and cleaned, inspected rollers and sleeve and then added fresh red grease, just like before. Re-install. The Ford likes grease and oil

click to enlarge pictures

On an 11/12 where on the car are the greasecups installed and where are the oilers installed? Do you choose the steel or brass? Art

Dan,
Based upon your experience I would think occasionally pulling the rear wheels and cleaning / lubing the hyatts would be a good idea. I just wonder what's happening with the inner Hyatts?

Oldav8tor wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 17, 2019 11:35 am

Dan,
Based upon your experience I would think occasionally pulling the rear wheels and cleaning / lubing the hyatts would be a good idea. I just wonder what's happening with the inner Hyatts?

For the inner Hyatt's, those rarely are worn out or the sleeves, as they are close to the splash and constant spray of ring and pinion lube flying all over them. Those inners don't need much inspection, should be good if you have rebuilt your axle, new parts, and all.

As for the outers, they need care and tending. The car weight and axle is supported out there, lots of load on those rollers and sleeves. So, yes, I do check them every 2-3 years, pulling the wheels, helps to know all is well.

Have reports of others, who didn't check over time, perhaps a lapse of turning in the dope cups. In this example, on tour, the dope cup was gone, so unknown how long the outer ran without proper lube. Was detected on tour, noise coming from rear end, pulled the wheel in the motel parking lot.

The outer Hyatt, it was still good to use, but the sleeve was worn to smithereens...and was replaced

Whoa! A picture is sure worth a thousand words!

I answered one of my own questions today.... I finished the rear axle and decided to make sure the outer hyatts were full of grease. With the axle supported on my bench, I put the wheels on, installed zerks where the grease cups go and pumped some timken red bearing grease into each one while turning the wheel. Before adding additional grease I could hear the hyatts rolling inside....the grease quieted them down. Adding grease to the left bearing actually made the wheel turn easier. Same for the right up to a point. When I took the wheels off, I discovered the new neoprene outer seal cap had actually been pushed out a bit by the grease. I removed the zerks from both ends and watched a worm of red grease ooze out of each... I set the one outer seal back in place and turned both wheels a bit more to see if any more grease came out. I know for sure that both are full of grease now.... with the seals working so good, I'm a little reluctant to add too much grease to them ...at least not without removing the cups to see what if any comes out. I like that the seals are good but it makes me even more likely to want to pull the wheels as discussed and check the bearings periodically.