Rob, you're correct on all points. Keep trying to loosen those critters.

Rob,
I have always been a skeptic on this procedure. It is a LOT more work, but I remove each axle and grease each bearing by hand with good bearing grease.
John

Agreed. Got to get 'em out.

And what John wrote is true, too. I would only do this as a last resort, though.

I can't see the reason for removing the fittings once you you have greased the bearings. Just leave them there for next time.

Thanks to all!

Removing the axle was the only other way out that made any sense, but as stated, it sure would be a lot of extra effort.
It may make sense to leave the zerk installed. Perhaps it was the engineers answer to keeping dust and water out?
However, as most of us know from working on old cars, once you grease something a few times, the old grease makes a plug around a zerk as good as anything else...

Back at it today!

Rob

The reason for not leaving the zerks in place was to keep shops from using automatic grease guns away from the rear bearings, as they would blow the seals out due to high pressure. Those spots must be done with a hand grease gun.

Adding to Russ' reasons for not using the zerk, the lube mechanic would not only use too much pressure, but he'd be mindlessly inserting regular body grease, whereas you need to use wheel bearing grease in the fitting.

Rob, the biggest headache to removing and hand-packing those wheel bearings, would be the removal of the rear brake drums, which is a pain in the neck because you have to use a heavy duty puller. However, you WILL need to remove the drum sooner or later to check and maintain the brakes, so it might not be a bad thing to plan to pull both drums now (before you need to), to grease the bearing and to check the general condition of your brakes. You can check for leaks, see how much brake lining is left, lube the emergency brakes, etc. Pulling the axle only then requires removing the bolts on the bearing retainer and maybe hooking a slide puller to the axle (right, Geoff?). I don't think you even need to use a torque wrench to re-install the bearing retainer because it's already shimmed to the correct spacing.

As I say: sooner or later you will have to yank those brake drums. Why not do it now (or sometime in the next year) while you have the luxury of time? When you have them off, you could put some grease on the outer end of the axle so that the drum will come off easier next time. Shop around now for the correct puller, and you may even find a bargain. Don't wait until an emergency, only to find that you don't have the right puller, and that you miss out an an excursion or a car show because you didn't have enough time to fix the car beforehand.

Owning an old car (especially an obscure one like a Hudson) is always a matter of preventative maintenance and accumulating and carrying spare parts. Whoever said, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" never headed out on a long journey in a 65-year-old car.

Jon,

Words of wisdom for sure!

Removed one today to deal with sticking/off center brake shoe. Certainly needed attention!
I got the plugs out and greased the bearings, but pulling the axles is a good idea, just to be sure.

Russell,

That makes sense, too much would not make the brakes work better...

Rob

Rule of thumb on carrying spare parts on your Hudson journey - If you got it, you won't need it: if you don't got a spare part that will be the part that will let go in the middle of no-where, in the middle of the night in the middle of a hurricane!!!

Hudsonly,
Alex B

Alex,

Thanks!

Been there, experienced that.
Not the hurricane, but the parts thing.
Carried tools and parts for most any emergency in our stock 1929 Ford for 11 years. The worst trouble we ever had was a flat tire one morning while on a trip after waking up at a motel.

I'm going with the theory that pre-trip checks and good preventive maintenance will be of more value than two hundred pounds of spare parts in the trunk. To that end, we spent 12 shop hours this weekend on the lift, with a few more sessions to go.
(Glad my buddy is swapping labor for labor, I do backhoe work for him, he helps with the car/shop, even swap).
I think I'll still bring some parts though, just in case...[img] [/img]

Rob

Take [i]nothing[/i] for granted in the braking system. Frank's motto (one of many):" Make it stop before you make it go". Also make sure that the mechanical override system is correctly adjusted and operational. In a single-circuit hydraulic braking system, it's a "must".
F

Thank you Frank.

I'll take your advice.

Rob

Rob, I don't know you but it sounds like your new at this. I have been driving these machines since 1955 and I always carry points, condensor, coil, fuel pump, waterpump,parts in the trunk. I even had a spare generator. You never know. lol . The one thing that hasn't been mentioned is the oil pump gear that drives the distributor. When they give out its like turning the engine off. You can check the condition of the gear by the amount of play in the distributor. There are people on this chat that are much smarter than me you should ask about this. You are never going to catch everything so when you start out think of it as an adventure as well as a trip. lol Best of luck!