101 swivel hubs, grease or oil?

Mine need some attention. Especially the driver's side which is making a bit of a mess...
I've heard that you dig out any pitting in the swivel, clean, degrease and then fill with epoxy glue and sand it down.
A mate who used to knock about with a chap who had a GS told me that you can change the swivel seals without removing anything. I assumed he'd got it wrong but Martin from Able confirmed this and told me the seals are in two parts. Clearly a stupid idea which is why it never caught on
My question is what goes inside the hub. Grease or oil?

yfo866 said:

Mine need some attention. Especially the driver's side which is making a bit of a mess...
I've heard that you dig out any pitting in the swivel, clean, degrease and then fill with epoxy glue and sand it down.
A mate who used to knock about with a chap who had a GS told me that you can change the swivel seals without removing anything. I assumed he'd got it wrong but Martin from Able confirmed this and told me the seals are in two parts. Clearly a stupid idea which is why it never caught on
My question is what goes inside the hub. Grease or oil?

Click to expand...

As 101's have their swivels welded onto the axle, prob coz bolted versions would just stretch the bolts after the military had put them through their paces, the swivel seals have to be in 2 parts. The joins best sited at 3.00 & 9.00 o clock. A daily driver that actually gets to warm up the oil/grease in the swivels then probably grease. I've always wondered if not doing any lengthy drives whether the grease actually becomes thin enough to soak down through the top swivel pin when its thrown up there by the CV joints & do its stuff. I've kept oil in mine since stripping the front axle down on a bench & fitting new seals. The pitted surface after thoroughly cleaning I filled with chemical metal & sanded down, using finer & finer paper. Looks ok & I'm unsure of any other option really as 101 axles with good chrome on their swivels are probably harder to find than rocking horse manure. At least with oil you can find out how much is actually in there as opposed to grease.

Typically CV joints need grease, similar to defenders and range rovers. Oil is better than grease for UJ joints, as the tiny rollers need lubricant.

Use chemical metal to fill pits, not done swivel ball but worked well on hydraulic ram.