Leaking swivels
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Bobsticle
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The one shot stuff is half way between the two. Its thick oil or thin grease depending how you look at it. What was in it before.
jamesmartin
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not really it will get thrown to the out side of swivel and stick to the sides ,cv grease ie one shot or oil
Was ep90 balls are corroded so doesn't stay in for long. Will try the one shot.
Bobsticle
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The one shot is much thicker than EP90 
wireman
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The only way to go is to replace the swivels but I have heard you can treat the rust in your pitted swivels, then fill with body filler, rub down and paint and this will help seal in the oil/grease for a bit longer. I have never tried this myself so I don't know how effective it is.
Yep read that somewhere I would rather replace than faff around trying that. Will go with one shot for the time being. Work away 12 on 2 off for next three mths or so. Will do a replace back end of summer.
rob1miles
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There's a thread somewhere of a guy filling, sanding and painting with teflon. It looks quite good but to do it well it looks like most of the parts have to come off anyway.
Think its in Discovery section.
Very true .Sounds a right flaff buggering around under the landy doing that. Mine leak doesn't every old landy?
rob1miles
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Here's one, but note he does them on the bench so the spanner work is the same.
http://www.defendersource.com/forum/f48/resurfacing-swivel-balls-37019.html
http://www.defendersource.com/forum/f48/resurfacing-swivel-balls-37019.html
scottonthefen
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Short version: As I told a mate who recommended swivel grease because it doesn't leak - sand wouldn't leak either..
Long version: I rebuilt both swivel hubs on my 2A recently. Swivel hub refurb kit from Dingocroft, new seal, retainer, bearing, shims, etc. And I cleaned up the housings to see how they would do..
The side that was less corroded to begin with had oil in which I drained before the refurb. After refurb, this side still holds oil, it's full of EP90 and does not leak a drop (at rest).
The other side, that was more corroded to begin with, had thick black swivel housing grease in it (I suspect this was the one-shot stuff mentioned above as there was an unfinished bottle of it in the back when I bought the landy). It doesn't drain like oil does, so nothing came out the drain plug prior to removal. Inside it had flung out to the sides away from the universal joint anyway, so it was not lubricating or taking heat out of anything. (Still, previous owner probably put it in, thought "hoozah, no more leak!", and went off with a whistle..)
My 2p is to live with the leak, because knowing you have a problem is better than hiding the fact you have one - or fix it properly.
I'm going to put a new housing on my side that is still leaking, because I know from the other side that they can and will hold EP90 if parts are in good condition. And EP90 actually lubricates the UJ when it's in there, and can be drained and replaced.
If mine was in daily use and I couldn't get or afford a housing any time soon, I'd put a new seal on it and see if it would hold EP90 for a while before the seal started to go again. I'd rather keep aware of the issue than put the grease stuff in it and forget that it wasn't actually doing anything useful in there..
Contentious topic! Always a balance between "mine doesn't leak cos it's all brand new and sits in my garage", and "mine leaks, don't they all? I use it everyday and it's fine"
Long version: I rebuilt both swivel hubs on my 2A recently. Swivel hub refurb kit from Dingocroft, new seal, retainer, bearing, shims, etc. And I cleaned up the housings to see how they would do..
The side that was less corroded to begin with had oil in which I drained before the refurb. After refurb, this side still holds oil, it's full of EP90 and does not leak a drop (at rest).
The other side, that was more corroded to begin with, had thick black swivel housing grease in it (I suspect this was the one-shot stuff mentioned above as there was an unfinished bottle of it in the back when I bought the landy). It doesn't drain like oil does, so nothing came out the drain plug prior to removal. Inside it had flung out to the sides away from the universal joint anyway, so it was not lubricating or taking heat out of anything. (Still, previous owner probably put it in, thought "hoozah, no more leak!", and went off with a whistle..)
My 2p is to live with the leak, because knowing you have a problem is better than hiding the fact you have one - or fix it properly.
I'm going to put a new housing on my side that is still leaking, because I know from the other side that they can and will hold EP90 if parts are in good condition. And EP90 actually lubricates the UJ when it's in there, and can be drained and replaced.
If mine was in daily use and I couldn't get or afford a housing any time soon, I'd put a new seal on it and see if it would hold EP90 for a while before the seal started to go again. I'd rather keep aware of the issue than put the grease stuff in it and forget that it wasn't actually doing anything useful in there..
Contentious topic! Always a balance between "mine doesn't leak cos it's all brand new and sits in my garage", and "mine leaks, don't they all? I use it everyday and it's fine"
Last edited:
rob1miles
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I live with the leaks and keep putting oil in. Last time I used EP 140 as I took the view it comes out slower, there's some eveidence that's true but on a long run it all gets pretty hot so I don't think it makes a huge difference. Mine has gaiters on and I think they really do help. I fix any holes where they get trapped in the lock stops. I'll need to shim the pins at some stage I'm hoping that will reduce the leaks. The worsest is after a long run (80-100 miles) and using full lock to park, that will lead to a small puddle under each swivel. As its has the army leather gaiters there's a good chance the swivels are 48 years old. Gravel drive helps as I can rake it over to loose the mess....
tottot
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When cash was short I fixed some swivels by filling the indentations with epoxy resin [ need to be clean and free of oil ] and then smoothing off by passing a seal over the ball before the epoxy set. Lasted several years. Used the same on pitted hydraulic rams.
Bobsticle
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If anyone is around Manchester I have a spare near side ball in good condition on the scrap pile. I replaced both of mine but the near side was a good one. It will need new bearings though.
scottonthefen
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Gaiters. Now there's a thought. Do they attach between the axle case and retainer? If so quite easy to fit without a strip down?
flat
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Only trouble with gaiters is they can trap crap behind them and corrode the swivels more.
One shot grease needs a whole bottle putting in each side, sounds like one of yours was underfilles by the PO
One shot grease needs a whole bottle putting in each side, sounds like one of yours was underfilles by the PO
