Max IV bearings

[TalSet]

just removed the outer bearing flange on my front axle, and discovered that there was NOT a hole in my outer bearing race to receive grease . was wondering if maybe these bearings may have been either replaced before i bought this machine, or are they factory. the bearings appear to be sealed. all help is welcome.

[brushcutter]

The bearings have to be sealed to prevent mud and water from getting into the tub. Here is a discussion we had a while back on this subject(kind of). Don't know if the PO changed yours or not, but after my experiences with the seals on my 950 Hustler bearings, I might not worry with greasable bearings when it comes time to replace them. Just curious though, why did you pull the flange?

What I found with mine was that by greasing them after every ride or so, I pushed the seals out and allowed mud and water to get to the bearings and into the tub. So now I MUST grease them after each trip into the slop. If you stop to think about it, although there is on some bearings, holes to allow grease into and supposedly out of the bearings, there is no way for the old stuff to get out, because the inner flange blocks any exit. So if you do as I did and shoot the grease to them after each ride, its only way out is by pushing out past the seals. The fact is if you put grease into a confined space and continue to do so over a period of time, then eventually this space will be filled and the new grease will have to make room for itself. The average grease gun has a psi of 2500 to 3000 psi so you can imagine what will happen to the seals. I have even entertained the thought of removing the inner seals or drilling holes through them to allow the old grease an exit path. But as I said earlier I might just go with non greaseable bearings and not worry about it.

http://www.6x6world.com/forums/general-6x6-atv-discussion/6673-so-you-think-youre-greasing-your-bearings.html

[Eldon]

I too was over zealous with the grease gun and combined with extensive winter track usage and my trusty grease gun I find now I get muddy water in the tub after even moderate mudding and when swimming the leakage is too much to completely relax in the water.Though I dread it I am going to have to change the bearings out and re-seal the flanges.I've never tackled it before and I have bearing extensions so I don't know how bad that will exasperate the job.