Fitting grease nipples to rear axle

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leigh
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Fitting grease nipples to rear axle

Post by leigh »

Hi Guys,
Posted an early topic regarding rear axle bearings on my Xsara 1.9 D 1999. Unfortunately the o/s shot to bits so I've managed to track down a lower mileage unit.
As pointed out the fault with these lies in the lack of grease or greaseing points so I'd like to fit some grease nipples to the newer axle to try and stop the problem happening again.
CitroeJim has said he used to tap the tube and install them there however if the tube's hollow all its going to do is fill the tube up with grease or have I missed something?
Has any one done this mod on a xsara? and is there a better place to fit a grease nipple say on the point where the trailing arm meets the axle tube. I'm worried about drilling in the wrong place and damaging something, perhaps someones got a diagram they can post so it would give me some idea.
Cheers Leigh
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Post by pete-c5 »

First can l ask if the axle your working on is similar or the same layout as the saxo rear axle, if so, when we changed the saxo one that had completly colapsed so bad the wheels were catching the body work, l driled and taped the swinging arm just inside the outer bearing, this allowed greasing at regular intervals.

hope this helps
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Post by CitroJim »

Yep, that's it, about a couple of inches in so the grease goes in between the two sets of needle rollers. If the whole tube becomes full of grease over time, it won't hurt, it'll just keep the Anti Roll Bar well lubricated...
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Post by Paul-R »

CitroJim wrote:If the whole tube becomes full of grease over time, it won't hurt,
You might lose some of your top speed and fuel economy though... :lol:
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Post by f00lzz »

Remember doing this mod on my old Morris 1100... very effective mod.
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Post by CitroJim »

f00lzz wrote:Remember doing this mod on my old Morris 1100... very effective mod.
Did they not already have one on the end? I recall my old Mini having nipples on the trailing arm pivot, pointing outwards under a rubber cap on the end of the sill. I had a 1300 but can't recall if that did, nor the collection of Metros I had later on...
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Post by f00lzz »

Yes... on the mini
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Post by leigh »

Does the grease nipple go 2 inches along the axle tube away from the trailing arm or the other way as approx 2inch from where the trailing arm goes into the axle tube.
Cheers Leigh
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Post by CitroJim »

Hi Leigh,

The nipple need to be tapped into the axle tube about 2 - 2.5" from the end. the aim is to get the nipple to inject grease between the two sets of needle rollers...

Roughly as indicated by the red arrows in this picture:

Image

Make sure you put them where you can easily get at them.

Go easy on the drilling. Don't drill too deeply. The tube is quite thin and coat the tapping size drill and the tap in grease to catch as much swarf as possible.
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Post by leigh »

Thanks very much Jim thats just what I needed to know
Cheers Leigh
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Post by evilally »

Is this mod applicable to the 405? I'm lead to believe the rear beam is the only real weakness on these cars.....
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Post by CitroJim »

evilally wrote:Is this mod applicable to the 405? I'm lead to believe the rear beam is the only real weakness on these cars.....
Yes it is and yes, the beam is a real weakness. A great axle when it's good but when they go bad, they're terrible. No longer used now as they were quite expensive to make.
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Post by myglaren »

Seems catastrophically stupid to spend that much on engineering a good part then screw it up for the sake of a couple of 20p grease nipples.
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Post by Stickyfinger »

myglaren wrote:Seems catastrophically stupid to spend that much on engineering a good part then screw it up for the sake of a couple of 20p grease nipples.
20p grease nipples need a "technician to squeeze them...so is a cost in the service, welcome to modern car design requirements.

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Re: Fitting grease nipples to rear axle

Post by Peter.N. »

I have often thought about fitting them but drilling and tapping cast iron is not easy. What I have done is filled the whole of the tube with grease and have never had them fail again, a little gear oil mixed with it will help it to flow or I would think chain saw oil would be even better although I haven't tried it.

Peter
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