rear wheel bearing

[gmannix]

When I purchased my 56 Golden Hawk the previous owner stated that the rear axle and bearings should be greased every 10,000 miles. I have a hose coming off the axle rising up to the floor board that has discharged some grease on the underneath of the car floor board. Any info concerning this would sure be helpful. Just wondering this is normal.

[jclary]

It is easy for those of us who grew up with wrenches in our hands to assume everybody else has the same view of such things. Not knowing your mechanical background or skills...forgive me if my comments seem over simple. I have had many cars, Studebaker and other brands, and know of only one hose that rises up from the axle. It is from the junction fitting that connects the rear wheel rigid metal brake lines to the flex brake line that connects to the common metal brake line running along the chassis to the master brake cylinder.

The grease you see discharged, is probably from the rear drive-shaft universal joint that has been over lubricated, and grease, that squeezed by the seals, gets slung off and into those areas.

As far as greasing the rear axle bearings. That is out near the rear axle flange close to the backing plate. If you safely support the rear axle so you can slide under the car. Examine that area with a good work light. You might have to clean mud and crud away, but along the lower part of that area, you should find a slotted plug. If I remember correctly, it is 1/8 npt thread. You will need to remove this plug, and insert the correct thread grease (zerk) fitting. On near the top of the axle, will also be a tiny weep hole. When you grease the zerk fitting, you know you have enough grease when you see a tiny "worm" of grease exit from that tiny hole. Once you grease that one, do the same on the other side and your are done. Then...remove the grease fitting and re-insert the plug. The reason you don't want to leave the grease fitting there, is because it is too easily broken off because of where it is located.

Some late model Studebakers don't have these fittings. I think all of mine have them. Good luck with yours. If you don't have the shop, chassis, and body manuals, buy them. Probably the best tool you can have. Even if you don't do your own work, it could help those you hire.

[StudeRich]

That is correct, the only Hose that SHOULD be there would be the frame to axle Housing Brake Line Flex Hose.
There should be no Grease coming out of it, but from the nearby "U" Joint possibly.

[gmannix]

Jclary thanks for the good info. I also grew up with wrenches in my hands to an extent. My experience is pretty much every thing except transmissions and rear ends. Whenever I don't have the answer I try to reach to the people who do, that is why the forum has helped me so much since I bought my Golden Hawk. Keep learning more and more about Studebaker's all the time considering they have a lot of differences compared to other cars and that is the reason I was attracted to mine in the first place. The previous owner put a lot of little quirks of his own in this car and wanted to check to see if this was normal or something he had done. I had noticed the hose when I was running new cable to the battery I was relocating to the trunk. It is a open hose on one end like a vent off the axle. It definitely is not the flexible hose on the brake lines. I won't have a chance before the weekend to investigate further so please keep an eye open for my next response. Hope I can get a better look at it. Also I have not known the procedure to put a pic of my Hawk on the forum with my responses, any help with that would be appreciated. Thanks again for any info.