[Larry]

Replacing a leaky hub seal is not an unusual maintenance need. It involves a couple of hours of work and $50 or so in parts. It is covered in an article that was recently added to our list of articles so you can see if it is something you want to do yourself or have done at a service shop.

I would urge you to deal with this promptly. The immediate concern is as it leaks your brake shoes and drums are getting a gear lube oil bath. The leaky hub seal is likely coating your brake shoes and compromising the brake effectiveness so it is a safety issue.

I seriously doubt if you have concerns about the bearings, but you are losing differential gear oil and if you delay long enough without refilling the differential the bearings will eventually suffer, and running with a dry set of bearings is a sure way to twist the end off your differential end making what was a relatively inexpensive repair a very expensive one.

As to seals and bearings I am of the opinion if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. If you do not have a leaky seal on the other side I would recommend against replacing it just because the other side leaked. I know of no logical reason why some seals fail after some time in service, yet others seem to go forever. I am not aware of any published life expectancy for seals.

[Peter]

It looks like the other side in between the duals the hub looks wet but not dripping u can see it through the hole in the wheel I am not driving coach it’s in shop I have not used it in two months just being working on things Do u think it will hurt it to sit until next week I have to go away for 5days then I will take it to shop 1hour away wish I was at my brothers shop in Canada we could do ourself what do u think Jon? Will it be okay to sit for 5 or 6 days fix when I get back ?lots of snow here yesterday not good to take to shop roads bad. Tom what kind oil in rear end?

[Archived]

I doubt if sitting or a short drive to get it serviced is an issue. As long as the differential is filled no harm will come to your bearings but just keep in mind oil soaked shoes and drums will make lousy braking even worse.

[Ray]

Jon what weight oil is in rear end? Thanks

[AL]

The grade varies based on where the coach is operated.

http://prevostparts.volvo.com/technicalpublications/pdf/pa1082-24.pdf

75W-90 for northern operations and 80-140 for southern.

[JIM]

Thanks Jon

[Michael]

Something to consider…….Saturday evening on our way back to Illinois from Sarasota, FL we stopped in Jacksonville at a large mall for some late dinner at Logans Roadhouse. After parking on a slant I noticed during my usual walk around, oil was draining from the left front axle on the 02 XLII we were driving. After a quick call to the owner, who was at the Pelican Lake show, some valuable info was gleaned which was that occasionally the small vent hole in the rubber plug in the center of the Stemco cap can become plugged and due to expansion from road heat may pop out. After asking for and recieving some rubber gloves from our accomodating server at Logans:) I popped the outer hub cover and sure enough the rubber plug was laying there. I took a toothpick and cleaned out the vent hole, put the plug back in and we were good to go. Interesting how such a small thing can lead to potentially big problems. So the takeaway might be to carry a toothpick with you as part of your oil level maintenance check and just verify the little breather hole is open on all axles. Cheap tip but one that may have significant value.

[Georges]

I change the rubber plugs every couple of years, they also get hard as well as pluged up.

[Archived]

Yep, that tiny hole will do it, thanks for reminded us…