New 914 rear wheel bearing, No to very little grease from manufacture Options

[Luke M]

So, I just purchased a set of New FAG wheel bearing (made in Germany) so I can install a set of the later (74-89) 911 rear hubs on my 914 control arms.
I saw a few you tube videos about how the bearings for the Boxster where being shipped with little to no grease in them. I figured before I install them to check the grease. Well sure enough one side had little grease and the other side had very little to no grease on the bearings. I should've taken a few pics but didn't have my phone handy. I still have another new bearing to inspect so I'll take pics of that one. I'm sure it will be the same way. Now to go pick up some grease and repack them.


So if anyone of you out there plan on replacing your rear bearing I would inspect them.

Here's a handy video which shows how to do this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9P1R2clGAU

[bbrock]

You have to scroll down to the second one I opened to see the bad one. The first one I opened had what looked like an adequate amount of grease. It was unevenly distributed, but both bearing races had enough grease to be lubricated while the grease redistributed itself from use.

The second bearing I opened (same manufacturer purchased at the same time) was a different story. One side of the bearing was completely bone dry without even a hint of grease. The other side had such a small amount that there is no way it would have been enough to lubricate both sides, and even if it was, one side of the bearing would have run dry for some time before the grease redistributed. I'd say that bearing had maybe 1/5th the amount total as the first bearing.

From what I saw, there is absolutely a quality control problem with these bearings and I wouldn't trust that the manufacturer is greasing them properly. There shouldn't be huge differences in the quantity of grease from bearing to bearing.