I'm just changing the nearside ones and I've read various things. Should I pack one or both with grease or should I just grease one or both, as oppose to pack them.
The Haynes book says to pack the inner bearing and nowt about the other which brings me to my next question. Which bearing is considered the inner one? Is it the one closest to the centre of the vehicle or the one in the centre of the hub and carrier assembly, this being the one that's closer to the outside of the vehicle.
Just looking to "cut twice, measure once" after all the messing about I've had in stripping the hub.

i consider the bearing that is closest to the centre of the car as the inner bearing. i greased both of mine for one simple reason, not grease = heat! make sure you are using a lithium based bearing grease not just standard grease

[Edited on 28/2/09 by omega0684]

Yes my thinking too with the bearing TBH. Not sure about the amount of grease though. Packed or greased as normal?
Oh, how did yoy get the bearings chases out? Just whack them?

[Edited on 28/2/09 by mistergrumpy]

if i remember rightly the new bearings come with new cases, so just whack the old ones out, leave the new bearing cases in the freezer overnight and put the hub in the oven for a couple of hours before fitting, mine just dropped in with very little persuasion from a mallet. as for greasing i just used what was in the tube that come with the bearing kit, it wasn't a massive tube so im guessing that not a lot of grease is required

The inner refers to the inner race which is the center part of the bearing not inner as in nearest the center of the car. To pack keep the two parts of the bearing together and using the heel of the hand press in as much grease as the bearing can take. No need to put the bearings in the freezer or the hub in the oven before fitting . If you can borrow one use a proper bearing drift of the right size which will not damage the outer race in any way. If you are not able to get hold of the correct tool you can use a drift very carefully , a brass one if possible. The same applies to Cortina or Sierra hubs

Actually, the terminology can get confusing with tapered roller bearings. Each bearing has an inner - the part with the rollers held with a cage - and an outer - the ring the inner runs in.

With a pair of wheel bearings there is an inner bearing and an outer bearing. The inner is the one nearest the centre line of the car.

For greasing the inner part of the bearing should be packed with grease - basically you need to fill the cage with grease, it doesn't need more than that, any excess will be pumped out by the rotation of the bearing, so make sure there is space inside the hub for it to go somewhere.