The grease fitting for rear wheel bearing housing is really a wonderful
idea!!
This way you can over pack the bearings so they can heat up churn the grease
real bad, blow out the seals and then lubricate the rear brake hardware
along with the shoes. All in 5 to 10 pumps.
The grease that goes into the rear trailing arm will help  to rust prof it.

Sorry I am lousy at sarcasm but this is just a bad idea to solve a problem
that really does not exist.

If you really want to lubricate the rear wheel bearings without disassembly,
get a small needle for your grease gun. Remove the drum, and wheel flange,
then the one seal.
Insert the grease needle between the rollers into the housing area. Now fill
until fresh grease comes out of the bearing.
Now for the important part. Wipe out all the excess grease outside the
rollers. Yes, all of it. Replace the seal. You want space behind the seal
for some of the new grease to flow out without  pushing out the seal or
getting forced past it into the brake area.

Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
John Rodgers
Sent: Thursday, September 09, 2010 10:48 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Rear wheel over half in muddy water. Need to repack bearings or
???

  If I remember correctly, there is an upgrade one can do for their rear
wheel bearings, in that a hole can be drilled, tapped, and a zerk fitting
put in there so that the bearings can be greased once in a while. If your
bearings are now questionable, and replacement may be looming, this may be
something you want to do while the hubs are torn down for new bearings. I've
not done it, but it on my to-do list.

John Rodgers
Clayartist and Moldmaker
88'GL VW Bus Driver
Chelsea, AL
Http://www.moldhaus.com

On 9/7/2010 12:06 PM, Jay lefstein wrote:
> My thoughts are the rear wheels have sealed bearings
>
> Thank you,
> Jay Lefstein.
> Sent from my mobile device.
>
> On Sep 6, 2010, at 7:20 PM, Scott Chapman<scott@MISCHKO.COM>  wrote:
>
>> I went adventuring in my 85 Westy today.
>>
>> Lesson learned:  NEVER try to cross a sizable puddle without
>> inspecting it first!  We managed to get the right rear in muddy water
>> over half way up the tire and it took over an hour to get it out again.
>>
>> I am wondering if I need to do anything with the brakes or wheel
>> bearings, or anything else, as a result of this "abuse" :).
>>
>> I went to a self-serve car wash and washed wheels out thoroughly on
>> both sides but haven't gone further yet.
>>
>> I'm in Cheyenne, Wyoming and leaving from here to LA on Thursday AM.
>> The last thing I need is trouble on the trip.
>>
>> All advice and wisdom greatly appreciated!
>>
>> Scott
>