Thanks guys for the advise!
I am beginning to think that a minimum yearly+ pull of the front brake drums is needed to keep the old A-D trucks alive.
The bearings are starting to become obsolete in the parts books and the old "felt" seals seem to be letting more oil past them. This greasies up the brake shoes (getting harder to find) and thus screws up the drums (getting harder to find); can even lead to bearing failure and spindle damage.
So I guess whatever wheel bearing grease I use its a yearly bearing clean/repack, brake shoe adjust, and heck I may as well pressure flush the whole brake line to change the old brake fluid.
I have some success with pulling the drum off, then washing the bearings with high pressure soap and water! I am careful not to spin the bearing in their cage. I gently use compressed air to dry and then I hand repack the outer bearing and use a syringe to repack the inner while it is still pressed into the drum. This saves the felt seal and lots of work from removing the inner bearing.
Also lets me clean up the drum and clean/lube brake mechanisms.
Parts are becoming so obsolete and very expensive that the cost of my maintenence labor is looking more economical.
FOR MORE INFO SEE THIS SITE:
VCCA CHEVY SITE
