question Ferret bevel box oil fill locations

[njjeeper]

In reviewing the manuals I have run across a question. Are there 3 fill location on the bevel boxes or 2? I know of the ones closest to the hull(on the outside) that you need an extension tube to fill and the ones on the outter hub( visibe looking at the tire. But if both those locations are filled, do you still need to fill the hard to reach one on top the outter hub thats right near the backing plate? With the wheel on, that one looks like its hard to access. If I do need to top that one up, how can you tell its at level? Looking at a road trip and I want to be 100% sure there is plenty of oil to leak out

[OZITIM]

Hi Mate,

 

I'm not entirely sure what your talking about, but their should be two points in which to oil up your bevel boxes. JAck the Ferret up so that the wheels are off the ground and rotate the wheel so that the 'filler' on the outside hub (the one you can see when you are standing beside the vehicle with the wheel on, which requires a hex key to remove, is at 3 or 9 O'clock. Fill it until it overflows. Put the cap back on. The external hub is full.

 

 

 

The inter bevel box. For the front, on the outside, remove the filler (see attached picture). You will see that this filler is blocked by the steering arm, so you will need to turn the wheel, so that it is clear and you can put a socket on it. take out this filler bolt. Now, the front left is easy as all you need to do is get inside the hull and remove the filler plug on top of the bevel box, which is situated beside your left knee, when you are sitting in the drivers seat. Place a bucket under the bevel box under the ferret just under where you have removed the bolt behind the steering arm. Get back inside the ferret and carefully pour oil into the bevel box from the inside filler plug. Do this into oil spills out of the external bolt hole. This bevel box is now full. Put the two filler plugs back on.

 

The other three are a bit more tricky, as access to the inside filler plug is not so easy. So, what I do is take the external filler bolt off and get a bit of garden hose about 1 mtr long and place in the hole. I then get a funnel and force it into the other end of the hose. I then slowly slowly pour oil into the funnel and let it slowly fill the hub. This process is slow, but a lot quicker than trying to access the filler plugs from inside the ferret. After I think it is full, I let the oil settle into the bevel box and come back about an hour later and have another go at it, just to make sure its full.

 

This is my system and seems to work. Others may do it differently and have better ways of doing it.

 

REgards, OZITIM

[njjeeper]

Thanks for the info! I did figure it out eventually. The fill spot in question is the outer tracta housing oil. The filler is on top of the housing, right behind the brake backing plate. Easier to get to with the tire off, large allen key fitting. There are 2 level plugs and you remove one(whichever is easier to get to depending on the wheel station) before filling from the top. They level plugs are each 1/2 way down the outer tracta housing on the front and rear. 15/16th wrench end for those.

 

My issue was I couldn't see how to get an allen tool into the fill plug on top with the wheel on. Even with the wheel off the parking brake cable retainers are directly in the way. Once I made a tool and took off the wheel it was pretty easy. Of the 4 wheel stations on my Ferret, one had the correct oil level, 2 were near full, and one was nearly empty! According to the manual, there is no drain so there is no way to get the gunk out which sucks.

 

My issue finding this in the manual was not knowing which manual to look in. It's all in the User handbook, not the repair manuals. So for me, there are 3 filling spots. Inner bevel box/innter tracta, Outer tracta, and the wheel hub. Since I have now put oil into all 3 at each wheel station I am ready for the puddles to begin!

[sexton]

We remove the outer tracta joint fill plugs with the wheel on, but it's fiddly. We cut about 1.5" off the end of a 9/16" Allen key, fit the stub in the fill plug, and use a 9/16" ratcheting Gearwrench on the stub.

 

I have considered installing 90 degree grease nipples in the plugs so we can use an oil-filled grease gun to top up.

 

Malcolm

[Starfire]

My solution to filling the hubs and tracta joints is one of these:

https://www.stm.net.au/hand-pumps/1-litre-oil-pump/ca586-1-litre-tom-thumb-oil-pump

 

Much easier than a garden hose or funnel. When you buy a new one, the nozzle has a fair bend in it, just straighten it out a bit and you're golden.

 

The manual states that there is no way to drain the hubs on the Ferret and talks about other fill points, but that was before the allen bolts were fitted to the sides of the outer hub; they can be used to drain or fill and are quite simple to get to.

 

You can also avoid having to jack up the vehicle by driving it forward or backward until the fill points are pointing in the desired direction (easier if you have 2 people, but not impossible to do alone).

 

Cheers,

Terry

[njjeeper]

Hi Terry. I don't think the outer hub oil feeds the Outer tracta. The outer tracta housing has a fill plug up top and 2 level plugs but no drains. Since that housing doesn't turn, I don't see how you could drain the outer tracta oil. Unless the Hub feeds oil to the outer tracta. But if that's the case, why have the outer tracta fill plug and the level plugs at all? Plus, one of my outer tracta joints was nearly empty and the hub was full. So at least on that wheel station, I am sure the hub oil doesn't feed the outer tracta. Not to mention, the User manual states how to fill and check the outer tracta separate from the hub.

[MiketheBike]

I may be dim, but I thought there were two (easy) point at which to fill up the tracta/bevel boxes?

 

the filler/level plug on the inner tracta/ bevel (page 131 of the tech manual), and the filler/level plug on the outer tracta ( why bother trying to get to the filler plug at the top)? It also says in the tech manual to fill the hubs at the outer tracta filler, with the hub plug at 3 or 9 o'clock until it flows, replace plug and continue to fill until it flows from outer tracta filler/level plug.

i have always filled mine from the easiest position (ie the filler/level plugs), taking it slow and rechecking as you do tend to get a little bit of blow back and time to settle.

[Richard Farrant]

Hi Terry. I don't think the outer hub oil feeds the Outer tracta. The outer tracta housing has a fill plug up top and 2 level plugs but no drains. Since that housing doesn't turn, I don't see how you could drain the outer tracta oil. Unless the Hub feeds oil to the outer tracta. But if that's the case, why have the outer tracta fill plug and the level plugs at all? Plus, one of my outer tracta joints was nearly empty and the hub was full. So at least on that wheel station, I am sure the hub oil doesn't feed the outer tracta. Not to mention, the User manual states how to fill and check the outer tracta separate from the hub.

 

The oil in planetary hub can run through to outer tracta housing, believe me, I have rebuilt countless ones, there is no physical seal in there. Treat all three levels as separate items to ensure you have the correct level in each. Failure of bevel box/inner tracta is often because people make the mistake of pushing oil in the level plug and when it globs back out, thinking it is full. I use a grease pump container filled with gear oil and a long thin copper pipe that can be inserted right in and allow the air to escape.