Should I wipe this bearing grease away? (picture)

[feedthemonkey]

I just cleaned (kerosene soak) my wheel bearings and repacked them with new high temp bearing grease. After torqueing down the nut, some grease came out (as expected). Should I wipe this away before installing the locking hub? I ask because there was a TON of grease here when I came in to service. Also a ton in the locking hub. But I'm thinking that was a problem, not a good thing. Clean it up or good to go as is? Maybe a thin layer on the spindle?

 

[RangerX]

Looks fine. You could smear it with your finger like when you’re caulking something, that’s what I do.
Hubs should not be packed with grease.

 

[feedthemonkey]

Looks fine. You could smear it with your finger like when you’re caulking something, that’s what I do.
Hubs should not be packed with grease.

That was my instinct. Thanks for the confirmation!

 

[RangerX]

I’m not sure if auto hubs are the same, but with manual hubs, it’s often stated here that if they are loaded up with grease, to soak them overnight in ATF. Just fill them up like a cup, then the next day dump out the atf and let the hubs drip dry. @410Fortune can you confirm if that’s for auto hubs too?

 

[410Fortune]

yes
hubs DO NOT get packed with grease
they should be CLEAN inside
WE use ATF to clean then out, fill them like a cup with atf let soak
With the manual hubs you click them in and out a hundred times while full of atf, then drain them upside down for a few hours
then install
packing them with grease causes failure

The excess grease from the wheel bearings you can wipe it off, no big deal if some gets inside the clean hub..... I have seen much worse!!