Outer Limits 4x4 Board

What tyre of bearing grease does everyone use??

I have heard nothing but good things about Wynns Ultra-Supreme Grease.

So what do you use for bearings ect??

castrol high temp bearing grease.

Dont really think you need to be spending anymore money on grease than that.

shell nautilus
waterproof bearing grease
use it in 4wd and motorbikes
anything in mud and water

ajsr wrote:shell nautilus
waterproof bearing grease
use it in 4wd and motorbikes
anything in mud and water

isnt that like non conducting rubber?

Grease is waterproof no matter what isn't it, its an oil based product.

Shadow wrote:

ajsr wrote:shell nautilus
waterproof bearing grease
use it in 4wd and motorbikes
anything in mud and water

isnt that like non conducting rubber?

Grease is waterproof no matter what isn't it, its an oil based product.

obviously not they make it specialy for boat bearings and boat trailer brearings to be submerged so shell must belive its better.

ever seen rusty swivel hub bearings or boat trailer bearings.If standard grease was waterproof they wouldn't rust would they.

I know its a bastard the pressure wash off

Shadow wrote:

ajsr wrote:shell nautilus
waterproof bearing grease
use it in 4wd and motorbikes
anything in mud and water

isnt that like non conducting rubber?

Grease is waterproof no matter what isn't it, its an oil based product.

Marine greases have better corrosion resistance and resistance to washout by oil or water.

I usually use Castrol Boating Grease.

Caltex Delo LP2 for driveshafts, Castrol Bearing for, well, bearings and Castrol Moly for spring bushes and anything else that requires it

Moreys high temp waterproof grease goes into our customers cars in wheel bearings C/V's, unis and tie rod ends.

Cheers

Joel

In a past life, I worked in the Hydro-epectric industry (still do when they ask me). One very innovative Technical Officer wanted to test greases. They used over 500 kg of grease per year in one (large) power station. Between us, we managed to cut it down to about 50 kg.

We sought grease samples from everyone we could think of and devised various tests. Ignored the costs of the grease - simply "Did it do the job?" One test was to suspend a chain of machined mild steel cups similar to a universal joint cup on a chain in the tailbay, and leave it there is the swirling water. We pulled the chain up every 2 months and photographed each cup. The idea was to see how the gease was after full immersion. Most samples failed miserably within 3 months!

Grease is simply thick oil suspended in a carrier (normally a soapy based goo). In most of the samples, the soap had dissolved and the grease had either gone totally, had decomposed to a whitish soft gunk or, most importantly, had allowed the steel to rust.

From memory, the best grease was a Mobil product (XP111) ??? which was used in the stern tube bearings of the Collins Class submarines.This stuff stuck like the proverbial sh1t to a blanket. It was made in America. It had a molybedmum filler in it as well as the normal soap base. The best local stuff was Shell Marine Grease - a white soap based grease. It performed well. Most of the other stuff, including synthetics were no good.

I don't have any vested interest in giving this info out - the Techy and I have enough grease samples to last 5 lifetimes each. We asked for a "sample" to fill a hole in teh cup 40 mm dia by 20 mm deep. We got up to and including 20 kg drums of grease!

I think that any reputable high temperature grease will serve OK in wheel bearings - as long as they don't get wet. Our personal experience - don't believe the claims made by the grease(y) salesmen - the pushier the sales push, the worse the greases performed. If I had a boat trailer, I would certainly use Shell Marine Grease.

My understanding is that most marine greases don't work at high enough temperatures to last in the wheel bearings of disc brake equipped vehicles, and I've seen information on the packaging indicating this.

I'm not doubting your tech or experiments date, but there's plenty more to grease selection than how long it can sit, untouched, in water.

Most of us should be trying to keep water out of our bearings, and service them regularly to remove any that does get in, rather than thinking we can use a grease that will protect everything and still function properly once water is introduced.

Like I said, not having a go at anyone, just some thoughts.


Steve.

I also have some concerns re temperature in disc hubs ....

But am very interested in the wash out results for other applications - just having uni's fail after a very short time - some grease that resists the entry of water and crap would be great.

Very interesting - thanks

Gwagensteve wrote:My understanding is that most marine greases don't work at high enough temperatures to last in the wheel bearings of disc brake equipped vehicles, and I've seen information on the packaging indicating this.

Steve.

Hmm - seems you are right Steve. I have never seen it on the castrol packaging, however most boating websites agree with you.

Fortunately Land Rovers run oil-lubed bearings. But I do use some of the grease every time I re-assemble a hub.

Someone suggested BP Energrease LC2 as a high temp water/corrosion resistant grease. Did you test that one date? What was the average water temperature during your test?

Try Bel-ray Termalene.

It's a marine grease, but is also used very heavily in the dirt bike industry. It specifically makes mention of being suitable for wheel bearings on the packaging.

It's expensive, but very good stuff.

It's got to say "suitable for wheel bearings where fitted with disk brakes" or similar - that's where you'd normally use HTB.

If the grade is not equivalent to HTB you are at risk of melting the grease out of the bearings.

Steve.

Totally agree about melting the grease out of the bearings if the wrong grease is used.

On the other hand, my wife's Magna had a growling noise which I attributed to wheel bearings (it had 180000 km on it qat the time). Great expense, replaced front wheel bearings both sides. Noise still there - it turned out to be the tyres which were finally replaced under warranty, but that is another story. The issue I had with this one was that the grease in the old bearings had gone very hard, but I could not really attribute the noises to the bearings because they looked OK to me and the mechanica who pressed them out for me. I analysed why, and concluded that nearly all of the driving we do is out on the open road at 100 km/hr. Rarely used brakes, rarely turning corners, therefore the grease never got warmed up to redistribute through the bearing. If the choice is to go and live in the city and drive on the brakes all day, I stick to changing bearings occasionally.