Other: Heavy grease

[jclary]

Well...my last tech thread was about wheel cylinder assembly lube and you folks gave me some valuable information. Now, I'd like to discuss heavy lube, like chassis grease and bearing grease. For decades, chassis lube was kind of a rather mid-range viscosity lubricant very different than wheel bearing grease. "Old time" bearing grease was extremely thick and almost stringy. Now days, it seems that all the grease whether chassis lube you get in tubes or cans, is about the same viscosity and marketed for both uses. There are various brands, and various applications such as "water repellent" to use in boat trailer applications, or extreme pressure, high-temp, etc.

However, most seem to be targeted for "general purpose" applications. Anyone know of a grease that is truly high viscosity like the old stringy wheel bearing grease available years ago? Brand? What spec to look for?

[jackb]

....try a yard sale...to find these old garage items...I believe today's lubes are better than anything used in the 50's/60's.....however, I still have containers of Wolf's Head bearing lube, Lubriplate, etc that hasn't run out yet.

[DEEPNHOCK]

Some old reading:
http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/archive/index.php?t-22793.html

And an old Popular Mechanic's article:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/how-to/saturday-mechanic-blog/choosing-the-correct-grease

Non synthetic (old fashioned) grease is basically oil with a soap thickener added.
Lightweight grease has little, if any, heavy materials added.
Lithium grease has (guess what) Lithium added to it.
Moly grease has the mineral molybdenum in it...
(source):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molybdenum_disulfide

Now, modern synthetic hydrogel grease is different (looks like strawberry jam)....
It absorbs moisture, and can cause inner race to spindle corrosion and make bearings hard to remove.
The truck world knows about synthetic hydrogel greases and their features/benefits.
HTIH
Jeff

Well...my last tech thread was about wheel cylinder assembly lube and you folks gave me some valuable information. Now, I'd like to discuss heavy lube, like chassis grease and bearing grease. For decades, chassis lube was kind of a rather mid-range viscosity lubricant very different than wheel bearing grease. "Old time" bearing grease was extremely thick and almost stringy. Now days, it seems that all the grease whether chassis lube you get in tubes or cans, is about the same viscosity and marketed for both uses. There are various brands, and various applications such as "water repellent" to use in boat trailer applications, or extreme pressure, high-temp, etc.

However, most seem to be targeted for "general purpose" applications. Anyone know of a grease that is truly high viscosity like the old stringy wheel bearing grease available years ago? Brand? What spec to look for?

[Bud]

I wouldn't use the old style sodium based dark brown fiber grease for anything anymore. The new greases rated for NGLI #2 GC-LB grease is a high temperature extreme pressure grease that far surpasses the quality of the older greases. It won't be effected by moisture or heat as the GC-LB grease is rated for disc brake wheel bearings which run at a far higher temperature than drum brake bearings. I've been using Pennzoil 707 multi purpose disc brake bearing grease which is a lithium complex grease for at least 15 years with great results. It stays on the bearings and is unaffected by high temperatures. If you are working on something such as boat trailer bearings, then a grease with an aluminum complex or calcium base is recommended because of the high moisture conditions. Bud

[SuperHawk]

One word of warning: Don't buy Wal Mart's house brand grease tubes for your grease gun. It's called Super Tech, and when it gets warm outside, like 80 degrees, the stuff becomes soupy. It literally melts at 80 degrees F. It started oozing out of my zerks and left little red dots all over the garage floor, just under the zerks !! When I picked up my grease gun, the red, soupy stuff began running out of the bottom of the gun. I threw the rest of the tube away, went to NAPA for some chassis grease, and re-greased my chassis. No more melting or oozing. The point is: there is a quality difference between one grease and another.

Larry

[E. Davis]

You can't buy better wheel bearing grease than lubriplate in my humble opinion. I have used it in cars, trucks and trailers for 50 years without ever having a bearing failure.

[StudeRich]

Studebaker must have agreed with you, I have found Lubriplate everywhere on my Studebakers, they packed the Rear Wheel Bearings with it, lubed hinges, Greased Chassis, assembled parts with it, you name it.

It was sold by Studebaker to Stude. Dealers in 55 Gallon Drums to use in the Air powered Grease Guns in the Service Dept.

I have always found it to be the best High Temp. Lube for Brake backing plates and all moving Parts in the Drum Brake.

[jclary]

Well...I'll confess...I had a little bit of a hidden agenda about the heavy grease. While doing the brake rebuild on my '48, I found a real loose and worn tie rod end. I spent about three hours searching extremely hot attics and a tin utility building where I horde parts. Finally, after losing about four pounds by sweating it off...I found a whole box of NOS tie rod ends. None will fit the '48

The best I can do by the meet this weekend is pack it full of the thickest grease I have and put up with it. If anyone reading this has a couple (or four) tie rod ends for a 7G Champion, bring 'em to the southeast zone meet. For a reasonable price...I'll take 'em.

[blackhawk]

I too have always used Lubriplate greases. Over the past couple decades, maybe more as I cannot recall when the current grease designations came out, I have used 1200-2 for the chassis zerks during summer and Mag-1 in winter (for obvious reasons; I live where it can get -60?). For the same reason, I pack all my wheel bearings with Mag-1 and leave it in there year-round. If I use the thicker grease in the wheel bearings, it is hard to turn the wheels on those cold days. I have yet to see any significant wear on the bearings, so it must be pretty good grease for our climate. I realize this doesn't apply to most readers of this forum, but thought I'd throw it out there. When I was a kid, my Dad bought Lubriplate in small drums. I have forgotten the numerical designations. He was a mechanic and worked for the Studebaker dealer in Anchorage during the early 1950s.

[JoeHall]

Well...I'll confess...I had a little bit of a hidden agenda about the heavy grease. While doing the brake rebuild on my '48, I found a real loose and worn tie rod end. I spent about three hours searching extremely hot attics and a tin utility building where I horde parts. Finally, after losing about four pounds by sweating it off...I found a whole box of NOS tie rod ends. None will fit the '48

The best I can do by the meet this weekend is pack it full of the thickest grease I have and put up with it. If anyone reading this has a couple (or four) tie rod ends for a 7G Champion, bring 'em to the southeast zone meet. For a reasonable price...I'll take 'em.

Loose tie rod ends can be dangerous. If it is loose enough that it even MIGHT come off, I'd not drive it another mile till it is changed. The life you save may be your own

[jclary]

Loose tie rod ends can be dangerous. If it is loose enough that it even MIGHT come off, I'd not drive it another mile till it is changed. The life you save may be your own

Well, I took it loose, cleaned it and checked it out pretty closely. Don't think it's worn that bad, but with these old relics...loose here...a little play there...and it adds up. If you see me coming...look out...stay alert!!!