Grease recommendation

[RaymondT]

I worked for many years in the HD trucking industry. Learned a lot about different greases so I thought I would share.

Most of you already know that you should be using a good quality (NLGI) GC-LB rated grease in #2 grade for most climates. "GC" being the highest rating of chassis lube, "LB", the highest rating of wheel bearing lube. The color red seems to be in vogue in most circles.

But in the HD world, Spicer recommends only one grease for their u-joints and slip yokes and that is Chevron Ultra Duty EP2 in grade #2 regardless of outside temp (hint - warm up the gun indoors if you intend to grease in January). This grease is ideal for all your tie rod ends, draglink ends, and ball joints. It's is extremely tacky and will protect better than most GC-LB products even on your Jeep. It's not suitable for wheel bearings so don't use it on your trailer bearings. Don't assume synthetic anything is better. Great for your motor, not important for a grease joint and in fact, many synthetic greases do a poor job of protecting in Extreme Pressure applications.

https://cglapps.chevron.com/msdspds/PDSDetailPage.aspx?docDataId=77100&docFormat=PDF

Just about any HD truck dealer carries this in your neighborhood and it's not expensive.

If you need a grease for pins and shafts under extreme load, trailer balls, greaseable trailer spring bushings, etc, then you need to buy a 3% moly formulation.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Great information, thank you. Tacky grease as you recommend for those items is absolutely the way to go. As much as I like Valvoline's products in general, I'm going to stop using their non-tacky grease that separates and will drip the base lubricant. Too often I've seen my grease gun dripping the base lubricant out which is not what you want to see.

Chevron of course makes great lubricants, I'd trust their lubricants on anything I own. But my next grease for u-joints, suspension fittings, etc. will be Lucas Red 'n Tacky. I am absolutely no fan of Lucas' overpriced lubricants in general and have talked more than a few Jeepers out of using them but their Red 'n Tacky grease has some very astute builders recommending it. This stuff right here... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000ARPVO8/?tag=wranglerorg-20

 

[Stinger]

Thanks for taking the time to post this. Great information .

 

[Jake kozlowski]

Great information, thank you. Tacky grease as you recommend for those items is absolutely the way to go. As much as I like Valvoline's products in general, I'm going to stop using their non-tacky grease that separates and will drip the base lubricant. Too often I've seen my grease gun dripping the base lubricant out which is not what you want to see.

Chevron of course makes great lubricants, I'd trust their lubricants on anything I own. But my next grease for u-joints, suspension fittings, etc. will be Lucas Red 'n Tacky. I am absolutely no fan of Lucas' overpriced lubricants in general and have talked more than a few Jeepers out of using them but their Red 'n Tacky grease has some very astute builders recommending it. This stuff right here... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000ARPVO8/?tag=wranglerorg-20

Old thread, but would you still go with this grease? Just replace my ball joints and would love for them to last! @Jerry Bransford

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Old thread, but would you still go with this grease? Just replace my ball joints and would love for them to last! @Jerry Bransford

It's still a very good grease for them. @mrblaine also recommends some kind of a Moly grease but I don't recall which one exactly. Blaine is who turned me onto Lucas Red 'N Tacky years ago.

 

[Mr. Bills]

The NLGI rating is as or more important than the particular brand. #1 for extreme cold weather use; #2 for 95% of us. [The TJ factory service manual specifies #2.]

Lucas Red "N" Tacky #2 is a good NLGI GC-LB grease. So is the Chevron brand. And despite the personal opinions of some individuals, so is Valvoline.

I have used conventional Valvoline Multi-Purpose Grease labeled for "GM-Chrysler-European-Japanese Vehicles" for many years with no dripping, separation or any other adverse effects. I recently had my front end apart and noted no wear on the ball joints or other greased steering and suspension parts so it is clearly working as intended.

Use the brand of grease that you prefer for your ball joints, just be sure that it is NLGI GC-LB #2. Ball joints aren't picky about packaging; they just want to be greased.

 

[mrblaine]

It's still a very good grease for them. @mrblaine also recommends some kind of a Moly grease but I don't recall which one exactly. Blaine is who turned me onto Lucas Red 'N Tacky years ago.

Gotta be careful recommending moly greases across the board. Moly breaks down in high speed applications and actually becomes abrasive. Moly works in high load low speed applications like CV joints but not so well in the u-joints in a double cardan since the speed is typically 3-4 times higher.

We use a synthetic grease with red moly in it for the JJ races which are perfect high load low speed bearings.

 

[Drizit]

When I was doing a winch rebuild warn recommended shell MS3 or MS33 (I think that was the number, it's the synthetic version of MS3) it's 5% molly and is used in the aerospace industry for any sliding metal on metal Contact. Perfect for a winch gear box or ball joints, definitely no good for wheel bearings and ujoints. I found out just how good it was at repelling water when I went to clean my hands afterwards. The water that's in the gojo hand cleaner separated from the soap almost instantly when I tried to use it. I had to use a more abrasive hand cleaner just to get it started expensive, but good stuff.

—
There must have been a time
when we could have said no.

 

[Sundowner]

When I was doing a winch rebuild warn recommended shell MS3 or MS33 (I think that was the number, it's the synthetic version of MS3) it's 5% molly and is used in the aerospace industry for any sliding metal on metal Contact.

They suggest Aeroshell 33, from what I recall.

We use a synthetic grease with red moly in it for the JJ races which are perfect high load low speed bearings.

Which one?

 

[Drizit]

They suggest Aeroshell 33, from what I recall.



Which one?

Sorry you are absolutely correct, the ms one is the synthetic flavor that a friend of mine who works for airbus was able to grab me.

—
There must have been a time
when we could have said no.

 

[derekmac]

If you happen to be looking for Aeroshell 33ms for anything, it was replaced by Aeroshell 64.

 

[Drizit]

If you happen to be looking for Aeroshell 33ms for anything, it was replaced by Aeroshell 64.

Good to know, thanks, it's been about 4 years since I last needed it, although I've got 2 more winch rebuilds to do this summer so I'll probably be hunting it down again.

—
There must have been a time
when we could have said no.

 

[mrblaine]

They suggest Aeroshell 33, from what I recall.



Which one?

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/...1GXRz67VWpowT3_9--7MDBDsAjbtHU0xoCsHYQAvD_BwE

The break-away torque reduction in a new JJ is astounding. It goes from needing a large screwdriver in the JJ to move the ball to almost being able to move it with your fingers.

 

[toximus]

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/...1GXRz67VWpowT3_9--7MDBDsAjbtHU0xoCsHYQAvD_BwE

The break-away torque reduction in a new JJ is astounding. It goes from needing a large screwdriver in the JJ to move the ball to almost being able to move it with your fingers.

I know we talked about this before, did you end up comparing it to RCV's grease?

I tend to try and keep as few types of things around as possible. Currently 2 grease guns: #2 for high speed/general purpose grease, and RCV high moly grease.

 

[mrblaine]

I know we talked about this before, did you end up comparing it to RCV's grease?

I tend to try and keep as few types of things around as possible. Currently 2 grease guns: #2 for high speed/general purpose grease, and RCV high moly grease.

No, and I won't. I don't need a grease that costs 50 bucks a tube when I can make a 12 dollar tube do all I need it to and then some. Plus, at that price, I don't mind using it for a lot of different things that I would be very reluctant to use the 50 dollar stuff for.

 

[toximus]

No, and I won't. I don't need a grease that costs 50 bucks a tube when I can make a 12 dollar tube do all I need it to and then some. Plus, at that price, I don't mind using it for a lot of different things that I would be very reluctant to use the 50 dollar stuff for.

Understood. I suppose at your volume it starts to add up much faster than I go through grease. 1 tube for me can last years even with excessive use.

 

[toximus]

As much as I like Valvoline's products in general, I'm going to stop using their non-tacky grease that separates and will drip the base lubricant. Too often I've seen my grease gun dripping the base lubricant out which is not what you want to see.

I had this same problem with Valvoline synthetic grease.

 

[AndyG]

Great information, thank you. Tacky grease as you recommend for those items is absolutely the way to go. As much as I like Valvoline's products in general, I'm going to stop using their non-tacky grease that separates and will drip the base lubricant. Too often I've seen my grease gun dripping the base lubricant out which is not what you want to see.

Chevron of course makes great lubricants, I'd trust their lubricants on anything I own. But my next grease for u-joints, suspension fittings, etc. will be Lucas Red 'n Tacky. I am absolutely no fan of Lucas' overpriced lubricants in general and have talked more than a few Jeepers out of using them but their Red 'n Tacky grease has some very astute builders recommending it. This stuff right here... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000ARPVO8/?tag=wranglerorg-20

I use it . I mix anti seize with it for some applications too.

 

[astjp2]

I have been using Texas 880 and Mobil 28 for most of my junk, and they fly.

 

[Sundowner]

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/...1GXRz67VWpowT3_9--7MDBDsAjbtHU0xoCsHYQAvD_BwE

The break-away torque reduction in a new JJ is astounding. It goes from needing a large screwdriver in the JJ to move the ball to almost being able to move it with your fingers.

Thank you! I like trying new greases out on things, so I'll give that one a shot on some joints that I have to install in the near future.

I've been using two different greases from Mystik on various grease-needing dinguses - JT-6 No.22 and JT-6 No. 2 Hi-Temp - and although I really like them, they seem to separate quickly no matter what I do. I had such a problem with it that I made myself a grease-storage area at work, and started going through an arcane ritual every time I used a grease gun: clean gun, depressurize, clean gun again, store horizontally on clean paper towel. All of the unused tubes are upright and they never get moved around, and I date them so that I know when they came in and when they need to be used. The temperature of the storage area is always around 65°. Results: they bleed just as quickly as they did before...although not nearly as bad as the NLGI 00 that I don't get to use as often as I would like.