wheel bearing grease

[dmulhall]

little off topic, but...my neighbor was repacking his trailer axle bearings the other night and I was kinda watching/drinking a beer...I'm not too smart when it comes to grease, but he was using a "universal grease" out of a grease gun..is this right? can he use this instead of the yellow thick type of "wheel bearing grease"?

whats the difference between "universal grease" and typical "wheel bearing" grease? and can this be done?

just curious...thanks

[Young Ed]

Are you sure he had universal grease in his grease gun? Dad and I both keep white lithium wheel bearing grease in our grease guns and use it for everything.

[HanksB3B]

I thought I'd be "high-tech" so I bought Mobile One Synthetic Grease. It was purple. What could be better than that? After it melted and liquified and turned to sticky liquid gel and got all over the place...ANYTHING!!

I noticed when I went to Johnson's Alignment they used a Blue Grease (what could be better than that). They said it was Kendall L-427 Super Blu-Grease.

They used it for years as it always stood up to heat. It's from Texas so (49Dodge1ton) what could be better than that!

The place I bought it from:

Trimen Oil Sales inc.

510 East Airline Way

Gardena, CA 900248

(310) 532-7765

usually sells it by the case (or _#lb bulk). They said they had a case where one on of tubes had leaked so I was able to buy 3 tubes @ 3.85ea. What could be better than that?

It is a Connoco Phillips product. So far I like it. here's a link to the web site page:

http://www.conocophillipslubricants.com/brands-products/Single.aspx?pid=216&brand

What could be better than that?

Hank

[JBNeal]

Here's a useful chart to take a gander at. I prefer using Chevron (green) or Valvoline (red) #2 wheel bearing grease, I've used it for years and it appears stable after lotsa hours of use. The Tractor Supply variety Traveller brand appears thin and I've seen it get slung out of high speed bearings. The #4 grade is excellent for lubricating speedometer & weedeater cables, it's thin but sticky. I've used #5 grease (yellow) to assemble gaskets on flanges and for other assembly chores, as well as slow moving bearings as it is very thick & sticky...it's kinda like RTV but takes much longer to dry out. When ya play around with enough grease lubricant, like concrete, you can go by feel as to how effective it will be for a certain application.

Edited October 18, 2019 by JBNeal
revised link

[Don Coatney]

Any grease is better than no grease. Only front wheel bearing failure I have ever had was in a 1951 shiverlay. I was in the army (1966) stationed at Camp Stewart near Savannah, Georgia. Lots of dirt roads in that area. I lost a front wheel bearing cap (the grease cap that covers the bearing) and did not notice it. A very short time later a front wheel bearing failed. Fortunately it did not damage the axle stub. Replaced the bearing (with what ever grease was available) and the bearing cap and had no more problems. My dad had a can of water pump grease that was very thick almost like parafine. In high school and after I used that grease to pack the front wheel bearings on all the cars I had then. Never had a problem even though it was the wrong grease to use.

Timken roller bearings are for the most part bullet proof. That is as long as they are adjusted correctly. I was fortunate to have a good teacher early on in life on how to properly adjust them. Draw them up snug, not tight, spin the wheel, then back off two flats, or to the point the cotter pin can slip into the hole.

[Don Coatney]

The correct way to pack a wheel bearing without one of them fancy wheel bearing packers. This requires getting your hands dirty.

Place a gob of grease in the palm of your hand. With your other hand take the wheel bearing and slide it into and down through the gob of grease until the grease comes out of the top of the bearing. This will take several times to get the grease fully into the bearing. Then rotate the bearing and continue the process until you have taken the bearing the full circle and grease comes out of the top of the bearing all the way around.

Advisable to have rags or news papers laid out to set the packed bearing down as you continue to do all 4 front bearings before you clean your hands.

You can pick your nose or scratch your itch during this process if you are so inclined:D

[wallytoo]

Place a gob of grease in the palm of your hand. With your other hand take the wheel bearing and slide it into and down through the gob of grease until the grease comes out of the top of the bearing. This will take several times to get the grease fully into the bearing. Then rotate the bearing and continue the process until you have taken the bearing the full circle and grease comes out of the top of the bearing all the way around.

don,

in your experience, does it matter which "side" of the bearing is the top?

i've always packed them by hand, and by habit have packed them from the "wider" side, forcing the grease up through the assembly with the narrow end being the top. so far, it seems to work. but, as you say, timken rollers are pretty bulletproof. and, as long as the grease fully saturates the roller/cage assembly, it should work.

wally

[Andydodge]

I only have wheel bearing grease that is suitable for disc brakes, this is also known as HTB Grease or High Temperature Bearing Grease.......that way if I put it in disc brakes its fine, if I put it in drum brakes its fine......BUT IF I was to have "normal" wheel bearing grease that is not High temperature Bearing Grease and put that in a disc brake hub.........IT WILL FAIL.......trust me......ask me how I know.......ask me what a front wheel dust hubcap looks like trailing smoke dissappearing into the bush at 70mph looks like.........ask me what fun it is to remove the welded remains of wheel bearings from a stub axle on the side of the road.......nope, only one type of wheel bearing grease is now allowed into my garage.......HIGH TEMPERATURE BEARING GREASE.............end of sermon.......regards, andyd...........and Don is right, nose picking or itch scratching while bearing packing is an option that we all have tried at least once ..........but only once.......lol...............andyd

[norrism1]

I always used "short fiber" wheel bearing grease. Preferrably Moly and had no problems.

[ferdball]

Another less greasy way to grease up bearings is to steal a ziplock freezer bag from the bosses kitchen and glob a bunch of grease in there, throw in the nice cleaned bearing and zip it shut and smoosh it all around. Works pretty darn good.

also feel free to pick your nose and scratch your face...during the process.

[Dodgeb4ya]

Don't mix old and or different types of grease when packing the bearings. The different grease types will settle out and bearing failure can result. The bearings and hubs need to be completely cleaned of old grease.

[Scruffy49]

My truck always got serviced from a drum of Air Force surplus wheel and prop shaft bearing grease. Not sure how my grandpa got hold of the drum, but the stuff worked great in his (my) Pilot House, his (my cousins) 60 Power Giant and his late 70s Toyota pickup.

I use generic #2 in my Sweptline and Ranger. Marine grade white lithium for any zerk fittings.

Only bearing failures I've had were on my 69 D100, had the axle seals replaced and the "mechanic" thought Dodge bearings were splash lubricated like the off brands... Driver side bearing turned into powder, in the Rockies, with my horse trailer... just west of Tremonton Utah in March of this year. Not fun. Or cheap. Finding parts for a Mopar 8.75 isn't getting any easier.