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Registered
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Iowa
Posts: 1,020
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What front wheel bearing grease?
With the outer front wheel bearings out I would like to repack with grease before reinstalling. I have some "Moly EP" grease (extreme pressure lithium grease with about 5% molybdenum) that I use on my John Deere lawn tractor. Its says it is suitable for (among other things) wheel bearings. Can I use that or should I buy some grease more specifically for wheel bearings? I also have a tube of Mobil 1 synthetic grease, but it does not list wheel bearings as an appropriate use.
How much grease should I pack in before reinserting the outer bearing? As much as I can get in there?
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John C 1988 911 Carrera coupe 2002 BMW 530 |
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06-01-2004, 10:31 AM
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 4,247
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i just applied a handful...should be enough
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06-01-2004, 10:44 AM
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Somewhere in the Midwest
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: In the barn!
Posts: 12,499
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I made a temporary repair to a front wheel bearing not too long ago. The bearings were replaced by a shop less than a year prior. The driver complained of a howling noise. It was faint, but the noise was noticeable.
I thought the clamp nut might just need to be tightened. Opened it up and the grease looked funny to me. Took the outer bearing off and dug some more grease out from the hub. (I had not removed the hub because I intended to only tighten the clamp nut) The grease looked burnt. Something was not right. So I cleaned the outer bearing and put the bearing in an old race I had. Even w/o doing that, it was clear there was something wrong as the bearing didn't spin so nicely. I got my old, used 27 year bearing out of my emergency spare box and put it in the race for the driver...smoother than the 1 year old bearing! Bad bearing! Less than 1 year's use. The race didn't look great but not too terrible, so I repacked the hub with some new Castrol wheel bearing grease and put my 27 year bearing in the hub to get the car rolling again (until we can fix it right). No more noise, wheel spun nicely and the driver was able to make it to his event. Moral of the story, use the right grease. The best stuff cost less than 10 bucks for a pint. (I forget the exact name of the Castrol stuff that I like)I have my suspicion that the grease the shop used was not the best stuff, maybe not even wheel bearing grease. (Before someone flames me about not doing the bearing repair right, you should know that it was a "field repair" situation. Don't even start in one me about proper repair practices....I've had to fix too many of those on my own car.) |
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06-01-2004, 11:08 AM
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Automotive Monomaniac
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I'm doing both of mine tonight. I'm using Swepco 101 (Moly Grease).
I plan on just coating the bearings heavily (I bought a hand-packer for the bearings), then throwing some more in for good measure (tons 'o grease). When I took them apart, there was a lot of grease in there.
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2018 - Porsche 911 Carrera 7MT / 2018 - Porsche Macan 7DCT / 1993 - Cadillac Allante / 2023 - RAM TRX (on order) Last edited by Emission; 06-01-2004 at 12:59 PM.. |
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06-01-2004, 11:59 AM
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Registered
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: TX USA
Posts: 9,804
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Moly EP is a basic reqirement, IMHO! But that isn't all ... it needs to be high-temperature rated ... NLGI #2 GC-LB Grease is the highest rating, and what I recommend for both front wheel bearoings and CV-joints. Both Swepco 101 and Valvoline SynPower Synthetic Grease with Moly # 985 & #986 are rated such and I have used both with great results on both CV-joints and wheel bearings.
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Warren Hall, Jr. 1973 911S Targa ... 'Annie' 1968 340S Barracuda ... 'Rolling Thunder' |
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06-01-2004, 12:27 PM
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