throwing grease

[redneck joe]

Grease is not a consumable in a sealed housing. You should not need to add grease after the initial installation.

I purge my hubs at the beginning of the year then do nothing but pop the rubber cap out every couple of months to check for contamination.

The drop temperature is the temperature the grease liquifies. The higher the drop temp the better. I use 450 degree grease in mine.

I have to question the weep holes in the rubber plugs. OEM Dexter plugs don't have weep holes

ok looked at the two greases i used. the one in the tub i packed the bearings with just says high temp, the one inthe tube i pumped in say 540 degrees. both are red, so for sure got water in there with that color.

 

[bruceb58]

Hopefully both greases that you used are the same base type. You can't mix certain greases together. If I buy a trailer and I don't know what's in there, I clean it all out and start new.
http://www.machinerylubrication.com/Read/29337/understanding-grease-compatibility

 

[redneck joe]

Dingbat you’re chart is making my head hurt. Here are the two greases I used, tho’ moot point as they will all be coming out as they are not ‘marine’ grease. Next week is the plan. I did squirt a bunch to flush most out for today’s 90 mile round trip to the shop for winterization and looking over my carb situation. I did watch the winterization process and for the money I just spent to learn for sure what you all have been talking about the years I’ve been on here it was well worth the lesson.

Yes the pinhole leak was not a manufacture thing, it was almost like a dry rot spot on the cap. These are two seasons old.

Here’s what I used, reading up on it great for racecars and tractors.



Here’s what a couple looked like (green is new grease to get todays trip done)





Report of the trip.
The one tire was all light brown and thin grease. Another was medium but pretty bad. Two were ok and perfect, respectively.

Port front 95
All others 102-105
Ambient temp 68

Tires sidewalls within a couple degrees of hubs. So why are tires hotter/cooler and does that relate to the hub temp?


Would the complete caps added help keep water out, in addition to the ‘marine’ grease?

 

[bruceb58]

This is the grease I use:
https://www.amazon.com/CRC-SL3121-Ma...=marine+grease

It is an Aluminum Complex base.
Has a much higher drop point than Lubriplate brand.

Make sure you get every bit of the old grease out and replace your rear seals.

 

[dingbat]

Yes the pinhole leak was not a manufacture thing, it was almost like a dry rot spot on the cap. These are two seasons

I had a slider one of my calipers seize coming home from fishing last week which got me looking at the hubs. Both rubber caps on the rear axle where dry rotted and cracked. Never seen this before. Fortunately, I had just the slightest bit of moisture right under the cap on one of the hubs. Picked up new rubber caps on the way home this morning.

When lubing the hubs, rotate the wheel while filling and only fill to the end of the spindle to allow for expansion when the hubs get warm.

Hub temps are a combination of bearing friction (preload and endplay among other things), loading, tire inflation, brake activity, etc. Far to many variables to say if temperature X is "good" at any specific time or condition. Therefore I look (feel) for temperature changes over time and differences from side to side. A hub running at X degrees is no better or worst than one running at X+30 degrees as long as the temp stay fairly consistent from one outing to the next.

I'm running grease with a 540 degree drop and a 300 degree operating temperature. At 300 degrees, my hand would blister upon contact with the hub. If you can hold my hand on the hub for 5 seconds or so, I'm good to go.

I used nothing but marine grease for years until I started buying hi-temp lithium complex grease by the case for use around the farm. The equipment get abused 3 times more than the boat trailer so I gave it a try. I've not had any issues.

Technically, marine grease is the better product for the application (better washout resistance) but my "farm" grease has proven to be a worthy substitute given the situation. Then again, I'm pretty anal about seals and bearings in general. Your mileage may vary..lol

 

[redneck joe]

Thanks guys. brother is visiting next week good time some beers and greasy hands.


kinda suck tho. i completely rehabbed the trailer just so i woulnt have to mess with it all the time. oh well, its boating.