I know that there are many types of Grease out there for trailer bearings. What is the better or best Marine Grease to use on a boat trailer that makes a lot of trips up in the mountains to high Country Lakes and reserviors.
You want a marine grade waterproof lithium based wheel bearing grease. Wallyworld, AutoZone, NAPA, et al sell acceptable products but you asked for better best.
I bought the cheap stuff for a few years, but then switched back. Couldn't believe it....I forgot how good it was. Onlt cost a few bucks more, but what's three dollars....LOL
Quick question on this. Can I use OMC triple guard as bearing grease in my trailer also? Right now, it has red grease and I know that you aren't supposed to mix grease, so if I can use the triple guard, do I just fill and push out all the oil grease or will this damage the seals?
There is no such thing as "marine" grease per say. There are as many "marine" grease formulations as there are companies marketing the stuff. Some readily available greases are compatible with each other, others not so much so proceed with caution.
From a technical standpoint, calcium sulfonate grease is the best for marine use. Aluminum complex grease has good “marine” proprieties as well but is incompatible with most other greases. Lithium or lithium complex greases are commonly marketed as “marine” grease because of the relatively low cost compare to the aluminum and calcium sulfonate based greases. The downside is that the lithium greases do not provide nearly the level of protection as the aluminum and calcium sulfonate based greases.
While the OMC blue grease is good stuff, they don't give specifications so we don't know the drop point and the drop point is very important in wheel bearing applications, especially on axles with brakes.
Ayuh,.... Grease, by it's general nature don't mix with water very well,...
but ain't None of it waterProof,...
I generally use the basic chassis grease from my local parts house I buy in case lots of tubes, used in the general maintenance greasin' of a heavy equipment fleet,...
With yer wheel bearin's, Fresh grease is more important than Which grease,...
That said, see below,....
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You want a marine grade waterproof lithium based wheel bearing grease. Wallyworld, AutoZone, NAPA, et al sell acceptable products but you asked for better best.
I bought the cheap stuff for a few years, but then switched back. Couldn't believe it....I forgot how good it was. Onlt cost a few bucks more, but what's three dollars....LOL
I have used the easily found Pennzoil Marine wheel bearing grease (use it in the trailer bearings, and the outdrive gimble bearing and u-joints). OMC Triple Guard is a great water proof grease, about the best I have found, but the standard version of it is not really intended for trailer wheel bearings. There is a version that is, but it is hard to find unless you have an Evinrude dealer near by that you can get to order it for you. You put that triple guard on a prop shaft, 6 months later after being in salt water all that time, its still there. Great stuff. I used that on the splines for the driveshaft as per OMC's manuals.
The other use I found for it is on drum trailer brake wheel cylinders. They typically seize up in salt water because salt water gets in and seizes up the piston. What I do is get a new wheel cylinder and pack the area under the dust boot with OMC triple guard grease. Then I seal the boot and the push rod up with high temp RTV. That keeps out the water and the cylinder works well much longer. It also keeps the drum brake adjusters from corroding. I even use it on my vehicles (door latches, any sliding surface). Best water proof grease like I said.....
My criteria for what I consider good was based on MY actual real world "performance". I always see a drop or 2 of water in the bearings when they get repacked. Some greases I used seemed to lose viscosity and basically looked like they didn't pack the bearing very well. The Lubriplate always looked like new when I pulled the hubs.
First of all, the spec sheet didn't say 400, it said 400+. In other words they probably discontinued the test when they reached 400. I take that to mean that for the application they felt that there was no need to exceed that temp.
Yes, you are probably right that your stuff is better. But I suggest that if your hubs reach FOUR HUNDRED DEGREES FAHRENHEIT, you will probably have problems so far reaching that the quality of the grease is your least problem.....LOL.
The are different requirements for "marine" grease depending upon where it is applied. Different requirements for the steering linkage, prop spine, and trailer wheel bearings. "Marine wheel bearing grease" is formulated to deal with the rapid spinning of the wheel and with water and with heat. LMX Red grease is a heavy duty grease for heavy equipment that will encounter water like off road construction equipment but it is not the best choice for wheel bearings that rotate rapidly like those on a boat trailer.
Yes, you are probably right that your stuff is better. But I suggest that if your hubs reach FOUR HUNDRED DEGREES FAHRENHEIT, you will probably have problems so far reaching that the quality of the grease is your least problem.....LOL.
Uh....a greases drop temp is a measure of viscosity, not a working temperature.
The viscosity requirements of a bearing are calculated using bearing type, bore, rotating speed and the min. / max. operating temperatures. Once you calculate the minimum and max viscosity required, you need to find a grease that provides those properties at those temperature.
Greases of different properties and different drops temps have differing viscosity curves. Generally speaking,, a 500 degree drop temp grease will have a higher viscosity at a given temp than a 400 degree drop temp but......higher isn't always better. A grease with too high of a viscosity at a given temp can actually starve a bearing of lubrication at lower temperatures.
FWIW: Normal operating temp of a wheel bearing range from ~150-200 degrees F
That's true. My understanding is that the drop temperature is the point at which the grease changes from solid to liquid (i.e. the viscosity drops significantly, or maybe a better analogy would be it goes from grease to oil.) By that definition, and with your 150-200 degree operating temperature, I would theorize that for this application a 450+ vs. a 500 DT would make no difference or have no practical bearing.
My experience with Pennzoil products of several flavors has not been positive. I only used the WBG once and it didn't hold up well in my situation.
Regardless, Mercruiser recommends specific grades for gimbles and joints, and its not the same as WBG. Just because someone uses a proiduct as a universal solution does not make it a good application.
Add heat generated by disc brakes going down a steep grade and it will get much hotter. Personally, since the grease that is 500? is actually less money than the grease that is 400?, I would go for the 500? one. It is also Aluminum complex vs lithium which is a better marine grease.
We actually used to use the Lubriplate grease that you use. Switched years ago because the Sta-Lube is carried at more of the stores around where I live.
