Grease: Marine or "All purpose"

[Curtis Bohlman]

Repacking my bearings. Should I use marine or regular grease?? My fishing hole is 300 miles from my house so I need a grease with some range. Thanks

 

[Jim B]

Like you i do a lot of long distance tows and a few years ago i switched from a "marine" wheel bearing grease to Lucas oil Red and tacky #2. The things i like about the lucas stuff is it wont fling out if you throw a cap. The hubs also seem to run significantly cooler than they did when i ran "marine " greasze. I dont have exact numbers but i know by the grab test that they are much cooler.



What turned me on to the Lucas stuff is i lost a bearing on my z7 trailer a few years back.I was far away from home and i didnt have the parts with me to fix it( a whole different story). Thankfully where i broke down there was a local auto parts store and he was able to fit me with a new set of bearings and races. I also had no grease because someone in my club drained my gun that i keep in the truck and i didnt know it. Well all the auto parts store had was the red lucal stuff. because the hub was so chewed up i could not get a cap back on it so i had to tow ~200 miles with no cap and no seal on the rear. I made it all the way home with almost no grease slinging out and no problems, after thsat i was sold. I ended up having to replace that entrire disk assy, and i also rebuilt the other side that was also well on its way to failure(cheap chinese made parts) and i have been using that grease ever since.



I cant tell you if what i use it the right thing for you to do or not but for what its worth its been good for me.

 

[TritonGlenn]

You know... Jim B makes a dang fine point. In the past, I always used "marine grade" stuff on my boat, and I've found over the years that "marine grade" doesn't always make it better than non marine grade.



My current rig has oil bathed hubs, which is SO much nicer than the old grease packed ones I fought with for years.



If I had grease packed bearings, I firmly believe I would do what Jim B did and try the Lucas grease. I've never used their products, but I've heard a lot of good things about their oil additives and such. Come to think of it - I've used a fuel additive by Lucas.



When I had a single axle trailer with grease packed hubs, I always carried a spare PAIR of fully assembled, grease packed hubs, along with the castle nut, washers, cotter pins, etc... If I had any problems, I'd rip off the old hub and just slap on a spare. I also carried a mini-grease gun in the kit.



Hmmm.... come to think of it - wait... I'll be right back...



Yeah. Just confirmed it. I still have the full kit in the garage! I forgot completely about it until now, as I never carry it with my current setup.



All the best,

Glenn

 

[Curtis Bohlman]

I sure do appreciate the help! Autozone carries Lucas products it looks like. I pulled all the bearings a couple days ago and cleaned everything up, so its downhill from here.



The extra parts sould like a good idea, I always carry a grease gun, but I may need to consider the parts (AND MORE TOOLS!). I'd hate to leave my boat and $5000+ tackel and elecrtonics on the side of the road!



Thanks again and have a great NEW YEAR!!

 

[Jim B]

Curt,

extra parts and the tools to be able to fit them and a good jack are never a bad idea. I actually carry an enire disk/hub assembly pre packed and ready to go along with a set of bearings,races seals, nuts, washers, and caps along with all the tools needed to change them on the side of the road if ever the need arises. I also carry a small floor jack and some chunks of 4x4 to make a stand for the trailer in case i need it.



The only reason i was somewhat unprepared this time was when i bought my z7 i was told that the brake parts form my old 882 would fit(same part), well come to find out they didnt fit. The 882 has parts made by UFP and the Z7 is tiedown and the spindle size if different. I now have the correct parts in my big tote i throw in the truck every time i tow.



Glenn,

for me the jury is still out on the oil bath hubs. I know a few guys that have had a lot of grief with them and converted back to grease. It seems like when the seal goes its always a catastrophic event because there is almost no warning. The seal leaks, the oil runs out and tyhe bearing is toast in short order. At least with grease if you check them from time to time you will see the grease slinging before its totally gone.



I have towed hundreds of thousands of miles on greased hubs over the last 20 years or so and i have had only 1 failure. The issue with mine had nothing to do with the type of lubricant, it was 100% the cheap parts tie down engineering used for the bearings and races. I had my Dad's QC guy at his metal shop look at the "good" bearings that came out of the other side and they had cracked cages and races and even the brand new bearings that came with my new disks and he found they had cracks and flaws in the heat treating that would have lead to early failure. Needless to say those went in the garbage and good USA made bearings and races went in the new disks i bought.



Btw, Lucas products are great. I have been using that red and tacky stuff as a chassis grease for my truck for as long as i can remember, i use it in my reels too becauser it wont wash away. I also use the fuel system cleaner and i have used the transmission fix oil on my dodge and it cured the hard shifting i was having instantly as well as the power steering stop leak that stopped a leacky rack on the same truck. They make good stuff.

 

[TritonGlenn]

Jim,

I'm sure it's happened before, but I hardly ever see anyone with oil-bath hub problems. The one incident I did see is a guy that pulled into a WalMart parking lot for a tournament we were having - it was a pre-brief for a Wal-Mart BFL if I remember correctly. It's been many years, so I'm not sure on the event, but it would make sense. Anyway, he had hit something with his rim - hard. It dented the rim edge and ripped off the cap, letting all of the oil drip out. Now, that's not really a fault of the system - he would have damaged most anything that day. However, had it been a grease hub he could have simply put a cap on it or kept on rolling, checking it from time to time. As it was, he couldn't do squat. He was asking around, seeing if anyone had anything he could use. If it were ME, I would have simply accepted one of the grease hubs someone offered him. However, he had it in his head that he NEEDED the oil bathed hub, so he turned down several offers. I'm pretty sure the standard greased hub would have got him to where he needed to go, but he wasn't listening.



All the best,

Glenn

 

[Jim B]

Glenn,

Like i said for me i have seen way more guys have trouble with oil than grease. There was a discussion on this a while back on the bash fishing homepage. I found what Bass Cat boats said to be kind of interesting. Here is what they wrote.



" Opinions from BCB 10/27/2011 9:59:52 AM

Our opinion is based on decades of experience and conversations with many individuals who build the parts you mention. These are not one off opinions and often are not what you will hear when the promotion is leaning to sell the new widget.





Most boat trailers are switching to a semi thixotropic in the Vault system by UFP. Also there is a move to flexible brake lines on those newer end units, which we use and are evaluating. UFP presently has the boat market covered on the high end with Vault. Though we still like the older grease system. They went to Vault to escape the issues of oil hubs and offer something different. Though, we have had and seen less failures with a grease hub than any other.





Nick, Dan and Bernie are all great guys at UFP and we trust their opinion on many items, though we also lean on our experience."

 

[Randy Janousek]

I have found Green Grease to be the only grease I need. That stuff will NOT wash out or stop working. When you use it, be sure to wear gloves, because you can't even wash it off your hands! I have torn down wheel bearings after to trip to Canada and they (and the grease) look like the trailer never left the driveway. Some of my friends who race off road around the world strongly recommended it to me, and I could not be happier.

 

[Bruce Freeman]

I carry a pre packed and loaded hub. I may not need it but somebody will. Been there done that. I carry a spare on my car trailer also. might never need them, but if I or you do, it's cheap insurance

BF

 

[Texas Transplant]

I'm in the 'me too' club on carrying spare hub and a floor jack. I had a very bad experience with a hub/wheel assembly on the second day of the S. Carolina State Championship a few years back, and after that - always carried one.



Never have used Lucas products, but like others have read good things.



Tex

 

[TritonGlenn]

A good floor jack saved my butt in 1994 at Lake Gaston. My port side of my trailer fell off the side of the concrete ramp with no warning. Trailer frame was resting on concrete with the wheel free spinning off the ramp side. My buddy took his floor jack from his truck, jacked up that side, and I slowly drove forward using the jack as my port side wheel until the tire was back on the ramp. Without it, I have no idea what we would have done. From that point forward, I always carried one.

All the best,

Glenn

 

[TOMMY RICH]

You can get a small 2 ton for like $20...worths it's weight in gold and they'll usually fit right under a trailer also.

Myself....if an Easy Lube System (grease) is properly maintained, it will last and last.

I also prefer Marine grease for just about everything cuz it has water dispersing agents.

 

[Jim B]

I carry a little 2 1/4 ton crafstman floor jack that comes in a plastic case. Its low enough profile that it will get under the axle if its flat and small enough that its easy to work with. I wont leave the driveway without it in my truck.



I have a friend that never carried a jack(or anything else that may save him) that always questioned why i carry such a big road box with me. He always thought his truck jack would do it(he never tried) and the first time he had a flat he couldnt jack it up and the dummy also didnt have a lug wrench that fit either. He assumed that the 22mm one from his truck would also fit. After that day and the trouble he had to go thru to get his tire changed he has never questioned why i carry the stuff i carry(not that he has changed his ways much)

 

[Bob Bourget2]

Jim, I use the Lucas "red and tacky" as well. Good stuff. 2-4-C I really can't fault either. Use them both.