wheel bearings and grease

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Jul 15, 2014 | 04:58 PM

#41

Imold

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Joined: Jul 2011

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From: Frozelandia, Minnysota

Quote:

Originally Posted by jammerx

still do...

This is what we use at work with our switches.
http://www.exxonmobil.com/Belgium-En...grease_28.aspx
http://www.directindustry.com/prod/d...2-1057957.html

Mobil 28 is hygroscopic, absorbs water. Put some in a cup, add a little water, stir, and it turns pinkish (but does take a while). Exposed to moisture and up to a point, it does fine, and then the metal it's in contact with will rust. It's good for airliner wheel bearings because it's a high temp grease, and airlines change bearings with wheels so they get cycled back through the bearing/wheel shops for cleaning and re-greasing often enough they don't absorb enough moisture to hurt anything. Used in long term, change it when it wears out, components like aileron and rudder bearings that are exposed to the elements, and the bearing will seize. I saw a lot of that, and the repairs for wallowed out bearing bores were expensive. Some airlines used it for about everything, maybe some still do. I pointed that out to an airline that was using it universally, and after Boeing got involved, the airline switched to the Aeroshell 33 that was in the maintenance manual, if anyone had bothered to read it (airline "pros" are like any other type of mechanic, some go by the manual, some just... do what they feel like). Ironically, 33 is Boeing's super grease, but not recommended for wheel bearings, unless that has changed.

Jul 15, 2014 | 05:11 PM

#42

Imold

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From: Frozelandia, Minnysota

Quote:

Originally Posted by hardheaded

i'll take my chances on putting more grease in them, seen way to many go bad that were dry. friend of mine lost a front one last year on the way to sturgis. came apart and was dry as a bone. not many miles on it either. not saying anyones right or wrong, but i seen alot of bad bearings at work that lacked lube.

You'll have far less chance of a catastrophic failure with excess lube than with insufficient lube. As far as engineers' specs, well, do you really trust a Chinese factory to do what an American (or any other nationality) engineer specifies? Doesn't even have to be Chinese; several years ago had an alternator that had the front bearing squall at around 10,000 miles, and at the time, could only find a Japanese bearing that would fit. New bearing, 10,000 mile squall again. Third bearing, popped the seal, very thin line of clear something on one side of the bearing. Wiped it off, packed it with a good quality Shell grease, and it went over another 100,000 miles with no problems. I've had similar experiences with a lot of bearings, and in the aircraft industry, even got manuals changed for proper greasing and installation of bearings when the manual instructions were resulting in a lot of failures; it's not that most people don't understand, many just don't care, and I don't understand that attitude.

Jul 15, 2014 | 05:18 PM

#43

hardheaded

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From: St.Louis Mo.

i'm sure Harley specs some grease in their bearings but that doesn't mean the vendor is putting it in, that's the problem i have with HD's quality control. i would use only grease that spec's out for wheel bearings (HD's blue wheel bearing grease should be fine), but i would think any good grease made for wheel bearings would be fine. the bearings in our wheels are not turning as fast as bearings in some electric motors or big pumps, so they should have a somewhat easier life.

Jul 15, 2014 | 06:07 PM

#44

Imold

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From: Frozelandia, Minnysota

Quote:

Originally Posted by hardheaded

Rpm wise, yes, but think about it, what transmits the shock from the wheel to the suspension? When/if the forks or shocks bottom out, that axle gives a hammer blow to the inner race. Kind of amazing they hold up as well as they do.

Jul 16, 2014 | 07:52 AM

#45

hardheaded

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From: St.Louis Mo.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Imold

yes you are right, they take a beating. i've seen some high speed pumps at work that run at 900 to 1000 degrees pushing thick crude oil or tar. those bearings have a constant supply of outside lube going to them and in some case's a oil pump with an oil cooler to try and make the bearings live longer. it's amazing they last a day. they do rebuild these pumps alot and if they are not setup correctly they don't last long.