Wheel bearing grease type?

MtnHaul

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I soon plan to replace my wheel bearings front and rear but am a bit unsure which grease is best. For the Dana 60 up front some info suggests that an NLGI #2 is best while other info specs an NLGI#2 with a Moly additive--percent varies. I found plenty of folks talking about Moly being bad for certain types of bearings, mostly high speed bearings, and then others pointing out that wheel bearings are NOT high speed bearings. So is the Moly component really necessary? Just front or also in rear wheel bearings? FWIW I did notice the Motorcraft generic chassis grease does contain some Moly but I couldn't find a percentage. Timken wheel bearing grease doesn't seem to have a moly additive but I am not 100% on that.

As for the rear wheel bearings I also found a difference of opinions as to whether or not you should pack them before installing. Some folks said you absolutely need to pack them with grease and that they had done it this way for decades without problems, yet others argue that packing them prevents the diff fluid from getting into them and that the grease doesn't always mix well with the diff fluid. My plan for the rear was to replace the wheel bearings and also switch over to a synthetic diff fluid. So, should the rear wheel bearings be fully packed with an NLGI#2 grease, a light greasing, or just lube the bearing with diff fluid and jack up one side at a time to help the fluid run from one side to the other? Mostly I just don't want to screw up the new bearings and/or create a new problem.


I never wanted to dig into the details of grease and lubrication theory but there's no turning back now. I swear, sometimes the more you learn the less you know.:dunno
 

chillman88

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Moly is good, but too much can cause a problem with roller bearings, there are people who have used high moly grease and had the roller bearings slide and not roll. Might be unrelated, but that's the story. A low percentage of moly should be ok. I'm partial to Schaeffer grease, pretty sure it's #274 that I used on roller bearings, they also have a high moly grease that's perfect for ball joints and tie rods, but not for roller bearings.



As for the rears, mixed reviews. I packed mine the first time I did them, but when the seal blew again I just dunked them in oil and put them back in. As long as they have oil in them before you run them (i.e. jacking one side at a time to let the oil flow) I would think you should be fine. A small coat of grease shouldn't hurt though so your call.
 

hesutton

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I've had great life out of Mobil synthetic wheel bearing grease. No idea on the moly content.

I'm in the "no grease on the rear bearings" club. I soak them in gear oil (what they live in back there) and install. I park side hill and the swap the truck around (meaning both sides of the rear get a turn on the downhill side) before I drive it.

Heath
 

MtnHaul

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Thanks for the replies. I'll likely just run with Paragon 3000 up front and skip grease in the rear. I know when I last packed the font bearings 40k miles ago I used the most generic tub of wheel bearing grease at O'Reillys and no apparent issues.
 

typ4

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I use hydrotex MTP ultra it's pink I can get the grade or a picture of the tube if you like I pack my bearings 14 years ago, 5 years ago I put new rotors on didn't touch the grease just put the hubs back on it still looked brand-new with no discoloration and it's a one ton four wheel drive.
 

IDIBRONCO

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Personally, I do pack my rear bearings. The grease will turn into almost a liquid when it gets warm so no, the oil won't get to the bearings as quickly, but yes, it eventually will. I also think that if you jack up one side and let the oil run into a hub and then repeat for the other side, you'll be fine with some oil or a light coating of grease. By the time I get done with the seal replacement and get to the adding oil stage, I'm just ready to be done with the whole project so I don't bother taking the time to jack up the rear end. Maybe I'm just too impatient?
 

chris142

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Ford recommends a 3% Moly grease. Timkin who makes the bearings does not recommend Moly. I used the Valvoline Ford Moly grease and it turned into soup. After 40000 miles.

Going to try another brand next.
 

chris142

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Thanks for the replies. I'll likely just run with Paragon 3000 up front and skip grease in the rear. I know when I last packed the font bearings 40k miles ago I used the most generic tub of wheel bearing grease at O'Reillys and no apparent issues.
Was it their Red grease?
 

Black dawg

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Personally, I do pack my rear bearings. The grease will turn into almost a liquid when it gets warm so no, the oil won't get to the bearings as quickly, but yes, it eventually will. I also think that if you jack up one side and let the oil run into a hub and then repeat for the other side, you'll be fine with some oil or a light coating of grease. By the time I get done with the seal replacement and get to the adding oil stage, I'm just ready to be done with the whole project so I don't bother taking the time to jack up the rear end. Maybe I'm just too impatient?

What grease do you use that turns almost liquid when warm?
 

IDIBRONCO

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What grease do you use that turns almost liquid when warm?
I believe they all do. Grease is solid when you remove it from the container. A solid, even a gel, doesn't lubricate very well. As it softens, that's when it lubricates the best. Have you ever put too much grease in trailer hubs and seen all of the goo that gets thrown all over the outside of the hub, wheel, and maybe even the tire? Solid grease wouldn't do that.
 

chris142

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I believe so.
Seems to be pretty good stuff.My friend has a hot shot business. He uses that grease in his trailer axles with great success. It is made by someone for Orileys and must be a very good grease.
 

rwk

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Moly additives are good in CV joints and slow moving parts like pivot points pins ect. the heavy grease's are #3, lighter #1, grease is ok on rear bearings but not "packing them" i use a light coat of lubriplate 630 AA its a #1 weight grease, only reason I use it is because it comes in a toothpaste tube style container and its always "clean" no dirt gets in when lid is off.
 

Cubey

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Moly additives are good in CV joints and slow moving parts like pivot points pins ect. the heavy grease's are #3, lighter #1, grease is ok on rear bearings but not "packing them" i use a light coat of lubriplate 630 AA its a #1 weight grease, only reason I use it is because it comes in a toothpaste tube style container and its always "clean" no dirt gets in when lid is off.

Hmm well when I did wheel seals on my RV, I packed the RH ones. Or rather I used a packer on the inner but did a half-hearted job by hand on the outer. The Haynes/Chilton manuals say to, claiming that the grease is the primary lube for the bearings and the oil is secondary. On the LH side I said "screw it" and just put the bearings directly into a plastic bag to keep then clean and put them back with the existing oil in them. I changed the diff oil a year ago, and it as really nasty. Maybe the original 1985 oil even? I will be changing it again in the next month or two as a way to help clean it up.

It's an open (non-LS) diff (Dana 70) so I run cheap SuperTech conventional gear oil, about $15/gal. I also put a reusable LubeLocker diff cover gasket, no RTV needed. Just clean the surfaces and put it back together in the correctly torqued, crisscrossed pattern spec'd by LubeLocker. Not a big deal to give it an annual change since it's so cheap with that and easy with that gasket.
 

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