What grease are you using?

[Bill]

I'm going to replace the rotors and wheel bearings when I do the upcoming suspension rebuild. In the process of gathering parts I couldn't find the tub of moly wheel bearing grease in the garage. In the past I've always purchased the moly Valvoline wheel bearing grease and I remember the tubs and tubes of grease specifying if the product was for disc brakes or not. So, I go into Walmart because that is where I bought grease in the past. They used to have about four brands and now not a single tub of grease. There are tubes of their Supertech line and that's it. Their webpage indicates some stores also carry Lucas, but no tubs of grease unless you special order it. This isn't a big issue because I can used grease from a tube if I have to. However, while browsing online I noticed the major brands no longer state "High Temperature for Disc and Drum brakes." The exception is Timken and Sta-Lube. Neither brand appears to be available locally. Sta-lube used to be sold everywhere here. So, things change and that they don't state "for disc brakes" anymore doesn't really surprise me because every vehicle has disc brakes now. So, I go researching greases and there are a lot of lithium greases that say they are for wheel bearings and they are NLGI GC-LB rated by the National Lubrication Grease Institute. Well, there are all kinds of applications for wheel bearings ranching from grocery carts to trailers without disc brakes (or any brakes), and wheel bearings used alongside disc brakes. Ok, so at this point it appears that the red gooey lithium complex grease is what I want. Then I come across one brand that is red that is not recommend for use with disc brakes. So, colors have no standard meaning. I go over to the NLGI website and the only information they provide is the GC-LB greases are the currently highest ranked greases. No mention of disc brakes or anything else. So, I'm assuming something like Lucas Red and Tacky is ok, but it only states it is good for automotive wheel bearings. Also, what is going on with the grease market? I can order a tube or tub of Timken grease on Rockauto for $5 or $6. But, a few years back I remember Rockauto having a selection of about 20 different brands of the stuff. Now they are down to three brands. The only thing I can think of it maybe it the sealed bearings that are on many of the new cars now. But, this is getting frustrating having to order everything online. Ace hardware used to have a lot of it, they don't have any. Tractor Suppy had half an aisle of it. Now they have their Traveller brand and that's it.

Oh yeah. Back in the 80s in an auto shop we were told to never use "multi-purpose grease" on wheel bearings. It's all called multi-purpose grease now.

 

[pentode]

I've been through this same thought process years ago. Self-edit: I was going to go off on a soliloquy about what I found but suffice to say, I think modern grease is better than it was a couple decades ago. I use moly grease in applications where there's not a huge amount of movement but where parts slide and grind on each other, as in ball joints, tie rod ends etc. I use the "red" (because we all know color is just marketing) on things that spin. Point being, moly is a metal, and in something like a wheel bearing, I don't want metal particles, no matter how small, in my wheel bearings. I've been using Shell V220 red grease in my wheel bearings for a good long while and it seems to hold up just fine, doesn't thin or leak out.

 

[Curious Hound]

I use red - n - tacky.

 

[pjtoledo]

Mobil 1 synthetic grease.
check your users manual for lubrication specs.

EDIT: scratch the user manual, my 2005 has no mention of the 2WD front bearing lube specs.

EDIT-2 found the specs in a manual, see post 7

 

[MaicoDoug]

High pressure moly. I remember using that stuff around high temp bearings. Me personally the Mobil 1 red synthetic is my favorite. But you're doing well in your investigating, keep it up. Let us know as things change and some don't.

 

[19Walt93]

I've used the same Motorcraft grease that's in my grease gun since 1975 with zero failures. Before I started at the dealer I used the thick, dedicated wheel bearing grease and it worked fine, too.

 

[pjtoledo]

from a 2005 factory manual:

 

[Curious Hound]

Rockauto has a blurb stating that Ford xg-1-c is an nlg1, grade 2 grease, which red-n-tacky is.

 

[Bill]

M1C75 has moly in it. That is what I was buying in the past, but I can't find it. Not locally anyway.

 

[Roert42]

Red N Tacky.
I put that shit on everything.

Just remember to clean out the old grease before butting in new grease incase switching types. I think certain types of grease will react with each other when mixed, but can’t remember the types.

 

[ekrampitzjr]

I use Red Line CV-2, which is full synthetic, contains moly, is available in tubes and tubs (I used a tub), and is rated for wheel bearings. It's a slightly orangeish red. Vendors carry it online. Lucas or the factory Ford grease would have been my next choice.

Some cheap greases sold at the dreaded Harbor Freight explicitly say they aren't for disc brake bearings.