What grease do you use (suspension zerks and U-joints)?

[rv_safetyman]

Well, while the bus is laid up, I thought I would catch up on some maintenance. Greasing is one of the projects.

I tried to do some research on what the best grease might be (type and manufacturer) and my eyes glazed over  . Lots of options and opinions.

I have been told in the past that Mystic JT6 was a great general purpose grease.

I guess my concern is the larger scale (demands?) of a bus as compared to a car.

This will probably open the old Ford/Chevy/Dodge type argument, but maybe someone can offer a suggestion based on extensive experience, or technical expertise.

Would appreciate input.

Jim

[buswarrior]

Name brand grease of the colour you would like to see squeezing out?

I currently favour a Valvoline product that is blue, that I can get by the case of 10/12? tubes locally. Ceruleum http://www.valvoline.com/products/commercial-industrial-products/grease/75

It isn't blue after use, so I can gauge what's squeezing past on all those joints on the farm tractor, backhoe, big lawn mower, the coach, the cars, u-joints and all those things where it isn't sealed.

Same as engine oil tests, best as I can tell, what matters most is regular application, not the flavour.

happy coaching!
buswarrior

 

[luvrbus]

Jim, I use Cat multipurpose grease when I have it is one of the few things you can buy from Cat at a decent price and a very good product recommended for the 800 grand tractors
John Deere has a good grease also.
If you need a moly grease the Cat 3 moly is the best on the market. 

good luck

[johns4104s]

Luvrbus.

What are the diffrent applications for the diffrent Cat grease?

THX

John

[MattC]

Luvrbus.

What are the diffrent applications for the diffrent Cat grease?

THX

John

It just goes to show you, there is NO such thing as a straight answer.   

John, I can't belive you asked that.  Had my wife chuckling and groaning! 

ROFLMAO

[bs4104]

Don't used any moly grease as it ends up little black spots all over the Towed. Then try to wipe them off. Bruce S.

[John316]

We were told by some of our buddies in the charter industry, to use molly grease (pick your brand). They said that stands up to the tough apps in a bus.

God bless,

John

[NJT 5573]

It usually rains alot around here. I could grease a truck every 2 weeks and push water out when I regreased. I started using boat trailer wheel bearing grease about 25 years ago. I can go back up to a year and a couple of pumps, pump out grease and no water. It stays where you put it, doesn't break down, and it keeps water out.

[Utahclaimjumper]

I second the boat trailer grease, it stays where its put.>>>Dan

[junkman42]

My MCI manual has a chart that specifies the correct grease and lubricants for the various points requiring lubrication.  Moly is specified only for the tag pivots and lithium for all other chassis points.  I prefer chevron ultra which is red for identification as a general chassis lubricant.  It is specified by spicer for u joint repacks.  White grease is specified for the dd3 lock grease point.  All lubricants are not created equal.  I use the chevron ultra on all My farm machinery and find it to be very resistant to wash out.  Regards john

[luvrbus]

The grease spec's on a Eagle Bus is a Lithium base grease #1 and #2 the problem with boat trailer grease  it is a Calcium Sulfonate base which is a thickener and after a while if not greased regular it will cake solid, it is a good grease but nothing special   good luck

[NJT 5573]

I've got a (my) shop built, all aluminum and fiberglass, (super light weight, hand built), 62 Kenworth 4 axle heavy haul truck. It is real long wheelbase, it was "billionaire" J. R. Simplots personal rodeo bull hauler new. (Idaho). It was parted in the mid 80's. I'm the 2nd owner. It has been on the road almost everyday since I assemble parts titled it in 88.

Boat trailer wheel bearing pack with the hubs to the bearing cone level in 88, and they have yet to be repacked. We just did king pin bearings, one failed. The pins/bushings still looked good, no "cake", not alot of wear. I had to beat the pins out of the holes and back in the holes and those are the pins that came with the glider kit when I bought the old girl, so the boat trailer wheel bearing grease has done a real good job with wear issues.

There is no sign the wheel bearings are "caked" up yet and I don't see any reason to disturb them, they turn fine, I just replaced one of the grease hub caps I  broke rolling the wheel off yesterday and the grease looked fine so I left it alone.

I check my wheel bearings and king pins everytime I grease equiptment. I jack the wheels off the ground, put a pry bar into a lower wheel hole and check the slop in both the wheel bearing and the king pin. I have never had good wear like I get with boat trailer wheel bearing grease, especially with the water issues we have around Seattle, and I use it for all applications.

[gus]

Thanks to oil company marketing departments there is all kind of mystique concerning oil and gasoline.

Most vehicle manuals call for plain ole chassis grease which is, as I remember, GL-2 no matter what the brand. I could be wrong, it may be GL-3, but it is one of those.

I don't think there is any point in using wheel bearing grease on chassis applications if it is more expensive but, on the other hand, some greases now are multi-purpose to be used for both??

Red, green, purple, blue, yellow, black------they're all the same to me if it says GL-2 on the label since they have to meet specs.

On the other hand you have to be careful with differentials and manual transmissions. Some use extreme pressure which I think is GL-5 but some, like some of my antique trucks, use GL-4 which is not. Even some steering gear boxes use EP, I guess it all depends on the gear cut and application.

Some even call for mineral oil, usually the oldies, because that is all they had available then.

I always check my manual closely because I don't really want to ruin a trans or dif just because I used the wrong oil.