Which Grease

I just looked in my manual and it said to use Castrol LM grease for the front wheel bearings. What grease is this in todays terms.

Cheers

u can purchase from repco or similar shop its just a bit heavier than a multi purpose grease

Thanks dave,

71-BEETLE-SEDAN wrote:I just looked in my manual and it said to use Castrol LM grease for the front wheel bearings. What grease is this in todays terms.

Cheers

Only one grease to use on VW wheel bearings cv joints etc..
Lithium based MOLY grease... Castrol or any other brand..

BIG W usually sell it... in tubs or for a grease gun..

the Molydebniumdisulfate virtually stops wear...
and is recommended by Volkswagen in most of My manuals..

pack a noisy CV joint with it, and the noise will go away..
excellent stuff... only one i use....

LEE

Best to rely on the lubricant makers,Josh.

Use high-temp wheel bearing grease in the wheel bearings, and CV grease in the CVs🙂

Cheers, Greg

Well i was looking at the grease section of supercheap and there was LMM and LMX by Catrol.

LMX said for wheel bearings but then was labelled "Previous name ABH" or something like that. And was blue/black in colour.
or
LMM said for hevy duty use in commercial wheel bearings and the like, and was black. It didnt say if it had a previous name.

I bought the LMM and relpaced the wheel bearings in the front end, and later today i will be using this same grease to lubricate teh front end, eg all he nipples, is this the right stuff for this.


And a quick point, as soon as wheel bearings start maknig noise. Mine have been noisy for quite a while and havent had the funds or time to fix, but glad i did cause when i pulled the outter bearing out three or four of the roller bearings fell out onto the ground and the grease that was in the hub was full of steel chunks.

i used Castrol HTB grease in the bearings.

I figured, being high temp bearing grease it would do wheel bearings and it had a pretty good rap about itself about what it can do. And i have used it on other cars at Vic Terry's workshop. (Burleigh) If its made for it, then it should be used 🙂

71-BEETLE-SEDAN wrote:cause when i pulled the outter bearing out three or four of the roller bearings fell out onto the ground and the grease that was in the hub was full of steel chunks.

I hope you fixed this properly, and not just re-packed the bearings!🤪 That means replacing any damaged bearings, THROUGHLY cleaning the hubs, and correctly adjusting, as per your book👍

If not Josh, I'll keep an eye out for you on the side of the road!😂

Cheers, Greg

Na greg its all good, took the day off school yesterday and got it done right, dad bought new bearings from classic the other day and i used a roll of paper towel and can of degreser to clean it out prperly, even washed the washer and nut.

Ah yes...what is commonly referred to as "Gotchya Grease"..molybdenum disulfide grease is indeed a fantastic lubricant. Well suited to CVs and most other gear driven applications. The reason it is called gotchya grease is because as soon as you open the can..it seems to suddenly find itself attached to clothing, fingers, and almost every other tool or appendage you have. It magically transcends space and time and lubricates everything in your workshop...lol.

No..being honest..I use it for most things as it does lubricate well and lasts an extremely long time. I know that I can't seem to make up my mind for wheel bearing greasing applications between the normal clay based greases or MSD type greases...much of a muchness in my thoughts.

I wouldn't use anything else in My wheel bearings...
if its not lithium based MOLY grease...

I won't use it....

VW recommend it...

why would You use clay based grease???
that's what they used in stagecoach wheels... lol


LEE

Gazza265 wrote:Ah yes...what is commonly referred to as "Gotchya Grease"..molybdenum disulfide grease is indeed a fantastic lubricant. Well suited to CVs and most other gear driven applications. The reason it is called gotchya grease is because as soon as you open the can..it seems to suddenly find itself attached to clothing, fingers, and almost every other tool or appendage you have. It magically transcends space and time and lubricates everything in your workshop...lol.

No..being honest..I use it for most things as it does lubricate well and lasts an extremely long time. I know that I can't seem to make up my mind for wheel bearing greasing applications between the normal clay based greases or MSD type greases...much of a muchness in my thoughts.

HappyDaze wrote:Best to rely on the lubricant makers,Josh.

Use high-temp wheel bearing grease in the wheel bearings, and CV grease in the CVs🙂

Cheers, Greg

NOT ME GREG

I bought a tin of high temp bearing grease for a Renault 10 that had 4 wheel disc brakes in 1970..

I still have most of that tin.. lol

it would have to reach a very high temp for it to melt...

whereas Castrol LMM or MOLY grease actually melts to oil...
and what is better to lubricate bearings.?

along with a good dose of Molydbeniumdisulfate which virtually stops wear...

its so good that VW recommend it...

cheers

LEE


PS: I still have lots of little plastic bags of CV joint grease that comes with the cv's... lol
if its not blackish and sticky... its not as good... lol IMHO

You have to be carefull using a moly based grease on any ball/roller bearing as the moly based greases can cause the roller / ball in the bearing to stop turning and cause a flat spot on these, i work in the oil industry maintaning all types of equipment and the lubrication is managed very closly and we do not use any grease with a moly base, all failures are investigated and i have witnessed these issues using the moly based greases, do as vw recommends and use a high melting point grease suitable for tappered rollers, you could also use a synthetic grease if you wish in this aplication, i changed the front beam needle bearings to bushes and use a moly based grease for this aplication along with ball joints and cv joints. all bearings will fail for a reason, some time people think that there car is a boat and water will be drawn into the front hubs when they hit the water or as a component that does not get a lot of thought and does not get serviced at the correct intervals

Spot on, vw60.👍 When in doubt, take the EXPERT advice! Oil company chemists - mostly - know their products, and we should take notice of them. They are normally happy to give advice over the phone.

Cheers, Greg

Also important for it to be disc brake wheel bearing grease asthe grease does see high temps due to the disc being what the bearings are mounted in. Also many people and mechanics over pack a bearing which believe it or not, overheats the grease which makes it leave the bearing and and not do it's job.

i use Fuchs lithium for wheel bearings and molybdenum for cv's

The basics of 3 or 4 types, from memory🙂

{1} "Moly" grease (dark grey, eg. "Castrol" LMM) is for CV's, maybe ball joints & front beam. It is LM with added MoS2 and seems a bit softer I think. But it should NOT be used in wheel bearings. [And think!... If any grease melts it Must Not be used in wheel bearings, as it will leak out past the seals!]

{2} Only lithium-soap (eg "Castrol" LM), OR {3} clay-based (eg "Castrol" HTB) grease should be used in wheel bearings. But these are "Not" compatible. For this reason I think many service centres just now use the lithium ("multi-purpose") version on all wheel bearings. The current lithium greases may have improved temp. performance too, now.

{2} The lithium was the standard version (for drum brakes); they will melt at high enough temp. Water resistance varies from good, to excellent, depending on type.

{3} The clay based was the heavy duty "non-melting" version (eg "Castrol" HTB) for disc brakes, ie for the highest temp's. Very water resistant. Haven't looked for this type for years, maybe it's no longer around...?

{4} There are now some 'waterproof' versions of lithium grease which have an added polymer and are usually a nice colour, red or blue, much harder to handle though as they stick to everything. I now like these for the front beam as they seem to give a slight cushioning effect, and they can be put in with the grease gun - and not handled!

The manuals should explain which to use where. But those I had a look at vary a bit over the years in what they specify. But they all say MoS2 for the CV's, and all say lithium-based multi-purpose for the wheel bearings. One warns against using anything other than lithium for the wheel bearings.

If you change grease types for wheel bearings, or don't know what was used before, remember they may not 'mix', and you probably should pay attention to this (from an old manual): "Remove all traces of old grease from the chamber between the bearing seats."

yup the wheel bearing grease i use is a nice rich blue and stick like ... you know
but yeah never use cv moly for wheel bearings!

71-BEETLE-SEDAN wrote:Na greg its all good, took the day off school yesterday and got it done right, dad bought new bearings from classic the other day and i used a roll of paper towel and can of degreaser to clean it out properly, even washed the washer and nut.

Good one...

Yes,
lots of paper towels...
and degreaser....

I use lots of paper towels... as I like everything to be clean..lol

and lots of cans of foaming degreaser... hose off with water..

and something I haven;t gotten used to as yet....

vinyl or rubber gloves.. Used in the USA as all oils etc can cause cancer in the state of California..

I did use a heap of vinyl gloves when repacking My CV Joints
plus a few other CVs...

but normally, I just don't think about using gloves... lol

cheers

LEE

13bwagon wrote:yup the wheel bearing grease i use is a nice rich blue and stick like ... you know
but yeah never use cv moly for wheel bearings!

OK, it seems that Moly lithium grease is OK for CV joints and ball bearings..??
like the rear bearings in an IRS rear end...

but not tapered bearings like front wheel bearings..?

LEE



I know its excellent for CV Joints..

vinyl or rubber gloves.. Used in the USA as all oils etc can cause cancer in the state of California..

I did use a heap of vinyl gloves when repacking My CV Joints
plus a few other CVs...

cause cancer in the states??
thats every where i always you gloves with oil and grease
fuel /degresser/ kero etc i know lots of people in the auto trade who are not tuching oil with there bare hand anymore !!!there a pain in the... but it will be worth it in the long run!

moly cv thats the dark grey right?
yeah it's cool stuff balljoints cv's ...front end?