'round n' back again
Explorer
Unfortunately for you-all , i'm on lay off from heavy civil construction. working as a mechanic all over the world, and this winter likely make my trek to alaska.
However i have time to pester folks about things that bug me.
this time?
grease. or lack therof, or the wrong kind and a biting critique of the boutique greases; Amsoi purple schaeffers etc.
grease zirks, are hard to find , time consuming, and never fun except for dorks like me. they come in many sizes and metric/standard threads.
they are the portal to reliability and failure prevention in the outback.
lube points on our old mitsu's are many and im grateful for that.
the newer sealed units make me nervous.
take time to crawl under the rig b4 winter gets too cold and hit all the points.
My tips for greasing.
machinery in my charge got grease weekly or even daily. I have worked with men whom i respect, who don't grease but according to some much longer intervals set in some office in phoenix or somewhere, by someone trying to save money on grease. (if you have 4000 pieces of equipment to grease, well that is a lot of money in grease)
grease for us in our rigs is cheap; one tube a year.
Speaking of tubes: forget the boutique brands and their expensive, sparkling, marketing bull****.
Amsoil is no better than supertech.
it is no better because your rig don't need it. its better marginally perhaps, in some very exclusive area, but for practical purpose its not worth the extra money and hassle in buying the stuff.
As a qualifier some greases are very very expensive and are necessary in particular applications. food-grade greases, low temp greases open gear grease very high temp greases etc.
rotating assembly lubes ( differentials engines and transmission) can all benefit from a high quality synthetic.
Where your rig benefits from grease is in frequency of application. 2x a year.
spring and fall.
unless your in water a lot then after water dunking its wise to consider a grease application to push water out from where it dont belong..
the other mistake commonly made is applying too much grease.
points to consider.
waste of good grease.
too much in a bearing cup.
heat absorption, and
ruining the seal allowing in outside contaminants.
none of this apply to pins and such, but we don't have open pins on our rigs.
general rule squeeze until you hear the first "snap", less if possible.
U.joints 2 squeezes. centrifical force will distribute the grease evenly.
water crossings are very very hard on u joints which have very close tolerances and very little forgiveness to foreign material that works its' way in.
Tie rod ends 2-3 squeezes, when you see the rubber dust cover begin to bulge-stop. dont let grease ooze out
ball joints -same.
in theory if you are not losing a lot of grease; you can easily spot this problem, then one or at most 2 squeezes are enough 2x a year.
be sparing on the grease. too much can cause the same problems as too little or using the wrong grease.
Right grease.
The lubrication field is a fascinating field. Generally the engineers work in microns.
the very surface of the metal and the grease that covers it is their only concern
they set standards. each manufacturer calibrates to those standards.
Super tech from wal mart is my go-to grease.
its as effective on a routine maintenance plan as any other grease.
don't believe this? look it up. wal mart grease beats some names that will surprise you .
its contract-made by huge outfits that know what they are doing and the quality is good.
if you go synthetic to make your little heart feel good, then redline is my go-to. maybe supertech makes a synthetic too -i dont know.
it ranks very highly in all tests, is commonly available, and in some cases like for translube is the very best choice.
i use wal mart otherwise, and highly recommend it. i like to save money , and in my business there is no glamour in glitz.
We have to use what works under very rough circumstances. ninety percent of my jobs use chevron blue tube grease: cheap, effective and commonly available.
just use it often.
thank you
However i have time to pester folks about things that bug me.
this time?
grease. or lack therof, or the wrong kind and a biting critique of the boutique greases; Amsoi purple schaeffers etc.
grease zirks, are hard to find , time consuming, and never fun except for dorks like me. they come in many sizes and metric/standard threads.
they are the portal to reliability and failure prevention in the outback.
lube points on our old mitsu's are many and im grateful for that.
the newer sealed units make me nervous.
take time to crawl under the rig b4 winter gets too cold and hit all the points.
My tips for greasing.
machinery in my charge got grease weekly or even daily. I have worked with men whom i respect, who don't grease but according to some much longer intervals set in some office in phoenix or somewhere, by someone trying to save money on grease. (if you have 4000 pieces of equipment to grease, well that is a lot of money in grease)
grease for us in our rigs is cheap; one tube a year.
Speaking of tubes: forget the boutique brands and their expensive, sparkling, marketing bull****.
Amsoil is no better than supertech.
it is no better because your rig don't need it. its better marginally perhaps, in some very exclusive area, but for practical purpose its not worth the extra money and hassle in buying the stuff.
As a qualifier some greases are very very expensive and are necessary in particular applications. food-grade greases, low temp greases open gear grease very high temp greases etc.
rotating assembly lubes ( differentials engines and transmission) can all benefit from a high quality synthetic.
Where your rig benefits from grease is in frequency of application. 2x a year.
spring and fall.
unless your in water a lot then after water dunking its wise to consider a grease application to push water out from where it dont belong..
the other mistake commonly made is applying too much grease.
points to consider.
waste of good grease.
too much in a bearing cup.
heat absorption, and
ruining the seal allowing in outside contaminants.
none of this apply to pins and such, but we don't have open pins on our rigs.
general rule squeeze until you hear the first "snap", less if possible.
U.joints 2 squeezes. centrifical force will distribute the grease evenly.
water crossings are very very hard on u joints which have very close tolerances and very little forgiveness to foreign material that works its' way in.
Tie rod ends 2-3 squeezes, when you see the rubber dust cover begin to bulge-stop. dont let grease ooze out
ball joints -same.
in theory if you are not losing a lot of grease; you can easily spot this problem, then one or at most 2 squeezes are enough 2x a year.
be sparing on the grease. too much can cause the same problems as too little or using the wrong grease.
Right grease.
The lubrication field is a fascinating field. Generally the engineers work in microns.
the very surface of the metal and the grease that covers it is their only concern
they set standards. each manufacturer calibrates to those standards.
Super tech from wal mart is my go-to grease.
its as effective on a routine maintenance plan as any other grease.
don't believe this? look it up. wal mart grease beats some names that will surprise you .
its contract-made by huge outfits that know what they are doing and the quality is good.
if you go synthetic to make your little heart feel good, then redline is my go-to. maybe supertech makes a synthetic too -i dont know.
it ranks very highly in all tests, is commonly available, and in some cases like for translube is the very best choice.
i use wal mart otherwise, and highly recommend it. i like to save money , and in my business there is no glamour in glitz.
We have to use what works under very rough circumstances. ninety percent of my jobs use chevron blue tube grease: cheap, effective and commonly available.
just use it often.
thank you
