Chewbacca's Birfield Grease Guide

[Red Merle]

For what it's worth, when i did mine i used Moly for the CV, and wheel bearing grease for the wheel bearings.

Same. I used Jet-Lube, LLC. l 202 Moly-Lith - Multi-Purpose Grease and haven't had any issues in about 13,000 miles. It says it has >8% moly, which is why I bought it when I compared the various options. It was on the high side.

I can't recall what I used for the wheel bearings, but Timkin red sounds right.

 

[93Chewbacca]

Quick question, going to tackle the front steering knuckle rebuild this weekend and planned to use Timken red wheel bearing grease for the wheel bearings. FSM specifies moly grease for these as well but I'm leaning toward wheel bearing grease for the wheel bearings.

Thoughts?

View attachment 1753776

Moly grease in the bearings has been tested and produces excellent results. Synthetic grease without moly is another decent choice. Use either with confidence, as long as the FSM specs are met.

 

[webbz47]

I'm planning to do the knuckles soon and was looking for suitable grease. Came across Philips 66 (Conaco) Megaplex XD5 moly grease that is lithium based. Appears to be 5% moly and meets the other criteria. Around $5 CDN per tube. Has anyone else tried this grease for knuckle rebuilds?

 

[sunrk]

I've been using Liplex EP2 grease for wheel bearings since I bought a tin of it probably 10 years ago now. It'll run out in a year or two. There's a Timken equivalent which I got a small tub off when I bought a kit of new bearings for my off-road box trailer to do hub upgrades on about 2 yrs ago.

I use Vaplex-M for swivel hubs. As we know, there isn't actually any way to get grease to the top kingpin bearing post-installation without disassembly the swivel hubs again, so I pull the square-head plug on each one out probably every 6 months and put around 5 shots of grease in.

If I do water crossings, etc. I'll do that more often and also take off the Aisin hubs to check if they need service.

I also use moly grease for tailshafts. Perhaps that's wrong but I haven't seen anything to say that's not the right grease for them or for uni-joints.

 

[HoJo 61]

I'm going to go through my whole front axle shortly and would like to use the best lubricants i can.

What is the word on Redline CV-2 for birfs, wheel bearings and U-joints today?
What about gear oil, Redline Shockproof, or something else?

Redline seems to offer wide temperature range and that's what i need as i live in cold climate. Temperature can be at -35c at lowest.

I have read though many threads and have seen very mixed reviews about Redline products on 80's.

 

[Red Merle]

I'm going to go through my whole front axle shortly and would like to use the best lubricants i can.

What is the word on Redline CV-2 for birfs, wheel bearings and U-joints today?
What about gear oil, Redline Shockproof, or something else?

Redline seems to offer wide temperature range and that's what i need as i live in cold climate. Temperature can be at -35c at lowest.

I have read though many threads and have seen very mixed reviews about Redline products on 80's.

I can't speak to that brand, but I live in a place that has those types of temps regularly and I haven't had any problems with the Jet -Lube. It has a high moly percentage. Not sure if you can get that in Eastern Finland, but if the percentages they list are of use to compare, maybe this will help. The temps they rate it for haven't been accurate though. The stuff seems fine at well below -35c in my experience. I almost wonder if it is referring to the can it comes in because the same grease is listed as two different temps, depending on the size of the container it comes in. In use, it seems totally adequate.

Jet-Lube, LLC. l 202 Moly-Lith - Multi-Purpose Grease

 

[HoJo 61]

I can't speak to that brand, but I live in a place that has those types of temps regularly and I haven't had any problems with the Jet -Lube. It has a high moly percentage. Not sure if you can get that in Eastern Finland, but if the percentages they list are of use to compare, maybe this will help. The temps they rate it for haven't been accurate though. The stuff seems fine at well below -35c in my experience. I almost wonder if it is referring to the can it comes in because the same grease is listed as two different temps, depending on the size of the container it comes in. In use, it seems totally adequate.

Jet-Lube, LLC. l 202 Moly-Lith - Multi-Purpose Grease

Thanks for your help.

Looks like Jet Lube is not available here in Finland.
However there seems to be a few distributors around Europe but i would prefer buying from my country as i would like to start the project as soon as possible.

 

[ERG80]

Chewbacca's Birfield Grease List

(UPDATE 2018: Hello All, I have updated the list with current grease brands and links, please let me know if I have left any important choices out). Thanks!



Okay... so there are some scattered posts on which greases are appropriate for the Birfield joints on the 80 series Cruisers, so here is a list of some greases I have found that seem to meet the criteria from the 80 series service manual. I noticed that finding grease that meets the criteria described in the manuals can sometimes be difficult, I am attempting to consolodate the list of greases that meet the criteria to one post in order to make it easier to track down the right stuff quickly.

The manual says a few things:

Grease should be NLGI #2
(This is basically what temperature range the grease is designed for)

Grease should have a Lithium thickener
(there are other thickeners out there, but the factory service manual specifies Lithium)

Molybdenum Disulphide additive
(I haven't found any mention of minimum concentration percentage (yet) in my 1993 manual but many 'Mud members mention 2% minimum)

Please let me know if I have missed anything important here. I will post some links to products that I have located online. Please note that as manufacturers change their websites, these links may no longer work.


UPDATED LIST 2018:

AeroShell Grease 64 5% Moly


Mag 1 733 Grey EP Moly Lithium Grease


Valvoline Moly-Fortified Multi-Purpose Grease


Valvoline SynPower Synthetic Automotive Grease


Sta-Lube SL3330 Moly-Graph Extreme Pressure Multi-Purpose Lithium Grease


Delo Heavy Duty EP 3% 2


CRC SL3146 Moly-Graph Extreme Pressure Multi-Purpose Lithium Grease - 7 lbs.


Mobil 13.7 oz. Cartridge Extreme Pressure Automotive Grease


Mystik JT-6 Hi-Temp Grease with Moly, 14


Jet-Lube 33050 #202 Moly-Lith Grease



I hope this list comes in handy!
View attachment 502069

Hi chewy, curious why valvoline palladium was removed from the list? Is there an availability issue for some? The local napa still carries it.

Thanks.

 

[4Cruisers]

Hi chewy, curious why valvoline palladium was removed from the list? Is there an availability issue for some? The local napa still carries it.

Thanks.

That's what I'm using.

 

[ERG80]

That's what I'm using.

Me too. It’s several Dollars Cheaper and has 0.5% more moly than synpower.

 

[Cruzerman]

Going to resurrect this thread instead of starting a new one. I was wondering about Gulflex grease? It is not only reasonably priced, but the data looks good to me (better than many of the recommended ones). However, I know nothing about grease, and may be interpreting the data incorrectly, which is why I am asking here.

Gulflex Data Sheet
Gulflex on Amazon

 

[Kernal]

Valvoline Palladium has good specs, there's now a 5% version in NLGI #1 and #2. Summit Racing appears to sell the NLGI #1 with 5% Moly as well as the NLGI#2 with 3% Moly. Haven't yet found the NLGI #2 with 5% Moly sold
as individual tubes. Someone might have to buy a case of 50 and resell individual tubes.

Here's a list of the different Palladium greases available:

US_Val_PalladiumMoly_GRS_HD_EN.pdf - Docusign CLM

sharena21.springcm.com

Valvoline VV70112 Valvoline Palladium Grease | Summit Racing

Free Shipping - Valvoline Palladium Grease with qualifying orders of $109. Shop Grease at Summit Racing.

www.summitracing.com

Valvoline 880402 Valvoline Palladium Grease | Summit Racing

Free Shipping - Valvoline Palladium Grease with qualifying orders of $109. Shop Grease at Summit Racing.

www.summitracing.com

Summit's prices are higher than a NAPA store usual price for the 3%, FWIW.

 

[MrMikeyG]

If I missed this one in the thread, sorry. It is in the expensive range ($20 and up per tube), and I'm not sure about the temperature range. 5% moly, gc-lb, ngli #2,
Also, what's the over/under on parking your truck and having all of the zerks in the proper position for lube? If they are, is that a "buy a lottery ticket" indicator?
I guess I need one of the fancy flex heads for the grease gun.

 

[Cruzerman]

Valvoline Palladium has good specs, there's now a 5% version in NLGI #1 and #2. Summit Racing appears to sell the NLGI #1 with 5% Moly as well as the NLGI#2 with 3% Moly. Haven't yet found the NLGI #2 with 5% Moly sold
as individual tubes. Someone might have to buy a case of 50 and resell individual tubes.

Here's a list of the different Palladium greases available:

US_Val_PalladiumMoly_GRS_HD_EN.pdf - Docusign CLM

sharena21.springcm.com

Again, I'm not sure that I'm interpreting the data sheets correctly, but the Gulflex seems to have better specs? On the 4-ball wear test, .40mm vs. .55mm. And on the 4-ball load test, 620kg vs. 500kg. I'm using Palladium now, but perhaps this is better?

On another note, How much moly is optimum? Is 5% better than 3%? TIA.

 

[93Chewbacca]

Feel free to add any of your favorites to the list.

 

[80JDM]

Redline CV-2 is the best in my opinion. I've run it for almost ten years with no issues. Check the low end temp rating compared to anything else. Very helpful in the Knuckistan barrens.

 

[Kernal]

About Gulfex 5% Moly versus Valvoline Palladium 3% Moly. I wonder if the specs listed for the Palladium 5% Moly are not correct, as it shows mostly the same values for 3% and 5%?? I called Valvoline a few times over the course of a year trying to get the correct specs for the 5%, what they had listed was for the 3%. So IDK.

Either way, for our applications either should be more than good, otherwise seems like Toyota would have stated more exact requirements for the knuckles/CV joints other than just NLGI #2 Moly Fortified (no % specified).

 

[sunrk]

Biggest issue with grease choices is the use of a moly-based grease for swivel hubs and a lithium-based one for bearings (wheel hubs). I can see an obvious benefit in only using one grease type (particularly with the front hubs on an 80 series or similar) but what is moly grease like for wheel bearings when used instead of lithium-based stuff?

 

[jellis]

This is a great thread, thought I'd chime in after digging into this. I'm geeking out so hard only because I run 37s hard and after ~30k my trunnions have obvious false brinell and sticky movement which may or may not be contributing to my persistent and sometimes death-like wobble.

For the grease, % moly isn't as important as other performance characteristics--it's mainly important that it have it, period. Lithium vs. calcium base seems to be irrelevant to our application--and it's worth noting that this specification was written 30 years ago so following it exactly isn't necessarily state of the art anymore.

In terms of performance what we're mainly interested in for specs are the Timken OK load test and the Four-Ball Weld Test. Basically they load the grease in a test apparatus until the grease fails for Timken or balls weld together. Do a video search for the ASTM test numbers below if you want to geek out.

Amsoil blows everyone out of the water with Delo ESI HD coming a close second, winners in categories are highlighted in yellow:

If you are worried about low temps you can always drop to NLGI #1 instead of #2, e.g., Amsoil's NLGI #1 operates to -30. The NLGI number is literally derived from the penetration test results which are directly related to viscosity.....lower viscosity = more penetration = lower NLGI #.
All the info regarding temp ranges from the manufacturers usually relates to pumpability, specifically in automatic lubricating machines with long runs on big equipment. Or in very static exposed applications (e.g., semi 5th-wheel mount). This is an irrelevant concern for our use, a BIRF and/or knuckle will be at ambient temperature for not very long once the vehicle starts moving.

Mystik and Valvoline are the only moly-based greases that are GC-LB listed on the NLGI website. So if you're dead-set in running one grease in both knuckles and wheel bearings these are good choices. They aren't the absolute best in specs for trunnions/BIRF though.

Hope this helps,
~Josh

 

[Dubbinchris]

This is a great thread, thought I'd chime in after digging into this. I'm geeking out so hard only because I run 37s hard and after ~30k my trunnions have obvious false brinell and sticky movement which may or may not be contributing to my persistent and sometimes death-like wobble.

For the grease, % moly isn't as important as other performance characteristics--it's mainly important that it have it, period. Lithium vs. calcium base seems to be irrelevant to our application--and it's worth noting that this specification was written 30 years ago so following it exactly isn't necessarily state of the art anymore.

In terms of performance what we're mainly interested in for specs are the Timken OK load test and the Four-Ball Weld Test. Basically they load the grease in a test apparatus until the grease fails for Timken or balls weld together. Do a video search for the ASTM test numbers below if you want to geek out.

Amsoil blows everyone out of the water with Delo ESI HD coming a close second, winners in categories are highlighted in yellow:
View attachment 2517146

If you are worried about low temps you can always drop to NLGI #1 instead of #2, e.g., Amsoil's NLGI #1 operates to -30. The NLGI number is literally derived from the penetration test results which are directly related to viscosity.....lower viscosity = more penetration = lower NLGI #.
All the info regarding temp ranges from the manufacturers usually relates to pumpability, specifically in automatic lubricating machines with long runs on big equipment. Or in very static exposed applications (e.g., semi 5th-wheel mount). This is an irrelevant concern for our use, a BIRF and/or knuckle will be at ambient temperature for not very long once the vehicle starts moving.

Mystik and Valvoline are the only moly-based greases that are GC-LB listed on the NLGI website. So if you're dead-set in running one grease in both knuckles and wheel bearings these are good choices. They aren't the absolute best in specs for trunnions/BIRF though.

Hope this helps,
~Josh

Which amsoil exactly is this referring to, or is there only one? What’s your recommendation for the wheel bearings then?