Chewbacca's Birfield Grease Guide (1 Viewer)

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For the record I've had palladium in my front and rear wheel bearings and knuckles for 15k plus thousand miles with zero issues, actually just took the hubs off for fun just to see and everything looks like new!
 
js93cruiser said:
For the record I've had palladium in my front and rear wheel bearings and knuckles for 15k plus thousand miles with zero issues, actually just took the hubs off for fun just to see and everything looks like new!

That's what I used over 10k ago and still works fine. Not the cheapest, but keeps doing its job.
 
From my understanding, the grease for the bearings would preferably be a more sticky type, specified as NLGI #2 in the FSM so that it tends to hang on to the bearings more than, say an NLGI #1 grease which is the viscosity (more liquidy) range of most of the MoS2 CV greases.

If the above holds, it would be logical to think we need a grease that flows more in the CV joint knuckle chamber with a good dose of MoS2 additive.

Please correct me if I am wrong.
 
NLGI and ratings

"Performance Classifications within these Groups result in two letter designations for chassis greases (LA and LB), and three for wheel bearing greases (GA, GB, and GC). The automotive industry is in general agreement that the highest performance classification, to date, in each group (LB and GC) is suitable for service relubrication." - https://www.nlgi.org/product_certification/

"The product is recommended for all types of bearing and slide applications, for shock loading, pounding, rough chassis usage
and high loads. Two NLGI grades are available for seasonal temperature changes.
Palladium meets the requirements of NLGI GC/LB" - http://www.valvoline.com/pdf/hd_palladium_grease.pdf

There is NGLI 0, NGLI 1 and NGLI 2 Palladium. The gray looking one is the NGLI 1, however, it has a group rating of LB and GC. So, it's good for both chassis and wheel bearings. The difference is in the temp your running your equipment. Keep in mind that Palladium is approved by CAT for industrial equipment, which is wayyyyyyyyyyy harder on grease than a Land Cruiser.
 
Has anyone used this? I have a tube at home I was going to add to my birfs but pondered on it a while and just put in some Canadian Tire Brand Moly EP grease as Im not sure if any people have used it.

Lubrimatic Green Biobased lubricants Moly EP Grease.

N.L.G.I. #2
Base Lythium
Dropping Point 338f/170C

Amazon.com: Lubrimatic Green Biobased Moly EP Grease, 14-oz cartridge (10314): Automotive


Cheers


I would caution against using bio based greases or lubricants. The only reason is that bio based oils and greases are generally not compatible with standard seal materials. Bio based oils will eat rubber!:crybaby:
 
I would caution against using bio based greases or lubricants. The only reason is that bio based oils and greases are generally not compatible with standard seal materials. Bio based oils will eat rubber!:crybaby:


Agreed. I have not come across any specific data on conflicts between bio based greases and Land Cruiser seal materials but standard petroleum based and synthetic based greases are probably the safest choice for our applications.
 
CV grease on youtube vid.

http://youtu.be/VFWWEmLHBN0

First time joining in on a thread:
I apologize if I didn't copy and load this link correctly. There is a guy at "Jonesys auto garage" that does a 2 part rebuild to a 1993 80 series knuckle on youtube. At 4:20 in part one he shows his Sta Lube CV grease product. It's in a 4oz squeeze tube and he uses 3 per knuckle. Looks like an O'riley auto parts thing. Looks pretty thin.
He does a good job, except never breaks out a torque wrench.
Any of you northwestern guys hear about him or his work.
That grease is on my radar now.
Love the discussion. Great forum for people who take months to decide what grease they want to use for a job. Unfortunately I'm one of those types. Can't ever do anything fast....
 
The StaLube CV joint grease in a squeeze tube is NLGI 1, so maybe OK in extreme cold but also more likely to leak past seals IMHO. Appears to be more applicable to IFS type CV joints in a boot.
 
Longfields came packed with Mobil one and that's what I always ran in my mini truck, on 38" tires with heavy beadlocked 2.5" BS wheels. I know this is just empirical evidence, but I can't really think of a more abusive situation, all that leverage and rotating weight on axles/bearings/knuckles that originally came with 27" tires. I never had any clicking, burned up bearings, or other issues.

I think there are lots of good options for lubricants in our 80's.

Just as an example, in the Porsche 911 world there has been a serious concern that the air-cooled engines with their flat tappets were getting accelerated wear due to EPA limiting the levels of zinc and phosphorous, so motor oil selection is crucial, (Brad Penn and various V-twin designated oils being the prime choices).
 
Since this seems to be the uber-thread about grease, I thought I'd add this valvoline synpower synthetic lithium moly grease to the mix (didn't see it in the first post list):
http://www.valvoline.com/products/consumer-products/grease-gear-oil/grease/63

Seems like a good synthetic grease for everything. Moly fortified and lithium thickened. Can get it on Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/Valvoline-VV9...id=1384624882&sr=8-2&keywords=synpower+grease



Looks good. Added to the list. Thanks!
 
For the record I've had palladium in my front and rear wheel bearings and knuckles for 15k plus thousand miles with zero issues, actually just took the hubs off for fun just to see and everything looks like new!

That's what I used over 10k ago and still works fine. Not the cheapest, but keeps doing its job.

So am I correct in thinking I can buy a single grease for both the birf and the wheel bearings?

This one for example: Valvoline Palladium

Or, in addition to the example above, should I definitely be using a different grease specifically for wheel bearings?

This for example: Valvoline SynPower Extreme Pressure Fortified
 
So am I correct in thinking I can buy a single grease for both the birf and the wheel bearings?

This one for example: Valvoline Palladium

Or, in addition to the example above, should I definitely be using a different grease specifically for wheel bearings?

This for example: Valvoline SynPower Extreme Pressure Fortified





If it has the correct rating for wheel bearings, there is no problem with using grease that has molybdenum in wheel bearing applications.

-

grease.webp
 
If it has the correct rating for wheel bearings, there is no problem with using grease that has molybdenum in wheel bearing applications.

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So using Lucas X-tra would be OK for repacking the Birfs and wheel bearings since it's rated GC-LB?
 
So using Lucas X-tra would be OK for repacking the Birfs and wheel bearings since it's rated GC-LB?

Looks like that product uses a polyurea thickener instead of lithium and does not have molybdenum in it, so it is not an approved product according to the toyota manual.
 
Found a $10 off $25 at AA and got two tubs of the Valvoline VV632 and four tubes of VV633, they are both the same
NLGI #2 Grade GC-LB Lithium Complex EP Moly enriched grease, should be good to go for a front axle rebuild and even better was only $18.60 out the door with tax after coupon code.
 
WD10 gets 10 off 25 20 off 50 or 30 off 75, I had $50 and couldn't get it to pop the $20 so I just did the grease and it worked. I guess there is a limit on the number of times they can be used at certain levels.

I always check fatwallet.com too as it gives me back 5.5% at AA simply for clicking thru to the site you're going to buy something from anyways and you can get the cash back straight to your PP account as well.
 
I have new Nitro axles/birfs sitting on my work bench. I had to replace my axle housing 10k miles ago and my drivers birf started clicking almost immediately. At the time I used what was easiest to get a hold of which for me was Sta-Lube Moly-Graph. While searching for lubricants to use I found a company called Archoil. They use nanoborate which is supposed to be superior to moly. Here is a data sheet. Does this look like it would work? It's kind of pricey though 10 bucks for 14 oz.

http://www.archoil.com/wp-content/uploads/sheets/ARCHOIL AR8200 Product Tech Sheet.pdf
http://www.archoilcart.com/ar8200-14-oz-tube-nanoborate-calcium-sulfonate-grease.aspx
 

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