As I'm fully replacing my 80's front end and rebuilding it basically from the shell up using a replacement housing, I got thinking about an age-old issue - front wheel bearings and what grease to use in the wheel hubs. Traditionally I have always used lithium grease for wheel bearings in my 80 and sometimes with inner CV joints on front wheel drive cars, but on 80's the front hubs are not sealed units - they are totally open at the front (where the big nut or nuts screw onto the each spindle) and fully exposed to any/all swivel hub grease and/or diff oil that gets out into the space behind the drive flanges (full time) or freewheel hubs (part time).
This means that regardless of how well a hub and it's bearings are packed with grease if it's not the same as what's used in the swivel hubs then the two are going to mix over time. I've found that with my old front axle/diff assembly when I pulled the hubs off to decide which set of spindles (my old set which were both new from a full rebuild some years ago, or the ones of the spare assembly) I would re-use as part of the rebuild.
My current lithium grease is a well-used tin of caltex Liplex and for moly grease I use Castrol LMM.
What are the pro's and con's of using moly grease (same as what is going in the swivel hubs to lube the kingpin bearings and CV joint)? Remember that the swivel hubs are also not sealed (the swivel ball wipers are not seals).
This means that regardless of how well a hub and it's bearings are packed with grease if it's not the same as what's used in the swivel hubs then the two are going to mix over time. I've found that with my old front axle/diff assembly when I pulled the hubs off to decide which set of spindles (my old set which were both new from a full rebuild some years ago, or the ones of the spare assembly) I would re-use as part of the rebuild.
My current lithium grease is a well-used tin of caltex Liplex and for moly grease I use Castrol LMM.
What are the pro's and con's of using moly grease (same as what is going in the swivel hubs to lube the kingpin bearings and CV joint)? Remember that the swivel hubs are also not sealed (the swivel ball wipers are not seals).