Warn M8 gear lube?

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ntsqd

ntsqd

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A simple search missed any threads that may have already covered this. Bought an M* off CL for not a lot. Needed a thorough cleaning inside and out. Am about ready to re-stack the gears and need to decide on what grease to use. Intuition says to use one of the various versions of Red-I grease as used on back-hoe hinge pins & similar.
 
this is what warn recommends

Screenshot_20250505-191124_Google.jpg
 
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Given what the Aeroshell 64 goes for I may just be using Redline CV-2 since I have some of that.
 
Skygeek has Aeroshell 64 for a price closer to what CV2 goes for.
EDIT: Aircraft Spruce, not Skygeek.

Decades ago I used to use a grease that we got from a local, now out of biz, petroleum products vendor called "Red-i". We used it on some optical grinding machine wobble heads, but it was really made for use on construction equipment. Excavator hinge pins and places like that. High pressure, very high water wash-out resistance, and extremely tacky grease. That seems like an ideal grease for this application. Whenever I search for that grease now I only seem to turn up a Lucas product. In my eyes Lucas = snake oil and I just can't bring myself to try it on anything that I value.
I tried my fall-back premium lubricants mfg, SWEPCO, and they offer a grease that is made for construction equipment use, #123, but it's even harder to find than the Aeroshell 64.
 
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I'm sure you're fine using a quality synthetic. id have just gone ams if my buddy hadn't kicked me the aeroshell
 
It's not so much that I'm over-thinking this, I'm confident that the CV2 used in the previous M8 will be fine. It's that I wondered if there isn't a better option. Maybe not so much a better grease overall, but a more suitable grease that isn't seemingly overkill.

Still waiting on Warn to reply. Given what I've heard of them since the buy-out, my hopes aren't high.
 
I've never been into a Warn planetary winch. All my planetary experience is with machinery that was oil lubed.

Are there caged roller bearings in the gears? The winches sit unused for long periods of time so I'd think whatever grease is used it better stay in place and/or be able to flow back in.
 
They're all staked together, so I'm not sure what sort of bearings are used. Can see some pictures here: WARN M12000 Truck Winch Parts - https://www.montanajacks.com/collections/warn-m12000-truck-winch-parts The M8k parts don't look much different from those. Short of filling the whole gear housing with grease, which would be a LOT of grease, I've been thinking along those lines, that whatever I put in there needs to stay in place. The housing is not well sealed from the elements, water intrusion is very possible - particularly if submerged (not that I'm likely to be in a location where that is possible). Which is why my first thought was the grease that we used to use on those optical grinders.
 
The factory lubing before assembly and staking them is ok the first time. IDK how I would get grease in the rollers after flushing parts in solvent on a rebuild. Maybe some good shots with a needle tip.

No way to inspect other than seeing how they feel when spinning it I guess. I wouldn't think they would fail unless water intrusion caused enough corrosion on the bearing surfaces. I've seen gears with holes in the root of the teeth to allow lube to get through but I don't remember what it was in. Now you have me "over-thinking".

Heading out with the wife so I'm over it for now.
 
Warn got back to me, Aeroshell 64 confirmed.

If the gear case were actually sealed I'd be tempted to run a non detergent oil in there. Read an article on lubricating bicycle chains quite some time ago. The author warmed straight 90wt gear lube by microwaving it (I assume NOT in SWMBO's kitchen microwave!) and then immersing the chain in the hot oil until cool. Remove and wipe off the excess and the chain was good for a season. If I could figure out something similar with the grease I'd be tempted to try it. Maybe I'll do it with oil, and then slather the grease everywhere else.
 
depending on how hardcore you want to get, the later bodies actually have a seal between them and the drum....
ive just used silicone to seal the gearboxes and motor to the body. some grease on the drum bushings should keep water penetration to a minimum.
 
Living on the Lower Left Coast aka The Coastal Desert, it's not like there's lots of opportunities to dunk it. Semi-occasional rain will be the greatest source of water. Greased bushings and some hylomar* will be more than good enough to keep water out, but likely not good enough to run the gears in an oil bath.



* I prefer it to silicone for things that might need to re-seal after a field disassembly, but that's just a personal quirk.....
 
I've been thinking exactly that, a #1 grease could be the better choice over a #2 grease. Although a super tacky grease, like the old Red-I that I started out wanting to use, might not be a bad choice even though it likely is a #2 grease.

The amazon link says that M1 Delvac Extreme is NLGI #2.

I've asked Redline about their CV-2 as I didn't find that info listed on the pages that I looked at.

I think that I'm probably over-thinking this. Any grease that isn't contaminated or dried-out is probably better than no grease at all.
 
ntsqd said:
I've been thinking exactly that, a #1 grease could be the better choice over a #2 grease. Although a super tacky grease, like the old Red-I that I started out wanting to use, might not be a bad choice even though it likely is a #2 grease.

The amazon link says that M1 Delvac Extreme is NLGI #2.

I've asked Redline about their CV-2 as I didn't find that info listed on the pages that I looked at.

I think that I'm probably over-thinking this. Any grease that isn't contaminated or dried-out is probably better than no grease at all.
Click to expand...
This line of grease has two grades--moly 1 (black tube) and moly 2 (blue tube). Also Warn states to use NLGI 1 with moly.
 
Just heard back from a Redline rep. CV-2 is a #2 grease. Not unexpected.
 
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