Grease in TRX 4 diffs and portals

[niro750]

Hi guys, I can't get the forum Search working from my phone this am so sorry if this has been asked before.

I will soon have my first rig and I have some bits to fit to it when it arrives. I live in Scotland so water will be in play especially during the winter.

How do I best pack my diffs and portals with grease?

Do both get packed fully with marine grease? Do I just give a light coating to both to reduce sticktion or do I do the portals with grease and fully fill the diffs with an oil?

I think that we treat these differently from the real thing because a real one would not be packed fully with grease for sure!

Thanks for your help! 😎

[AnimalHippie]

When you open it up you'll find that there is very little grease in any of it. I used marine grease in the diffs and portals. I put a good bit of grease in the portals not packed tight but pretty full. The diffs you only want to add some grease to the ring gear. I put a marble sized gob on my finger and spun the gear around leaving a nice 1/8" layer of grease on the gear side of the ring. Do not get a bunch of grease on the diff lock mechanism. Guys have had issues with the diff locks sticking due to that. That's what I did. I'm sure others have different methods. I don't go through allot of water, but have a few times with no water making it into either. Good luck! Congrats on the new rig! Will be looking forward to seeing what you do to it. Trx-4 section in this forum is full of great info and awesome people. Welcome to the addiction!

[Steve g]

I went as far as taking the seals off the bearing to pack them with marine grease, then put the seal back. You get more drag but your bearings won't get water in them. I redo the outer wheel bearings every 6 months or so.

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[JatoTheRipper]

I lightly coat the gears with marine grease. That adds enough drag so I don't pack them full. But I'm not one to worry about ruining bearings since they are so cheap.

[niro750]

Thanks all. From a mountain biking background we just pack the pivot bearings full of marine grease as well. We don't worry too much about drag there but as they move so little we have to replace them every so often anyway as they don't recoat themselves with grease much and they get flat spots.

Seems like good advise has been provided and I'll not over do the diffs.

I did think I'd read somewhere that people were putting an oil in them but I guess that's the permanent diffs on other rigs that are fully sealed

[GForceSS]

Is automotive marine grease, the light blue type I have for boat trailers what were talking about ok?

[Steve g]

Yeah, there are better brands but What you got will work

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[HumboldtEF]

The Google custom search does not work, but If you look above it theres another Search function that does work.

[Inspector86]

I would also recommend that you put some grease in the transmission and transfer case. Not a lot just enough to coat the gears and keep the grease away from the shift mechanism or it will become sticky.

[BroncoAZ]

I’m going to be opening up the diffs and portals in my new Bronco. I have been using Mobil 1 synthetic grease in my Yeti and Bomber since I got them. I have destroyed some of the stock powdered metal Axial gears on the Yeti, but everything else seems fine with the Mobil grease. I was reading on a couple threads and they were suggesting 1:1 grease like the Lucas red n tacky added too much friction on small RC gears and that the Mobil was nothing special. Looking at my grease collection I also have white lithium grease, marine bearing grease, Teflon gun grease, silver anti seize, etc. what is the best choice for the axles in the TRX-4 that can be purchased at an auto parts or tractor supply store?

[elRayRay]

I use Phil Wood Waterproof Grease...because I also work on bikes. Seems to work great though. I would recommend.

[BroncoAZ]

Originally Posted by elRayRay

I use Phil Wood Waterproof Grease...because I also work on bikes. Seems to work great though. I would recommend.

I went to look for the Phil Wood grease on Amazon, when I saw the package I remembered that I had a tube I purchased in 1995 or so. I dug it out of the box of ancient bike stuff. The tube was cracked on one edge, but I squeezed the rest of the contents into a clean jelly jar. There was a small amount of liquid separation, 5ml maybe, but I mixed it all up and it looks/feels ok. It is dark green, pretty sticky and, being waterproof, hard to wash off my hands even with fast orange. I’ll probably try it on the Bronco.

[elRayRay]

Originally Posted by BroncoAZ

I went to look for the Phil Wood grease on Amazon, when I saw the package I remembered that I had a tube I purchased in 1995 or so. I dug it out of the box of ancient bike stuff. The tube was cracked on one edge, but I squeezed the rest of the contents into a clean jelly jar. There was a small amount of liquid separation, 5ml maybe, but I mixed it all up and it looks/feels ok. It is dark green, pretty sticky and, being waterproof, hard to wash off my hands even with fast orange. I’ll probably try it on the Bronco.

Yeah, the packaging is pretty iconic if you've spent much time around a bike shop. It's always been my go-to, though it's probably pretty similar to a lot of others.

[sgtlt]

almost 30 years in the bike world, I also use Phil grease in all my crawler trucks, seem to last a long time even though I check things about once a month

[DaveCrawls35]

What’s the better stuff?

[TRX4ME]

Another Phil Wood user - waterproof, great viscosity for RC (and of course those beautiful Phil Wood hubs!).