Let's talk grease!

[fyrstormer]

What I use for lube:

Gearboxes: AquaCraft "Grim Racer Speed Grease". It's waterproof and won't damage plastic gearboxes, but I always use steel gears whenever possible. I have yet to see any meaningful wear on my hardened-steel gears, even on my Wraith which I do not treat kindly.

Open CVDs and sliding splines: 85wt synthetic gun-slide oil. It's thick enough that it stays put, and it reflows as the parts move, unlike grease. It holds onto dirt, but I don't care; the dirt gets worked-out of the moving parts as the oil slowly dissipates, whereas grease would trap dirt indefinitely, and running the parts dry would make them squeaky.

Sealed CVDs and sliding splines: If they come with special grease, I use that; otherwise, I use 85wt synthetic gun-slide oil.

Pinion/spur gears: If the spur is nylon, I use nothing; if the spur is steel, I use the same grease I use inside the gearbox. I only have one vehicle with a steel spur gear -- my HPI Savage XS -- but the slipper clutch isn't attached to the spur gear in that vehicle, so I don't have to worry about grease contaminating the slipper pads. All my other vehicles use nylon spurs, to reduce wear on the pinion gears, and they all have slipper pads attached to the spur gears, so I don't want grease getting anywhere near them.

Ball Diffs: Team Associated white and black ball-diff greases, applied as appropriate. I only have one vehicle that uses ball diffs anymore, though; fortunately the rest all use gear diffs, so the silicone oil I put in the diffs to control diffing-out also provides lubrication.

Shocks: Just the same silicone oil they're filled with. I haven't yet been convinced that "green slime" actually does anything useful, but I won't argue with anyone who thinks it does.

I don't use "dry lubes" on anything. I have enough experience with dry lubes to know they don't work as well as regular oil, and they're a pain to clean out too -- I can spray grease and oil away using CRC Electronics Cleaner spray, but to remove dry lube I have to disassemble the part and wash each component by hand.

- - -

On another note, if anyone has any devices that involve titanium parts threading together, and they're sick of the awful grinding sensation, I sell my own lube on CandlePowerForums.com that fixes this problem. (lots of fancy flashlights are made from titanium, and the screw-threads grind something awful without highly-specialized lube.)

[scaled]

Waterproof, corrosion inhibitors, dielectric, ...

Corrosion Block Grease is designed to provide maximum protection under severe conditions. Its formulation provides both high and low temperature performance, increasing the service life of critical components. Corrosion Block Grease strongly resists water wash out and provides superior protection against rust and corrosion.
Corrosion Block Grease out performs lithium and most synthetic greases and meets or exceeds requirements for NLGI Service Classification GC-LB (automotive wheel bearing and chassis lubricants), which is based on ASTM D4950 performance requirements.

[Gula]

I used to use this grease tamiya made in a larger squeeze bottle/tube, had Teflon in it. I thought it worked great, but ran out a long time ago and can't find it anymore. I now use either a generic black moly grease, or white lithium. I also like to use valvoline brand red grease, looks similar to red and tacky. I have used some dielectric grease on some plastic gears too, due to no mess!

[travis c.]

Losi Smart Diff grease, part # TLR75000.

I use the Losi grease with a bit of Gearscience in diffs and trannys, has served me well for long time.

[TacoCrawler]

...Danyen - ?

I've been using Associated's black grease for a long time.
guess it comes down to running it in my faster RC's over the years
and figured if it was good for that...
Should be good enough for a slo mo crawler.

I assume it is good...
because Associated is well know for it's high speed racing, hardware/support to it's team drivers.
But I don't really know how well it compares to others.

So... can you break down it's ingredients
and tell me if it is good or not so good ?
and why ?

I only use the stuff on steel gears exclusively...
so trans, axle R&P and servo gears primarily.

Never had any problem using it...
but that doesn't mean it's the best to use in low speed crawlers.

https://www.teamassociated.com/parts...ck_grease_4cc/

[badhoopty]

i like the tamiya white grease quite a bit but i use either cheap green marine grease from autozone or lucas red and tacky.

i mainly use grease around bearings and places that can let in water, and i usually give the actual gears a little space to breathe so they arent working against a bunch of grease being packed against them.

[crawlhog]

Grim Racer speed grease

waterproof, sticky, and last a long time in the axle and trans.

[Haziza]

I have a bottle of Trakpower grease works great. Pretty sure all RC grease are pretty much the same whatever brand, Grimracer, Trakpower or Udder Butter snyting will work for your gears!

For my shocks i use Castrol red rubber grease!

[valheru]

I've switched a while back from the Lucas X-TRA heavy duty grease NLGI #2 GC-LB (http://lucasoil.ca/images/documents/...raHDGrease.pdf) to the Amsoil synthetic water-resistant grease NLGI #2 GC-LB (http://www.amsoil.com/lit/databulletins/g1281.pdf) and so far I've been more than satisfied with the performance of the Amsoil over the Lucas.

The Amsoil clings better to the gears and doesn't discolour/break down with use like the Lucas does.

As with any lubrication system, the proper amount is key, too much grease can cause increase heat generation and loads on the motor, this goes for both the gears and the bearings.

The next gear grease I want to try when I refresh my diff gears is the Amsoil Synthetic Polymeric Off-Road grease (http://www.amsoil.com/lit/databulletins/g2698.pdf), its also a NLGI #2, but with 5% moly for extra metal on metal wear protection which may be beneficial for the bevel gears and the shock loads its subjected to.

For the universals, I've been using mountain bike chain lube for dry and dusty conditions, it's a liquid wax that dries into a film that repels dirts and while providing basic wax base lubrication.

And for the bearings I have to get my hands on some SKF LGWA 2 grease (SKF high load, extreme pressure, wide temperature range grease), its a NLGI #2 grade that is suitable for the sizes of bearings we have on our RC and the conditions we run them in (RPM, loads, temps, etc.).

[Cali_Lightning]

I've used Lucas Oil X-TRA heavy duty grease in all my RC and full size race cars for years and never had any problems. On my full size stuff I mix in some Lucas Oil Stabilizer to make it alittle thinner and helps the grease "stick" to what you want better. The Red-and-tacky I wouldn't use for gears so much, that is made more for ball points and suspension components not spinning gears.

[JatoTheRipper]

Super sticky 1:1 grease creates so much drag on these tiny trucks. I'm not sure why anybody would use that. Lots of 1:1 products will work just fine though.

I save up grease from kits. Tamiya white grease or lithium grease goes on my plastic gears and Associated ball diff grease goes on metal gears.

Originally Posted by fyrstormer

What I use for lube:

Gearboxes: AquaCraft "Grim Racer Speed Grease". It's waterproof and won't damage plastic gearboxes, but I always use steel gears whenever possible. I have yet to see any meaningful wear on my hardened-steel gears, even on my Wraith which I do not treat kindly.

Shocks: Just the same silicone oil they're filled with. I haven't yet been convinced that "green slime" actually does anything useful, but I won't argue with anyone who thinks it does.

This is the first I'm hearing of Grim Racer Speed Grease. Thanks for the heads up.

Green Slime works. It reduces stiction which is good for performance as well as o-ring life. You can get it in bulk sold under the Noleen name. They are believed to be the OEM for Associated's "Green Slime".

[clod booster]

Amsoil marine grease mixed with VP synth grease for gears and Tri-Flow for cvd's/u-joints.

[fyrstormer]

I have a new entry:

For the hypoidal diff gears in my SCX10 II (i.e. right-angle gears that mesh off-center): Tamiya Molybdenum Grease. Hypoidal gear teeth scrub sideways against each other as the gears rotate, and in real cars they require special lubricants to avoid premature wear. Molybdenum di-sulfide (the black powder that makes moly grease black) is perfect for this kind of job.

[mikemcE]

Moly grease is used for calipers , high temp also


Hang up and Drive

[LokisTyro]

Originally Posted by valheru

For the universals, I've been using mountain bike chain lube for dry and dusty conditions, it's a liquid wax that dries into a film that repels dirts and while providing basic wax base lubrication.

I thought I was the only one! I have been using it on most joints on my SC10 RS (no crawler, yet!). It works really well and is easy to work with. I have a dedicated crockpot full of the wax. I clean up parts and dunk them, working whatever part naturally, let it cool and the wax will crumble off back into the pot leaving well lubricated slick and water repellent parts. For smaller parts I'll use a coffee warmer and put wax chunks in shallow dish, wait for the melt and either dip or apply with a popsicle stick. For the ballstud joints I stuff a little extra wax chunk in before popping them back on. I even started using the wax in my homemade dust blockers. I'm using green UNI air filter foam, much better blockage and can be trimmed to size easily with an xacto.
Back to grease, it's probably been mentioned in a grease thread but greases should almost never be mixed.

[TheWombat]

I am sure for some reason i will catch some crap for this, but i use FrogLube, for everything on my RC's its lightweight repels dirt and junk.

[fyrstormer]

Originally Posted by TheWombat

I am sure for some reason i will catch some crap for this, but i use FrogLube, for everything on my RC's its lightweight repels dirt and junk.

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
Are you serious?!? FrogLube? Really???

What's FrogLube?

[WHITE-TRASH]

Click me---->Froglube

[scalemechanic]

A lot of great input in this thread. I am new here but have been 1.1 wheeling for a long time. I also am into weapons i.e..pistols and AK's. There have been many reviews where frog lube turns to slime in the cold. My dad used to swear by the stuff. I know cycling an ar produces way more heat than our tiny gears but if you live and crawl in cold climates I would steer clear. Most guys I run with use the green marine grease you buy at Walmart or autozone.

[Teng]

Well, I simply use Multi-Purpose lub from ABRO. It was Lithium grease and it is super cheap though