Grease

[BrewCityCobra]

So I've searched the boards and can't seem to find a definitive answer for greasing the chassis points. I figured it was best to come here to see if there is any sort of consensus. Basically, I just wanted to make I don't use anything I'll regret (e.g., will damage anything) and will need to flush out in the future.

I have two tubes in my garage at present:

- Royal Purple Ultra Performance Grease
- Valvoline Red High Temperature Grease

I've also heard some recommend Lucas Oil Marine Grease.

So the ultimate question - Will either/both of these work? Do I need to avoid anything in particular? Any suggestions on what to use first time around?

Probably making a mountain out of a mole hill here but better safe than sorry.

[David Hodgkins]

Good question. I forwarded it to FFR for their input, but I'm sure others will chime in.

:)

[nuhale]

I used Lucas oil x-tra heavy duty.

https://lucasoil.com/products/grease/lucas-x-tra-heavy-duty-grease

[TMartinLVNV]

So I've searched the boards and can't seem to find a definitive answer for greasing the chassis points. I figured it was best to come here to see if there is any sort of consensus. Basically, I just wanted to make I don't use anything I'll regret (e.g., will damage anything) and will need to flush out in the future.

I have two tubes in my garage at present:

- Royal Purple Ultra Performance Grease

https://www.royalpurple.com/product/consumer-ultra-performance-grease/

"SYNTHETIC GREASE (WITH SYNSLIDE®)
Ultra-Performance Grease satisfies the widest range of grease requirements and is recommended for bearings and general purpose use. Ultra-Performance Grease is a high performance, aluminum complex grease. It has outstanding EP capabilities and excellent water resistance to both emulsion and washout. Ultra-Performance Grease can be pumped at low temperatures, is stable at high temperatures and has excellent oxidation resistance to extend service life and to provide a margin of safety between lubrication intervals."

- Valvoline Red High Temperature Grease

This is the closest that I could find - https://www.valvoline.com/our-products/heavy-duty/crimson-grease

"Valvoline’s Crimson grease is a tacky extreme pressure lithium soap grease designed specifically for the commercial fleet environment. It provides excellent performance over a variety of operating conditions and is dyed red for easy identification. Valvoline’s Crimson grease contains select extreme pressure additives to protect and lubricate during heavy shock loading periods and is fortified with oxidation and corrosion inhibitors for long service life. The product has excellent resistance to water wash-out."

I've also heard some recommend Lucas Oil Marine Grease.

So the ultimate question - Will either/both of these work? Do I need to avoid anything in particular? Any suggestions on what to use first time around?

Probably making a mountain out of a mole hill here but better safe than sorry.

Both options will be just dandy. IMHO, it is more important that you have grease where it is supposed to be than the exact type of automotive grease that you use. I give each Zerk two full pumps max at each 5000 mile oil change. Less if grease starts coming out. I have 22 Zerks on my Jeep that sees a MUCH tougher environment than that Cobra ever well plus many vehicles over the years with them as well.

[BrewCityCobra]

Thanks for the suggestion!

[rich grsc]

Any good grease is just fine. There is no point in buying some overpriced synthetic stuff.

[QKSLVR]

I use Mobil 1

[Avalanche325]

Any good grease is just fine. There is no point in buying some overpriced synthetic stuff.

I thought Royal Purple was the overpriced synthetic stuff.

[rich grsc]

I thought Royal Purple was the overpriced synthetic stuff.
And you're right.

[BrewCityCobra]

And you're right.

Ha. So I'm guessing the take away here is to just use the tube of Valvoline Red High Temp I have and just use that going forward.

[CFranks]

I'm an over-analyzer so went way too far into analysis on this one. I had an unfinished kit which was greased before and wasn't sure what was in it so was worried about compatibility issues. In my searches it seems that the safest to go with was the lithium complex based greases, so I too landed on a the red stuff. Royal purple is an aluminum complex based grease that didn't mix well with many others. See chart in below. All is moot if you are going into fresh joints and will be the only one maintaining it, then go with whatever makes you happy.

https://www.machinerylubrication.com/Read/1865/grease-compatibility

[rich grsc]

Ha. So I'm guessing the take away here is to just use the tube of Valvoline Red High Temp I have and just use that going forward.
Think about this: does the service center for your daily driver, have a different grease for every car that come in? I can guarantee they don't have a self full of specialty "race' grease setting there. I was a farmer for almost 50 years, and used a good quality red grease on every thing. Royal purple should let you use just a dab before you have to pay.

[BEAR-AvHistory]

Ha. So I'm guessing the take away here is to just use the tube of Valvoline Red High Temp I have and just use that going forward.

Have had excellent results since 2014 with it. Re-grease every winter along with oil, filters etc. No mater what anyone lands on even the most expensive chassis grease is chump change vs the value of the car with known weak points in the front suspension.

[BrewCityCobra]

Yeah, I'm convinced on Valvoline Red. I'm guessing the difference probably isn't really that great - but the idea that Royal Purple doesn't play nice with anything else is something I don't want to have to deal with.

And that really touches on why I posed my question - I wanted to make sure I didn't make a decision that was going to hamstring me going forward or have harmful . Sounds like Red solves that.

[CraigS]

I get whatever synthetic red grease they happen to have at the store. I like the red because it gets dark when it's old so I can pump until I see nice bright red coming out and I know I have replaced most of the dirty stuff. I use synthetic because I feel there is less chance of it chemically damaging plastic bushings and rubber(?) boots.

[Avalanche325]

And don't forget the most important thing......

Red is faster.

[BradCraig]

I used a red synthetic and it separated badly and made a huge mess, red drops all over the floor and wheels. Went back to regular old grey stuff.

[AC Bill]

I have mainly used the Chevron chassis grease for all my vehicles over the last 40 years. I've only has one failure in a suspension part in all that time. I had to replace an idler arm on a 15 year old Suburban 4x4

When I was looking to grease the BBK rear lower control arms for the first time, I did a little investigation first, being that they had polyurethane bushings. The manufactures instructions were to use a synthetic silicone based grease only, on the poly bushings. Apparently a petroleum or lithium based grease, could eventually cause the bushings to deteriorate, and possibly even crack.

Naturally, I had automotive chassis grease, and some marine grease on hand, but alas, no silicone synthetic on the shelf. Fortunately, I was able to find some at the local parts store. (Some suspension manufactures also sell the lubricant, IE; Energy Suspension, and Prothane.)
Article re grease for poly bushings. https://www.suspension.com/blog/the-best-grease-for-polyurethane-bushings/

So... now I also needed a new, third grease gun. I had one for marine grease for the boat, and my regular one for the truck, tractor, and everything else needing grease around the homestead..Ever try cleaning out a grease gun, to switch to a new grease? No...me neither. :p
I never really thought about regular chassis greases being incompatible with one another, but apparently they can be. Probably best to stick with one from the get go. This info from Chevron address's that..

"Mixing of greases whose soap thickeners are known to be incompatible can result in softening, hardening, or separation of base oil from the thickener, resulting in the mixture leaking out of the bearing. It could also result in the bearing working harder to move the grease around which would overheat the bearing. It is generally recommended to completely clean or purge greases from equipment before applying a different grease. Once the change has been made and equipment operation has resumed, it is a good idea to monitor for signs of incompatibility until the next lubrication interval."

Full article here..https://www.chevronlubricants.com/en_us/home/learning/from-chevron/industrial-machinery/avoiding-the-pitfalls-of-lubricant-incompatibility.html

[BrewCityCobra]

Exactly the reason I wanted to ask before greasing the joints. Appreciate the response.

[tonywy]

I have commented on this in a previous post. What I did was buy a mini grease gun and filled it with the Energy Suspension grease and use it only for the urethane bushings and Amsoil grease in another gun for everything else.