One grease for boat trailer and motorcycle trailer wheel bearings?

R

Ride_Red

Joined
Feb 4, 2020
Messages
659
Location
Michigan, USA
I recently purchased motorcycle trailer (single bike trailer with 13" tires). The manufacturer specs a Lithium NLGI 2 wheel bearing grease like Red & Tacky (among others). I'm currently using Valvoline red wheel bearing grease in it.

I'm currently using marine wheel bearing grease (Traveler, from Tractor Supply IIRC) in the boat trailer wheel bearings (with 13" tires hauling a 16' aluminum fishing boat).

The boat only gets hauled locally up an hour or so on local roads and highways, while the motorcycle trailer will be used for long hauls of 8 - 10 hours or more at freeway speeds.

Questions: Can I just use the marine wheel bearing grease in both trailers and call it a day, so long as it meets the NLGI 2 and doping temp requirements? What is a recommended marine grease?
 
what are their bases? if they arent the same you cant just mix them you would have to tear down and clean out all the old grease first.
 
The Marine grease is calcium sulfonate and it is compatible with the lithium based grease like Red and Tacky. You would be OK to use the Traveler marine grease in the bike trailer but because you dont know what grease the boat trailer maker used I would not go the other way. Not all marine grease will be compatible.
 
samven said:
The Marine grease is calcium sulfonate and it is compatible with the lithium based grease like Red and Tacky. You would be OK to use the Traveler marine grease in the bike trailer but because you dont know what grease the boat trailer maker used I would not go the other way. Not all marine grease will be compatible.
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Just because thickeners may be compatible, those compatibility charts are not always right and sometimes contradict each other, there are other considerations such as base oils and additives.

In this case base oils are likely compatible. Most general purpose greases are based on mineral oils and PAOs.

Additive incompatibility can lead to a loss of performance such as wear control or rust and corrosion protection. Additive dilution can also lead to loss of performance.
 
I have switched from M1 to Valvoline Cobalt In my travel trailer.

https://shop.valvolineglobal.com/pr..._tEJukSqPvU2JSe-eIrv3Z&Size=14.1+OZ+Cartridge

https://sharena21.springcm.com/Publ...2d889bd3/7fa43c74-e29c-e711-9c10-ac162d889bd3

1747695707106.webp
 
Mystik JT-6 in the green tube is a form of calcium grease thickener, good water resistance, will work fine in your trailer wheel bearings.
 
Thanks everyone for your responses. I have one tube of the Red left to use up on the motorcycle trailer. I'll consider changing over to marine grease on both trailers when that's gone.
 
I run Delo 5% moly in everything.

Mostly cause I have like 150 tubes of it. Was old stock at work.
But once I get through that in a year or two I plan to buy the same.
 
RDMgr said:
Just because thickeners may be compatible, those compatibility charts are not always right and sometimes contradict each other, there are other considerations such as base oils and additives.

In this case base oils are likely compatible. Most general purpose greases are based on mineral oils and PAOs.

Additive incompatibility can lead to a loss of performance such as wear control or rust and corrosion protection. Additive dilution can also lead to loss of performance.
Click to expand...
And that's why I run lithium in everything.
 
RDMgr said:
Running lithium in everything still doesn't address additive incompatibility. Probably the best approach is to use the same brand and product in everything.
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Ive pumped at least 3 different kinds of lithium grease into my trailer wheel bearings over the last 5 years.
Still waiting for something bad to happen...
 
oil pan 4 said:
Ive pumped at least 3 different kinds of lithium grease into my trailer wheel bearings over the last 5 years.
Still waiting for something bad to happen...
Click to expand...
Your success still doesn’t mean that grease compatibility is limited to thickener and doesn’t have potential negative consequences. The primary method of testing grease compatibility starts with mechanical stability. This phase is looking at thickener compatibility. If the greases are compatible based on thickener, the testing moves into a second phase where rust, corrosion, EP/AW, and other characteristics are evaluated. A loss of any of these properties could result in increased wear or corrosion resulting in a higher rate of surface loss and shortened component life.

I have seen components fail due to grease compatibility over the years. These failures could have been predicted and prevented if the grease compatibility was considered.

I suggest that you don’t mix greases in wheel bearings regardless of what your experience has been.
 
RDMgr said:
Your success still doesn’t mean that grease compatibility is limited to thickener and doesn’t have potential negative consequences. The primary method of testing grease compatibility starts with mechanical stability. This phase is looking at thickener compatibility. If the greases are compatible based on thickener, the testing moves into a second phase where rust, corrosion, EP/AW, and other characteristics are evaluated. A loss of any of these properties could result in increased wear or corrosion resulting in a higher rate of surface loss and shortened component life.

I have seen components fail due to grease compatibility over the years. These failures could have been predicted and prevented if the grease compatibility was considered.

I suggest that you don’t mix greases in wheel bearings regardless of what your experience has been.
Click to expand...
Yeah I've seen lithium mixed with marine grease in boat trailers with ezlube spindles and it turns into black sludge very quickly.
 
I ended up switching the motorcycle trailer over to what I used in my boat trailer.
Traveler Marine & Off Road Grease from Tractor Supply. NLGI #2 GC-LB Calcium Sulfonate based.
1749560376607.webp
 
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