Grease with staying power?

[JoeFromPA]

Hey all,

My 2008 Subaru Legacy GT has a set of aftermarket sway bars with greasable bushings (zerk fittings on the bushing straps).

I've been using supertech extreme duty grease ($3 for a tube, red coloring on the tube). This has been giving me approx 3-5k worth of use before the bushings are squeaking like crazy. In time measurement, this is about 2 months.

Other users are getting 10k+ without such squeaking. For some, it's over 1 year in time (they drive less than me).

I live in PA, so I'm seeing alot of exposure to splash-water. No driving through deep water, no pressurized water exposure (i.e. no drive through undercarriage washes). It seems to wear out in the same amount of time whether it's summer or winter.

When I got the sway bars, they came with a small amount of a super-tacky grease. I'm looking for something now that I can inject into the bushing, wipe around the cleaned-up sway bar next to the bushing, and get at least 6 months at atime without the squeaking re-appearing.

Any and all suggestions welcome.

Joe

P.s. Two things to note: One person suggested my straps might be too tight, so I loosened them and injected the grease yesterday. We'll see what happens.

Also, this supertech grease apparently seperates into a liquid. My grease gun leaked a red liquid all over my storage shelf, and it was a brand new grease gun prior to using this stuff.

 

[Zaedock]

I have also found that to happen with other red greases of various brands. The yellowish EP grease does not separate as you described.

For you application, I recommend trying a tub of Valvoline full syn grease. I use it on the poly bushings of my Jeep's springs and also used it to pack the wheel bearings of my trailer prior to a trip to Moab, UT. Over the entire 5K mile trip, every time I stopped for gas/whatnot, I felt the bearings and they were cool.

 

[JoeFromPA]

Zaedock - Are wheel bearings not enclosed though? This is not a high load/friction environment so much as it is a weather environment.

 

[Zaedock]

Originally Posted By: JoeFromPA
Zaedock - Are wheel bearings not enclosed though? This is not a high load/friction environment so much as it is a weather environment.


The dust shields aren't really air tight. We drove through some meatball sized rain storms in Nebraska, but I did leave a little smear on the shield lips to keep water out.

My Jeep sees water/mud from frequent wheeling here in New England and the Valv. grease is still there doing it's job after a year and a half. That's probably more similar to your application.

I think it was about $10 a tub at Advance Auto.

 

[JoeFromPA]

Good stuff. Thanks for the tip.

 

[JoeFromPA]

BTW, any concerns with mixing that or like an AMSOIL Lithium-based Water resistant grease with the supertech stuff?

 

[Seguino]

Everything I have ever read about grease says never mix two kinds. The additives can work against each other. When you switch brands it is best to get as much of the old stuff out as possible. If you are near a truck stop or Chevron station get a tube of Delo NLGI2. It'll probably work just fine.