707L, Redn'Tacky, and Schaeffers...observations

[deeter16317]

Repacked my wheel bearings today, some findings:

This is essentially a Dana 60 wheel bearing (dynatrac no spin). One wheel had over 80k with 707L, and the other had Lucas with about 30k (found toasted bearings when I did ball joints, took me nearly 50k to change them!). The 707L looked just like the day I packed those bearings 80k ago...nice a red, very stringy, looked fine. The Lucas was a different story, even with 50k less miles...it was BROWN and very fluid, and had very little tack left...nothing like the new tube looks. I repacked for two reasons...it was about time based on a schedule, and the Lucas side was running slightly hotter than the other side with 707L (they were the same when the Lucas was fresh). I was not surprised by my findings. Both wheels now have Schaeffers.

I have been using Schaeffers for a while now, fine this very interesting. In ball joint applications, I have no water now; unlike before with Lucas and TSC premium grease that would expel rusted brown grease after only a few miles. I also noted that in ujoints it takes a lot less pumps to fill the joints, like its not being flung from the joint during operation (not to mention the operation is noteably smoother).

I was impressed with the 707L, and I expect similar results with the Schaeffers.

 

[Ben99GT]

I did a similar experiment with Motorcraft Long Life grease and Valvoline Ford/Lincoln/Mercury grease. I packed the driver side wheel bearings with Valvoline and packed the passenger side with Motorcraft and went ~35,000 miles. When I pulled the rotors off to repack the bearings with RL CV-2 I noticed the greases performed very differently. The Valvoline grease looked spent, hard caked spots in the inner rotors and the grease in the bearings was very fluid with visible separation even fully cooled, much different than how it went in. It also appeared as though the spindle and the inner bearing saw more wear with the Valvoline. The Motorcraft grease, OTOH, looked like the day I put it in.

Clearly there is more to a grease than raw specs, as the Valvoline grease actually looks like the tougher grease on paper and it advertises the appropriate spec. I won't use Valvoline F/L/M again.

 

[deeter16317]

I noticed the Lucas had also solidified between the bearing rollers...it was very weird, very fluid in places, solid in others. When I cleaned the bearings, the parts between the rollers came out as a chunk.

I used Lucas because it was the only thing I could fine at the time...next time I will not make that snap decision.

 

[Johnny]

It is extremely hard to beat the Pennzoil 707L grease when used in the correct application, wheel bearings and u-joints. Some use it as a chassis grease, but it was not designed for that application.

 

[deeter16317]

Well, put 3000 miles on a trip to Washington state...temperatures were between 50 and 60 degrees, the wheel bearings ran between 75 and 85 degrees for the entire trip (as measured at the hub with an IR gun). The bearings varied less than 5 degrees between the two sides.

Before, (nearing the end of use) I was seeing almost 30 degree difference between the 707L side and the Lucas side.

 

[jdw1222]

so the 707l side was the better one?

 

[deeter16317]

Originally Posted By: jdw1222
so the 707l side was the better one?



In the comparison between 707L and Lucas, definitely...it was night and day difference upon disassembly.

The recently installed Schaeffers seems to be working equally well to 707L.

 

[Tempest]

Quote:
Before, (nearing the end of use) I was seeing almost 30 degree difference between the 707L side and the Lucas side.

A highly tackified grease can cause bearing temps to go higher. Tackifier is not needed in bearings.

 

[deeter16317]

Originally Posted By: Tempest

A highly tackified grease can cause bearing temps to go higher. Tackifier is not needed in bearings.


That's fine, but that's one of the uses specified by Lucas...bearings.

 

[Tempest]

Not a surprise coming from Lucas.

 

[deeter16317]

I should note that when initially installed, the 707L and Lucas ran very close in temperature...it wasn't until later (nearing the aforementioned 80k/50k change intervals) that they started having a more pronounced temperature difference.

 

[Tempest]

Yikes!