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  #11  
Old 10-05-2011, 05:24 PM
David Paule David Paule is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Boulder, CO
Posts: 4,435
Default

I used some no-name boat trailer wheel bearing grease for years, thinking that the service environment is so similar. Eventually I ran out and am now using something else.

The boat trailer wheel bearing grease worked fine. Simply no issues at all. I bet I put more than 1,200 hours on the plane with it.

Dave
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  #12  
Old 10-05-2011, 06:13 PM
larryj larryj is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Bellevue, WA
Posts: 165
Default wheel bearing grease

I researched this extensively a few years ago and Russel is absolutely correct; the standard Cleveland grease is Mobil SHC-100.
The primary factor that separates the aviation spec grease from others (auto, marine, etc) is the requirement to maintain lubricity at lower temperatures. The reason for this would be an aircraft flying in the flight levels and cold-soaking to, say, -20 degrees F, then quickly descending and landing. If the grease were to be frozen from the cold-soak; it would not lubricate the wheel bearings on landing and a failure would be likely.
We are not likely to experience this scenario and I know a few folks that have been using marine or automotive wheel bearing greases for years (decades) with no apparent problem. Still, I choose to use Mobil SHC-100 and I re-pack my wheel bearings at each annual and/or when I change a tire - just seems like a good practice.
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  #13  
Old 10-06-2011, 01:20 AM
gasman gasman is offline
 
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Location: Sonoma County
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bevan View Post
Just to be clear (and not questioning your experience and success) is your experience with this product for boat trailer wheel bearings or aircraft wheel bearings? If aircraft, perhaps a note about the climate in which you operate could be added.

Also, I assembled my wheels and greased the bearings more than five years ago, and am now just about to put the RV on it's gear for the first time. The wheels have been sitting in a heated shop since assembly. Should I regrease before first flight?

Bevan
Yes, aircraft............. And re-grease wouldn't hurt.

Last edited by gasman : 10-06-2011 at 01:51 AM.
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  #14  
Old 10-06-2011, 08:08 AM
chaskuss chaskuss is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: SE Florida
Posts: 1,499
Default Compared to what?

Quote:
Originally Posted by AK4x4 View Post
The Standard Grease in Cleavland wheels is the synthetic Mobil SHC 100. Per Cleavland maintenance manual;
"A. Bearing Grease
CAUTION: DO NOT MIX AVIATION WHEEL BEARING GREASES WITH EACH OTHER. IF USING OTHER APPROVED GREASE, COMPLETE REMOVAL OF CONTAINED GREASE AND BEARING CLEANING IS REQUIRED. REPLACEMENT OF PREVIOUSLY LUBRICATED FELT GREASE SEALS IS ALSO REQUIRED.
CAUTION: THE FOLLOWING GREASE CHANGE DOES NOT APPLY TO AMPHIBIOUS APPLICATIONS NOTED IN TABLE A4.
Beginning March, 2007 all active wheel assemblies listed in Table A4, except those noted for amphibious application, will be shipped from the Cleveland Wheels & Brakes facility with the bearings packed with Mobil Aviation Grease SHC 100, the approved preferred grease for all Parker Hannifin wheel assemblies."
Before this Aeroshell 22 was the standard grease in use. The only exception is wheels for amphibious applications, which use BG Products, HCF Grease, P/N 605.
Here in Alaska many maintenance shops, including Aerotwin a Cessna Dealer, have switched to using TRC 880 C&C http://www.texasrefinery.com/pdfs/LB...wn&chassis.pdf in all wheel bearing but especially wet/amphibious applications. I have seen about 3X bearing life using this grease. In certified applications this is a minor alteration requiring a log entry but in experimental applications just go for it. Good luck, Russ
Russell,
Thanks for the tip. Is your 3X improvement in bearing life in comparison to the older Aeroshell 22 grease or the current Mobil SHC 100?
Charlie
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  #15  
Old 10-06-2011, 10:54 AM
Tom Martin Tom Martin is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 1,544
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My airplane gets treated with the same grease that my tractor and combine does; general purpose John Deere grease. Bearings get cleaned and repacked once a year. I live in a hot/cold environment and am based on a grass strip. This has worked well on numerous aircraft for the last 15 years.
I do know there are some expensive lubricants out there that probably do a great job but if your bearings are not wearing out and the grease does not dry out between changes then why make a change for change sake?
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  #16  
Old 10-06-2011, 01:11 PM
Pilottonny Pilottonny is offline
 
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Location: Belgium
Posts: 645
Default Your "mileage" may vary !

My Lexus RX300 ran for 364.000 km over 10 years. The bearings encountered extreme speeds of up to 190 km/hr, extreme weights (approx. 2 ton + heavy loading) extreme heat in Spain (+40?C), extreme cold in Austria (-25 ?C) and drove through 30 cm deep flooded area's. The bearings were never greased, nor was the grease ever changed and the bearings were still OK!

I used SKF general purpose bearing grease to grease all three wheels and do not intend to regrease them the next 1.000 hrs. Of course I will check the bearings at every anual, but do not expect to find anything wrong with them, as long as the bearing seals are OK. If I taxy half a mile at every start and at every landing, I estimate to have about 0,035% of the mileage on the bearings, every year............. of what my car did, without any problem, under much harsch conditions!

Sometimes I wonder if we are not exaggerating things, especially because this is not flight-safety crucial.

Regards, Tonny.
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  #17  
Old 10-06-2011, 01:26 PM
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DonFromTX DonFromTX is offline
 
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I tend to think you are correct, but someone will come back saying your Lexus never got to 12,000ft or something. It was most tempting to me to use what I always have, but in the end took Matco's direction and used some synthetic rare stuff they recommended. Maybe I will feel batter when on a fast taxi now because of it. I considered doing a cross reference on the bearings and see what else they are used in, and what the grease recommendations are for those applications.
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  #18  
Old 10-06-2011, 01:36 PM
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John Clark John Clark is offline
 
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Location: Santa Barbara, CA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pilottonny View Post
If I taxy half a mile at every start and at every landing, I estimate to have about 0,035% of the mileage on the bearings, every year............. of what my car did, without any problem, under much harsch conditions! Regards, Tonny.
Tonny, I agree that wheel bearings are probably the most over-serviced item on light aircraft, but there is a catch in your comparison to a modern automobile. The seal technology in the common Cleveland wheel is a stone-age bit of felt. Your Lexus has modern seal technology that keeps contaminants out, and the grease in. In fact, some newer cars have hubs that are sealed units that cannot be serviced. If someone were to engineer a way to put "real" seals in the existing RV wheels, I would be very interested.

John Clark ATP, CFI
FAAST Team Representative
EAA Flight Advisor
RV8 N18U "Sunshine"
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  #19  
Old 10-06-2011, 07:12 PM
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Rhino889 Rhino889 is offline
 
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Location: Jupiter FL.
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John,

Just wanted to update:

the new setup no longer has the Felt. Its a plastic/rubber seal. Looks pretty tight and sealed regarding dust and dirt... not water.

To everyone else,

Thank you very much for all your insights and information.

She left the shop for the first time today. She enjoyed the sunshine while I am now the crazy guy thats been building an airplane in his garage. Many neighbors... many questions... then cocktails on the driveway



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  #20  
Old 10-06-2011, 09:47 PM
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AK4x4 AK4x4 is offline
 
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Location: PAWS (Wasilla, Alaska)
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Default Bearing life

The 3X bearing life is for 880 C&C vs. Aeroshell 22. The main problems we were encountering, with aeroshell 22, were bearing damage due to water contamination and bearings flattening due to minor aircraft motion from wind when tied down. Wheel bearing grease is designed to resist heat for bearings that roll constantly reaplying the grease. An aircraft tied down needs a high load chassis type grease because the lower one or two bearings carry all the load (weight) and rock in the wind which tends to displace the grease. Chassis type greases resist displacment. We do still need a limited bearing performance capability (a couple of thousand feet much less than a car, truck, or even large aircraft) so a grease with both properties biased toward chassis performance is called for. I have used 880 C&C since 2001ish and been very happy. I hear reports that the Mobil performs well but no first hand experiance. Russ
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