The Great Grease Controversy

[Eric]

OK, I am getting really confused here over such a simple subject > Grease!

I am in a SL/12 car that is running about 24deg angle on the axles. So far, we have roasted Mobile1 synthetic (actually caught the boot on fire), and turned Schwepco into syrup after 200 miles (broke down to liquid and will not congeal again).

So, Kartek says to use this NEO grease, 16 oz will do all 4 CVs (don't pack the flanges). Another reputable source says to use Bel Ray straight (packing the flanges and CV) and yet a third says to mix Bel Ray and Schwepco together and pack the CV and Flange.

Does anyone else have an opinion on what the best thing to do to grease a high angle axle to CV?

Thanks!

Eric
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Z-YA Racing
www.z-yaracing.com

 

[rdc]

24 degrees is not too much angle for 930's, but are you considering the "compound angle" in reporting your 24 degrees. I have run 50/50 mix of Schwepco and BelRay for years and never had a problem. I always polish both the "Stars" and the races to remove all the machining marks and remove the sharp edges of the "Star." Pack the CV well but not the Boot. I lightly pack the drive, and axle flanges and lightly coat the inside of the Boot to reduce wear in the Boot. To my way of thinking, filling the Boot causes too much heat retention. Doing all of this, as long as your axle lengths and angles are correct, you should never have CV problems.

Ramsey

 

[Jimmy8]

Have you tried the Valvoline Grease?

PMC Racing

 

[vwguy]

is the schwepco grease a synthetic also

how ironic is it that most people slow down for speed bumps yet almost all of us here im sure pin it

 

[Rodney]

After some trial and error, I settled with straight bel ray on both a 16 and a 10 car. Don,t over pack the joints! If the CV is getting hot enough to melt stuff, thoroughly clean and polish
everything and assemble everthing on the car dry. Cycle the suspension and check for some kind of bind...I havent had a CV failure in 6 years. My first thought is it isn't the grease.

Winning IS everything

 

[Steve_Sourapas]

Eric,I can tell you in 20 years I have used every grease combination possible but the one I use now and seem to have very good luck with is Bel Ray Assembly Lube.I use it only, not mixed with any other grease and I fill the cups in the transmission and fortin hub but not the boots.In my one car it never breaks down at all and after the Baja 2000 and 1800 miles my C.V.s looked great in fact I ran them at four more races after that.Be aware of getting it on your clothes or hands it is evil stuff and very hard to remove,use rubber medical gloves that should help also Dawn soap can work for the clothes.

BEERMAN

 

[poolman]

My pet Lamb "Cuddles" prefurs Duralube

poolman

 

[Will_Higman]

Good Job Steve!

I totally agree here! The key is Bel Ray and fill the cups! If things get a little warm it will draw from the stock pile and lubricate the axles at the same time. At the same time I have never had a set up that ran that hot??

Will Higman

 

[Eric]

Thanks all! I appreciate all the info!

Rodney - we ran the car through travel after the race, we think that the boot ripped and dirt got in - there isn't a bind and the boot was totalled.

Eric
-------------------
Z-YA Racing
www.z-yaracing.com

 

[Dave_G]

Eric,
Not that this has anything to do with with your CV heat problem heres an engineering problem for you to think about.... ;-)

What RPM do your axles turn at max speed? Once you know that calculate the RPM of the balls in the CV joint based on the running angularity. Although the balls don't rotate in a continous circle like a roller bearing and only cycle back and forth they still do turn an RPM. What is the rpm of the rollers?? ;-)

We had to solve a similar problem on the Herbst TT. The grease in the U joints on the front drive shaft was always found to be cooked after a race. The running angularity of the U joints was about 25 degrees and the drive shaft speed reached about 6800 rpm in top gear. That translated that the needle rollers in the u-joints were turning somewhere around 14,000 rpm! Talk about making heat!! We've since solved the problem with a one piece drive shaft that runs less angularity and better quality grease.

Sometimes it's kind of hard to see all the forces at work when trying to solve heat problems.

Dave

 

[TimHayosh]

Just to throw another name into the mix...Bilstein makes a grease that has worked very well, and never ever broken down one the car I worked on. Lee at Race Shock Co. can get it for you. He swares by it...not at it!

 

[ntsqd]

Some background info FWIW:
I was told a long time ago to use the grease that the VW dealers used in CV's. The original factory stuff, not what ever they sold over the counter. I've not had a problem with it, but I also can't push an 80" WB as hard either.
I'm about to try Redline's synthetic CV grease in the problematic Toyota front L.A.'s Birfields.
We ran Swepco CV grease in the Lola 8990 Sports 2000's VW passenger car CV's without any problems. This with ~150 HP hooked to 10" wide slicks on asphalt. Those sports racing cars don't use more than about 3-4* of the CV's total movement though, so that info may be of little value.

TS

"Teach you all I know and you're still stupid"
-- Howdy Lee

 

[Jason]

ill be honest with all the buggy guys here....DONT KNOW A THING ABOUT EM!!!!! jajaja...but what i do know is that i know some guys that run SL/12 cars and 1600 cars that use LE...and have never had a problem.....in our 7 truck we use LE to grease all our bearings and have never had problems....a buddy that runs LE motor oil and LE transmission fluid has never had a problem either....so just a suggestion

 

[Eric]

If anyone cares or is interested... I am going to run a test at Parker.

NEO Grease in the left CV, straight Bel Ray in the right CV.

Prep Note:
When we were packing the CVs - the Bel Ray was much "Stickier" than the NEO, but the NEO seemed to pack really good too.

So, if you see a Class 12 car (running sportsman) changing a CV on the course, we'll know what Grease didn't work

Eric
-------------------
Z-YA Racing
www.z-yaracing.com