Viscosity of Mobil 1 grease vs others

[njohnson]

Hi all,

I'm repacking the front wheel bearings on our SUV, and I'm using Mobil 1 grease. I was comparing the data sheets of the Mobil 1 grease, and also ones from the various Valvoline greases, and Pennzoil wheel bearing grease.
One thing that struck me and stood out was the viscosity of Mobil 1 grease compared to the others. It looks to be quite a bit thicker at 40C and 100C.

Would this make a difference at all? I imagine you couldn't tell in ball joints or U-joints, but, what about in wheel bearings?

Thanks,

 

[Rand]

I dont want to beat a dead horse but I've never been particularly happy with M1 Grease tried 3 different tubes and it always separates and runs out of my grease guns.

Other Greases maybe a drop or 2 but not this waterfall with mobil 1.

I prefer Green Grease for my tractor(s) and trailers.

For a car I'd consider a few options. AAP and TSC have good selections.

 

[tig1]

Originally Posted By: njohnson
Hi all,

I'm repacking the front wheel bearings on our SUV, and I'm using Mobil 1 grease. I was comparing the data sheets of the Mobil 1 grease, and also ones from the various Valvoline greases, and Pennzoil wheel bearing grease.
One thing that struck me and stood out was the viscosity of Mobil 1 grease compared to the others. It looks to be quite a bit thicker at 40C and 100C.

Would this make a difference at all? I imagine you couldn't tell in ball joints or U-joints, but, what about in wheel bearings?

Thanks,


I've been using M1 grease for many years in all applications with never a failure. My old 91 Ford Ranger had 354K when sold and never replaced a front wheel bearing. Same with my 5X8 utility trailer bearings and they always remain quite cool on longer runs.

 

[tig1]

Originally Posted By: Rand
I dont want to beat a dead horse but I've never been particularly happy with M1 Grease tried 3 different tubes and it always separates and runs out of my grease guns.

Other Greases maybe a drop or 2 but not this waterfall with mobil 1.

I prefer Green Grease for my tractor(s) and trailers.

For a car I'd consider a few options. AAP and TSC have good selections.


The better quality grease separates for better service. Per M1.

 

[OneEyeJack]

At a hobby gold mine we have lots of places that require grease especially a ball mill that has several ball and roller bearings that really get beat on and some get exposed to lots of water, dust and shavings. After trying several specialty greases we've finally settled on Red Line CV-2 grease. It does not separate and stays in place. The head bearing that is *itch to replace and used to wear out in under 500 hours now has over 1,000 hours and is still in service.

Since getting to and repacking a bearing can be a bit of work and can be messy, paying a bit more for this CV-2 grease that makes things last longer is a screaming good deal.

 

[buck91]

I wouldn't call M1 grease particularly thick. Actually feels a little lighter than the Synpower I use in my gun. Are you talking about base oil viscosity or tackiness?

Running M1 (out of a tub) in my motorcycle for the one serviceable bearing (needle roller on the rear left side) as well as in the pivot bearings. No issues to note. Also running it in some bicycle wheels but those are not in use.

I wouldn't spend the money on M1 over other greases, especially since you can get some well-proven brands for the same or less. But I certainly am sure it would do quite well in a normally sealed bearing setup.

 

[njohnson]

Originally Posted By: Rand
I dont want to beat a dead horse but I've never been particularly happy with M1 Grease tried 3 different tubes and it always separates and runs out of my grease guns.

Other Greases maybe a drop or 2 but not this waterfall with mobil 1.

I prefer Green Grease for my tractor(s) and trailers.

For a car I'd consider a few options. AAP and TSC have good selections.


Do you pull back the plunger on the grease gun after you were done using it? I started doing this and it makes a big, big difference. One time last year I forgot to pull it back, and sure enough, I found it a couple of weeks later starting to ooze red oil out of the gun. Been more careful to pull it back every time and thankfully nothing, it hasn't been leaking out. Which is good, I want to keep the oil in the grease.

I have been making it a point to pull back the plunger on the grease gun to keep as much oil in the grease as possible because I had a bad experience with using dry grease.

Back years ago, before I was relieving the pressure on the grease gun, I was using Amsoil Series 2000 Racing Grease. I used it for the U-joints, ball joints, and tie rods, etc.. Because I wasn't relieving the pressure, a lot of the grease oil dripped out of the gun. Had to wipe up a spot on the work bench. Didn't really think it was enough to effect the remaining grease in the gun. Then, our Dad repacked the wheel bearings on our SUV. We didn't notice anything amiss. After a while, I went to repack the bearings again. I wanted to clean the old grease completely with solvent, Dad was in a hurry and he repacked them without cleaning out the old grease. I'm glad I didn't wait too long. I discovered when we used the grease with the oil leaked out, it must not had enough oil to lube properly because the inner bearing on the driver's side was all black and blue, and had a hard time getting the bearing off the spindle. Had to replace the bearings. Funny thing was that there was only enough of the dried out grease to do that one bearing, we had to open a new tube to do the rest of them. And those other three bearings were great, no problems. Having the oil leak out so bad must had not left enough in the grease to lube everything properly, was left with mostly thickener.

Lesson learned, I started pulling back the plungers after that.

 

[njohnson]

Originally Posted By: tig1
Originally Posted By: njohnson
Hi all,

I'm repacking the front wheel bearings on our SUV, and I'm using Mobil 1 grease. I was comparing the data sheets of the Mobil 1 grease, and also ones from the various Valvoline greases, and Pennzoil wheel bearing grease.
One thing that struck me and stood out was the viscosity of Mobil 1 grease compared to the others. It looks to be quite a bit thicker at 40C and 100C.

Would this make a difference at all? I imagine you couldn't tell in ball joints or U-joints, but, what about in wheel bearings?

Thanks,


I've been using M1 grease for many years in all applications with never a failure. My old 91 Ford Ranger had 354K when sold and never replaced a front wheel bearing. Same with my 5X8 utility trailer bearings and they always remain quite cool on longer runs.


Good to hear your positive experiences with the Mobil 1 grease. This is the first time I will be using it to repack the wheel bearings, been using it to grease U-joints and other chassis components, just didn't know what to expect with wheel bearings.

When you repacked the wheel bearings, do you use the grease gun tube, or did you use the tub?

I used the tube for the suspension, but I have the tub for the wheel bearings.

I thought they were the same thing. I just read on Amazon reviews for one of the Valvoline greases, that the reviewer preferred the tub of Valvoline grease to the tube because he said the texture and consistency was very different, and he said the tube formula is made different so it could be pumped through the grease gun. Therefore, he said, if you were repacking wheel bearings, use the tub.

 

[njohnson]

Originally Posted By: buck91
I wouldn't call M1 grease particularly thick. Actually feels a little lighter than the Synpower I use in my gun. Are you talking about base oil viscosity or tackiness?

Running M1 (out of a tub) in my motorcycle for the one serviceable bearing (needle roller on the rear left side) as well as in the pivot bearings. No issues to note. Also running it in some bicycle wheels but those are not in use.

I wouldn't spend the money on M1 over other greases, especially since you can get some well-proven brands for the same or less. But I certainly am sure it would do quite well in a normally sealed bearing setup.


I was talking about the base oil viscosity. Basing it on the data sheets, Mobil 1 grease has a heavier base oil viscosity at 40C and 100C compared to others.

I know different grease have various levels of tackiness, depending on what they are designed for and what application they are meant to be used in.

Speaking of viscosity, I just looked at the Mobil Delvac Xtreme grease. Whoa, its viscosity makes the oils, even Mobil 1 grease, look downright thin!

In motor oil terms, it would be a 20W-50, and the others, 5W-20!

 

[tig1]

Originally Posted By: njohnson
Originally Posted By: tig1
Originally Posted By: njohnson
Hi all,

I'm repacking the front wheel bearings on our SUV, and I'm using Mobil 1 grease. I was comparing the data sheets of the Mobil 1 grease, and also ones from the various Valvoline greases, and Pennzoil wheel bearing grease.
One thing that struck me and stood out was the viscosity of Mobil 1 grease compared to the others. It looks to be quite a bit thicker at 40C and 100C.

Would this make a difference at all? I imagine you couldn't tell in ball joints or U-joints, but, what about in wheel bearings?

Thanks,


I've been using M1 grease for many years in all applications with never a failure. My old 91 Ford Ranger had 354K when sold and never replaced a front wheel bearing. Same with my 5X8 utility trailer bearings and they always remain quite cool on longer runs.


Good to hear your positive experiences with the Mobil 1 grease. This is the first time I will be using it to repack the wheel bearings, been using it to grease U-joints and other chassis components, just didn't know what to expect with wheel bearings.

When you repacked the wheel bearings, do you use the grease gun tube, or did you use the tub?

I used the tube for the suspension, but I have the tub for the wheel bearings.

I thought they were the same thing. I just read on Amazon reviews for one of the Valvoline greases, that the reviewer preferred the tub of Valvoline grease to the tube because he said the texture and consistency was very different, and he said the tube formula is made different so it could be pumped through the grease gun. Therefore, he said, if you were repacking wheel bearings, use the tub.


In the early years I used the tube grease. However, later on I bought M1 grease in the tub as it was easier to pack bearings
from it. Either way, my wheel bearings have performed very well, with no failures.