"Waterproof" wheel bearing grease?

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fuel tanker man

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I was told by my Harley Davidson dealer that (surprise, surprise) their house brand wheel bearing grease is the best grease for my bike's wheel bearings because thier grease is "waterproof" whereas other greases may not be.

I learned this after packing the front wheel bearing with Valvoline Durablend semi-synthetic wheel bearing grease.

Should I worry?
smile.gif


Dan
 
quote:
Originally posted by fuel tanker man:
I was told by my Harley Davidson dealer that (surprise, surprise) their house brand wheel bearing grease is the best grease for my bike's wheel bearings because thier grease is "waterproof" whereas other greases may not be.

I learned this after packing the front wheel bearing with Valvoline Durablend semi-synthetic wheel bearing grease.

Should I worry?
smile.gif


Dan
Click to expand...
No sweat on the grease. You also don't appear to take your Harley dealer as a reliable source of lube info, so no problem with your judgement either.

On the off chance that you are using your Harley to launch boat trailers and backing it into the water to axle height, you should consider a waterproof grease.
lol.gif
Schaeffers makes some good ones.
 
Well... get this:

Here's an email exchange I had with Valvoline "techs".

*************************************************

I had to pack the front wheel bearing on my Harley Davidson motorcycle.
The manufacturer recommends doing this every 10,000 miles.

I used Valvoline Durablend semi-synthetic wheel bearing grease. Everything
went well.

A Harley Davidson dealer says that I should have used Harley's house brand
wheel bearing grease because it is waterproof, and many other brands are
not waterproof.

Is your Durablend semi-syn wheel bearing grease waterproof, and is it a
satisfactory lubricant for the wheel bearings on my Harley Davidson
motorcycle? (It's a 1994 model Low Rider if that helps.)

Thanks,

Dan Newberry


And Valvoline's answer in its entirety:

Thank you for your question! Valvoline recommends that you continue to use
the Harley Davidson grease.

*************************************************

No kidding. That's it.

So what do we make of this? Are they saying their grease is crap? Or do they believe it won't properly lube the bearing in a Harley Davidson's front wheel? Or are the Valvoline "techs" just too darned sorry to research the needs of the HD wheel bearings so they just tell me to stay with the Harley grease.

Totally crappy answer. I doubt I'll ever purchase Valvoline products again...

Dan
 
quote:
Originally posted by fuel tanker man:



And Valvoline's answer in its entirety:

Thank you for your question! Valvoline recommends that you continue to use
the Harley Davidson grease.

*************************************************


Click to expand...
Could that mean that Valvoline makes HD grease?
 
quote:
I wonder if that advice is based on good technical data or Harley arrogance.
Click to expand...
How 'bout profit? For a long time, most Harley dealers never had any bikes in stock (cept for Buells). They basically did service and parts/accessory sales. Naturally too many people having too much money caused this to evolve ..since a new used Harley would get more than one you ordered. People ended up being Harley "brokers" with their bikes.

One of my coworker's father inlaw (maybe brother inlaw?) owns the Harley fanchise in/near Lebanon, PA ( White's ). People came in all the time, "Got any new Harley's? No. Got any used Harley's? No.

This obviously has changed...but the habits formed are hard to change
grin.gif
 
XS650,

I hadn't thought about that. You might be onto something there. Maybe someone else can shed some light on the matter.

Their answer has left me wondering whether I should change out the Durablend grease...
confused.gif
dunno.gif


Dan
 
Okay...

My faith in Valvoline is restored.
smile.gif


I just spoke to the tech on the phone and he apologized for the vague email answer. He said that without knowing what the specs were for the Harley grease that Valvoline cannot recommend which grease in their line is actually the best.

He did say that Durablend is NOT waterproof, and that most wheel bearing greases aren't. He said that calcium based greases are the waterproof ones and that the Durablend is lithium based.

Waterproof grease won't "wash out" of the hub when the hub draws moisture (like from a long ride in the rain). If the grease does being to get forced out of the hub by water it would of course be visible around the hub and you'd know that you have a problem. It should be safe to assume that if there is no grease seeping from the hub that it's all still in there doing its job.

It's likely that the Valvoline semi-syn will do a better job than the Harley grease as far as lubing the bearings and withstanding heat. But if water gets around the wheel seals I suppose the Durablend wouldn't be the best choice in that situation.

I don't take long rides in the rain (and of course try to avoid the rain completely) so I'm not thinking I'll have any problems with the Valvoline grease.

I do understand their position now, what with not knowing the specs of the HD grease. I just think the email tech should have said as much...

Dan
 
if you are looking for a readily available grease i reccomend belray waterproof. it's good stuff, works well on dirtbikes. it's available at most any (other than harley) bike dealer for $4 a tub.
 
I've been using the Bel-Ray grease for years, all the Bearing Buddys on mine and my friends marine trailers get it. Have yet to have any washout and when I recently rebuilt an axle set on a 10-year-old trailer, the bearings looked almost new. Minimal wear and no evidence of corrosion or galling. Good stuff.

I can imagine that with all of the great products that Schaeffer's offers, their greases would follow suit. I will give some a try when I finish this tub of B-R.
 
Another vote for Bel Ray waterproof grease. Best stuff I have ever found for offroad bikes by far.
 
Let me give everyone a little demo they can use to determine just how waterproof a given grease really is.

Put a small dab in the palm of your hand. Let a dribble of water run into your palm while working the grease with your free index finger.

How long did it take the grease to emulsify?

Now try it with a different type of grease.
 
Schaeffer's #274, #221, #229 are 3 of our aluminum-complex greases that are waterproof. All have 3% moly.
 
quote:
Originally posted by salesrep:
Schaeffer's #274, #221, #229 are 3 of our aluminum-complex greases that are waterproof. All have 3% moly.
Click to expand...
Which one of those is the best chassis grease for a moderate to hot climate. Rarely below 32F

What about 238? It loooks good too, but is rarely mentioned along with the others. Is there some reason it's less suitable for automotive chassis use than the others?
 
For Chasis Grease #238 for those conditions. 238 has larger particles than the other three and %5 moly. I call it the "Hulk" of our lineup of greases. 274,229,221 are more versatile greases. Anyone of these 3 would also do real well in this ap.
 
Schaeffer's has way too many products... It is confusing.

I don't know if it was a good choice or not but for my JetSki trailer I bought AMSOIL Water Resistant lithium complex grease 2-GC-LB
 
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