Granite Input gear and differential lubricant

[basher27]

After recently rebuilding my differential I used some marine grease to coat the input gear and ring gear with. About a month later I now took it apart and noticed that there doesn’t seem to be much grease on the teeth. Does anyone know if this is normal or is there a better type of lube that should be used? Thank you

 

[grihn]

Lucas Red 'n Tacky is the best thing you can use as far as it sticking, but re-applying grease is going to be a regular part of maintenance.

 

[Yas]

This is just how the 3S trucks are designed. The bulkheads are really spacious inside unlike the more enclosed 6S ones. The Red N Tacky I use just gets thrown outwards like how your grease has, however plastic gears won't need as much lubrication as metal ones do

I use a flux brush to dab more grease on the Typhon 3S gears every so often, whereas my 6S car's bulkheads get packed with grease and never really need to be reapplied

 

[SrC]

+1
Understand that there is still a layer of grease film on that Main gear. Not obvious or clearly visible. The gears displace the grease with use. Don't expect to see it blobbed on like when you first greased it.
Red and Tacky tends to be more Tenacious. Stays put longer. A plus. But like @grihn states cleaning and replacing is required. No matter the grease. I like any Automotive NLGI spec'ed greases. And Synthetics handle wider temp ranges, last longer FWIW.

This is just how the 3S trucks are designed. The bulkheads are really spacious inside unlike the more enclosed 6S ones. The Red N Tacky I use just gets thrown outwards like how your grease has, however plastic gears won't need as much lubrication as metal ones do

I use a flux brush to dab more grease on the Typhon 3S gears every so often, whereas my 6S car's bulkheads get packed with grease and never really need to be reapplied

+1, plastic gears by themelves are self lubricating for the most part.
But running a steel input gear against a Plastic gear poses wear issues to it, no matter how you slice it. The steel Input gear always wins out.

 

[basher27]

Lucas Red 'n Tacky is the best thing you can use as far as it sticking, but re-applying grease is going to be a regular part of maintenance.

How often should one reapply the grease

 

[SrC]

Every 15 runs or so. Depends how you bash and how dirty the terrain is. Water running etc.
You have to find your own intervals. 15 runs I would say is a start. Your main gear actually looked fine with that grease. Normal. You are in there, so renew it, that's all.

 

[basher27]

Every 15 runs or so. Depends how you bash and how dirty the terrain is. Water running etc.
You have to find your own intervals. 15 runs I would say is a start. Your main gear actually looked fine with that grease. Normal. You are in there, so renew it, that's all.

While I’m on the subject how often do you change out the differential fluid? I just changed to 30k Hopefully get a little bit better performance

 

[Adiabatic]

The purpose of the grease is to create a thin film that lowers the sliding friction between the surfaces. Excess will be squeezed and flung out by the motion of the gears but if the grease is any good and was recently applied there's still a (perhaps invisible to the naked eye) layer on there doing its job. As others said it's a good idea to reapply regularly as the film wears off and is broken down by heat and friction over time.

 

[SrC]

While I’m on the subject how often do you change out the differential fluid? I just changed to 30k Hopefully get a little bit better performance

Same , 15 runs give or take. When you remove the diff, the whole assembly is checked for diff oil. Refilling as needed. Fresh main gear grease is a given every time you are in there. Obviously sooner when a diff fails and doing a full rebuild.
If you never opened up the diff case before , you may want to ASAP. The factory underfills them most of the time.

 

[basher27]

Same , 15 runs give or take. When you remove the diff, the whole assembly is checked for diff oil. Refilling as needed. Fresh main gear grease is a given every time you are in there. Obviously sooner when a diff fails and doing a full rebuild.
If you never opened up the diff case before , you may want to ASAP. The factory underfills them most of the time.

Yeah I did all my cars and my kids as well. Everyone was under filled. I put 30 K fluid in as I believe the factory uses 10 K. I’ve been told running a thicker diff fluid will help track straight on gravel roads and dirt. You were saying that the diff fluid should be changed out every 15 runs? That seems excessive?

 

[Michael24]

Permatex HP synthetic grease NILGI for those gears. My buddy a mechanic use it on small hp parts.