Metal Pinion and Spur Lube

[Couch_Bro]

This has probably been suggested in the past but I just wanted to post this since I’ve found it to work really well on my Kraton 8s. I live in a pretty populated area and the gears on my rig were obnoxiously loud unlubricated so I decided to try my ceramic wax mountain bike chain lube on them. I also don’t run a cover over the gears which may have made them even louder than stock.

I’d say it at least cut the noise in half if not more. Before applying this, the sound of the gears was all I could hear. Now I can clearly here the motor, gears, and tires all blended together for a much more satisfying sound.

I haven’t had a chance to use it in a real dusty or dirty environment yet but have used it on mountain bike chains for years, I can tell you that not much sticks to it and what does stick to it will wipe right off.

It goes on as a liquid but dries to a waxy consistency. I didn’t let it set up completely so a lot of it spun off when Took the truck for a ride but enough remained to be effective. It comes in a couple of different brand names. White lightning is also good. See the picture for the one I used.

 

[SrC]

I do the same to Break-In a new set of metal pin/spurs. It does quiet things down slightly. But wears out and gets noisey anyway. Can't hurt as long as you use a "Dry wax lube" Like what you got there. Just needs to be repeated often IMHO. Been there. I just apply it once or twice in the life of the gears. It wears out at some point.
99% of guys never use any lube at these gears whatsoever. And technically should not.
I use Dupont Chain Saver Spray. Similarly, a dry Wax with Teflon and Moly combined. I let it dry well enough. Sometimes I even just brush it on so as not to make a mess. Don't need much at all. I find that closely meshed gears are much quieter in general. This makes more of a difference. But any Metal to metal gears sets will always be noisey, especially Modulus 1 gears. Bigger teeth, more chatter. Tightest Mesh with the smallest "tick" of play is best. Less chatter noise results.
Yeah, Never use a "wet" grease or oil, that will spell disaster on any exposed gears. Would just make a mess and attracts dirt. They were designed to run dry.
Although not best for basher rigs, some kits like from Tekno run plastic spur gears. Way less noisey. My MT410 came with a plastic spur gear. I replaced it with a metal upgrade. Yes more louder as a result.

 

[Couch_Bro]

I do the same to Break-In a new set of metal pin/spurs. It does quiet things down slightly. But wears out and gets noisey anyway. Can't hurt as long as you use a "Dry wax lube" Like what you got there. Just needs to be repeated often IMHO. Been there. I just apply it once or twice in the life of the gears. It wears out at some point.
99% of guys never use any lube at these gears whatsoever. And technically should not.
I use Dupont Chain Saver Spray. Similarly, a dry Wax with Teflon and Moly combined. I let it dry well enough. Sometimes I even just brush it on so as not to make a mess. Don't need much at all. I find that closely meshed gears are much quieter in general. This makes more of a difference. But any Metal to metal gears sets will always be noisey, especially Modulus 1 gears. Bigger teeth, more chatter. Tightest Mesh with the smallest "tick" of play is best. Less chatter noise results.
Yeah, Never use a "wet" grease or oil, that will spell disaster on any exposed gears. Would just make a mess and attracts dirt. They were designed to run dry.
Although not best for basher rigs, some kits like from Tekno run plastic spur gears. Way less noisey. My MT410 came with a plastic spur gear. I replaced it with a metal upgrade. Yes more louder as a result.

I did read most people suggesting or at least were saying they didn’t use any lube but mostly because of the debris that it attracts. I figured if nothing sticks to it, there’s no harm in doing it.

I can tell it will have to be done often though. One of the drawbacks to this type of lubrication, even on chains is that it doesn’t last as long as oil or grease so I’m used to lubing my mountain bike before every ride. I just assumed I’d have to do the same with this. With no gear cover, it only takes a couple of seconds. Only difference is instead of applying it before each ride, I’ll do it after to allow for drying time.

It’s a new rig and I did just adjust the mesh at the same time so that could’ve resulted in some of the reduction of noise as well. Makes sense that a looser mesh would be noisier as the gears have more space to slap together. Either way it’s much quieter now which works for me.

 

[SrC]

I am an avid cyclist myself. My other hobby, building them from scratch. Ground up custom. Resto mod road bikes etc . for friends.
I swear by wax lubes on my chains. I tried so many from White Lightening to your Ceramic type. Yea, you need to use it more often, But the chains stay perfectly clean. Using this one for several years now. AMZ has it. In the wet it wears out quicker also. Any dry lube will. Shifts are quick and quiet. Wax based dry lubes attract No dirt. I found that Dupont Chain Saver is the best going. It was designed for Motorcycle chains and is heavy duty. Motor cyclists apply it every 3k miles or so. It is safe on rubber also. Because some motos have o-rings in the chains. I get the Large size spray can. Cheapest per oz. I tried the bottle but solvent evaporates from sitting around, Waste. The aerosol spray is best. Very cheap and never evaporates in a spray can. Need to always shake well or it will separate from sitting around.

 

[Couch_Bro]

I recently got back into RC’s after a few year break. I’ve been dealing with frozen shoulder which makes riding a bike almost impossible. I can whip an RC truck around no problem though. It’s not a cheap hobby but after dropping a few K’s on a carbon fiber MTB, RC prices are easier to swallow too.

As for the wax lubes, they definitely do separate quickly. This one will separate like Italian salad dressing in about an hour. The drip type bottle isn’t great for chains but makes getting it into the pinion and spur pretty easy.

I’ll have to give the DuPont stuff a try since what I have is almost gone.