Limitless Speed Run - Differential Grease

[Jerold]

I'm rebuilding the front diff and wondering about grease, or should I use it at all. Nearly 100% of factory grease was thrown away from the ring and pinion and into the casing.

I have grease and can buy grease if a particular kind is required. However, thinking about this there is no grease that will actually stay on the gears. Which makes them a wear item and probably need to be checked now and then.

A more less viscous lubricant might work better; however, there aren't really any seals to keep it in there. The bottom seal is the plastic housing against the aluminum pan.

Perhaps some sort of molecular lubricant that works into the metal might be good.

So, does the grease actually matter, does it do anything, should I skip it al together?

 

[chris adams]

I'm rebuilding the front diff and wondering about grease, or should I use it at all. Nearly 100% of factory grease was thrown away from the ring and pinion and into the casing.


View attachment 273810

I have grease and can buy grease if a particular kind is required. However, thinking about this there is no grease that will actually stay on the gears. Which makes them a wear item and probably need to be checked now and then.

A more less viscous lubricant might work better; however, there aren't really any seals to keep it in there. The bottom seal is the plastic housing against the aluminum pan.

Perhaps some sort of molecular lubricant that works into the metal might be good.

So, does the grease actually matter, does it do anything, should I skip it al together?

I'm an idiot and probably shouldn't be giving my 2 cents but on my speed cars, I only run 4s max, I just smear a very slight amount of red marine grease on the teeth but run it nearly dry. Seems to work fine up to about 140mph. At least so far it is

 

[Dan B.]

So, does the grease actually matter, does it do anything, should I skip it al together?

Yeah man, most definitely use some grease in there. I usually use the white lithium stuff, but @chris adams has me thinking about the red marine grease because it doesn’t get contaminated by water. Might be good for my off-road rigs that do get wet.

 

[joshludden]

You're correct, it gets flung off in a big fat hurry. But some is better than none in this case, in my opinion

 

[LicketySplit]

Any grease will work. However, look up Aeroshell 33. It doesn’t fling off. It’s all I use. Developed to last a long time for the aviation industry.

 

[SrC]

I'm rebuilding the front diff and wondering about grease, or should I use it at all. Nearly 100% of factory grease was thrown away from the ring and pinion and into the casing.


View attachment 273810

I have grease and can buy grease if a particular kind is required. However, thinking about this there is no grease that will actually stay on the gears. Which makes them a wear item and probably need to be checked now and then.

A more less viscous lubricant might work better; however, there aren't really any seals to keep it in there. The bottom seal is the plastic housing against the aluminum pan.

Perhaps some sort of molecular lubricant that works into the metal might be good.

So, does the grease actually matter, does it do anything, should I skip it al together?

Yeah for speed running, grease is used, just very sparingly. Too much Heavy and thick grease will actually hurt your speeds and increase load and heat.
Grease does sling off at some point.. Especially when its too much. A waste. But what little actually remains on the gears is enough, as long as its a quality synthetic grease.
Definitely clean out the stock Chinesium greas. Stuff smells like animal fat. Who knows what that crap is. Could be Bat Fat for all I know.
Use your own. I like SuperLube, clear synthetic grease. It is not too thick or pasty. And is WP andf handles cold and hot climates very well. It really does last a while between rebuilds. I order it from Home Depot. Pick it up in person 2 days later. I buy it by the 1 pound tub and put it in a small Hand pump. This way there is less waste and the grease is always dispensed clean.

 

[Jerold]

Maybe the complete lack of grease is why it sounds so good?

I'm an idiot and probably shouldn't be giving my 2 cents but on my speed cars, I only run 4s max, I just smear a very slight amount of red marine grease on the teeth but run it nearly dry. Seems to work fine up to about 140mph. At least so far it is

This was my original thought, I have some Quicksilver marine grease. Marine grease is pretty much the go to for most crawlers diffs and transmissions. Which reminds me I have a mouse in my transmission, but that's another day.

Definitely clean out the stock Chinesium greas. Stuff smells like animal fat. Who knows what that crap is. Could be Bat Fat for all I know.
Use your own. I like SuperLube, clear synthetic grease. It is not too thick or pasty.

I have a couple of tubes of this stuff and have used in many applications. It's really good with water too and have used this in the crawlers as well.

Another thought is to use something that "soaks" into the metal like Frog Lube or Tri-flow Teflon? The Frog Lube is really for guns, but if it works it works. It is activated with heat. You can coat the parts then bake them or something like that. We used Tri-flow in all of our skateboard bearings, bicycle chains and locks. It's pretty amazing for that stuff; however, it's very viscous.