CV Grease, continued!

[L.R.S.]

So I used to use Swepco 101 and service every year. The picture of those stars is just how mine looked every time. The housings did as well with the pitting. I do not like servicing cv's, seems I get grease on everything just thinking about it. With the results I am seeing now with the 164 I will attempt to go 4 or 5 seasons before I do this again.

4 or 5 seasons without servicing your CVs because it's too messy. Solid plan.

 

[John@Outfront]

I used Cat Desert Gold once because the client had a case in his trailer and specifically asked me to use it. For the other 4-5 sets of CVs I prep per month I use Swepco Moly 101 to pack the CV and add layer of BelRay over that. I don't bother to premix them. I do have a 50/50 Swepco/BelRay mix i bkught from Foddrills on the shelf but haven't used it on any clients cars yet. Might try it on my car next season and see how it holds up.

Swepco and BelRay is the same combo I used when I was a Crew Chief prepping two Class 1 Unlimited cars for 10 years of racing M.O.R.E., BITD and S.C.O.R.E. series.

I would not use Moly 164 by itself in a sandrail and expect it to last an entire season, let alone multiple seasons. At least not as much as I dune. 164 is more geared toward racers that prep their CV's after each race. 

As far as using zerk fittings to add grease every trip or other trip I'm not a fan. This guy was...

Just did this set last week so it's not an old picture.

Your mileage may vary, some assembly required, batteries not included.

We are similar but opposite.  we use a squirt of belray on each flute of the star and the housing first, assemble the joint and then pack the rest of the joint with 101, we dont mix it either! then we put a blob in each flange/cup.  for a typical buggy user i would say dont touch anything for 2 years until the next service

 

[Bobalos]

I tried the belray/swepco this year and 2 trips in I pulled the boots back to see how it was going.  It was worse than what this picture shows. 

I pumped more in each trip, and each time they looked like this.

Initially I used the fill the star/balls with grease then cover with moly method.  

This season I bought the premix from fodrills and will try to make sure I do a better job of getting it all the way through the cv.  

 

[richard h]

4 or 5 seasons without servicing your CVs because it's too messy. Solid plan.

With the 101 it was every season. 164 seems to last and work a longer period for me.

Key is FOR ME. you do what works best for you. And if I was getting paid to do cv service I would suggest twice a season.

 

[lincster]

I tried the belray/swepco this year and 2 trips in I pulled the boots back to see how it was going.  It was worse than what this picture shows. 

I pumped more in each trip, and each time they looked like this.

Initially I used the fill the star/balls with grease then cover with moly method.  

This season I bought the premix from fodrills and will try to make sure I do a better job of getting it all the way through the cv.  

View attachment 30897

Looks pretty normal, grease will get slung away from the CV as the axle plunges and acts like a toilet plunger.

I used a grease needle every other trip and ensure the cups behind the CV are full.

I put new stars in on the tranny side this season, anxious to see how they look.

 

[Bobalos]

When I was using only the Cat grease before, I would go a whole season and not look at them and there was still grease on the stars at the end of the season.  However we have been moving at a much higher pace the last couple of seasons.  

 

[lincster]

When I was using only the Cat grease before, I would go a whole season and not look at them and there was still grease on the stars at the end of the season.  However we have been moving at a much higher pace the last couple of seasons.  

I completely agree that is part of the equation.

More speed = more "slinging". 

 

[parker@gearone]

With the 101 it was every season. 164 seems to last and work a longer period for me.

Key is FOR ME. you do what works best for you. And if I was getting paid to do cv service I would suggest twice a season.

I don't get paid to grease CVs, I sell them and want them to last as long as possible for my customers. I highly suggest you inspect and re grease every summer. Its not that hard to do. People complain way to much about it, it builds character.

 

[L.R.S.]

I tried the belray/swepco this year and 2 trips in I pulled the boots back to see how it was going.  It was worse than what this picture shows. 

I pumped more in each trip, and each time they looked like this.

Initially I used the fill the star/balls with grease then cover with moly method.  

This season I bought the premix from fodrills and will try to make sure I do a better job of getting it all the way through the cv.  

View attachment 30897

Looks fine to me.

 

[L.R.S.]

With the 101 it was every season. 164 seems to last and work a longer period for me.

Key is FOR ME. you do what works best for you. And if I was getting paid to do cv service I would suggest twice a season.

Twice a season is overkill for a sandrail.  I don't see a need to 'up-sell' my services.  Not how I do business.

 

[L.R.S.]

@L.R.S., how about details about the car that you showed the chewed up stars? 

Tatum Blackwidow, CBM built twin turbo, S4D.  I know the car and the previous owner well and have duned with it many times.  I've never serviced it until now. This car was driven HARD and not maintained very well.  Maybe someone can find the video- brown Tatum Blackwidow (it's wrapped now) doing a wheelie at the drags and hits a little pucker bush which brings the front end down.  Would have been around 2016-17ish.



Disclaimer- I'm not bashing the cars previous owner or whoever maintainted the car.  I post pics of what I find and repair.

Brake caliper was leaking fluid just sitting in my shop.  The pads were so wonk down the piston over extended and popped the O ring.  I rebuilt the calipers.





It was metal on metal but caught just in time before it destroyed the rotor.  I can give an estimate for a prep job but when I get my hands on the car sometimes I find stuff that needs to be addressed.  Discovery work adds up quickly.

 

[Bobalos]

Looks fine to me.

Trying to understand.....   would you run 2 or 3 more weekends without adding more? 

Or are you saying "for one weekend, don't sweat it.  Add more and go out and beat on it"

 

[J Alper]

Also i have seen cars with the same grease, same CV, and around the same power, but different outcomes of CV's 

For example My DD car, the trans axle sits hi in the car, so the angle at Ride height is already wacky, so no mater what the CV's get beat on after 2 seasons,  but i have seen SCU cars and Funco Cars where the axle is sitting close to Straight, get twice the life out of a CV than i do,  

At the end of the day Angle of the CV can play a good portion of why we see a CV last or not, 

 

[L.R.S.]

Trying to understand.....   would you run 2 or 3 more weekends without adding more? 

Or are you saying "for one weekend, don't sweat it.  Add more and go out and beat on it"

Trying to understand as well. Did you expect to see grease in every crevice of the CV? That's not how they work. If you see a lot of bare metal then add some grease. I don't see that in the pic you posted, hence the comment "Looks fine to me."

I had a client that would pull the boots back every trip and pump grease into the CV. He duned hard and put a lot of hours on his car. He asked me to service the car post season and the boots were so full of CV grease I replaced them with a new set. Haven't worked on the car in a couple seasons and I'll bet he's still puming grease in every trip. 

 

[Bobalos]

Trying to understand as well. Did you expect to see grease in every crevice of the CV? That's not how they work. If you see a lot of bare metal then add some grease. I don't see that in the pic you posted, hence the comment "Looks fine to me."

I had a client that would pull the boots back every trip and pump grease into the CV. He duned hard and put a lot of hours on his car. He asked me to service the car post season and the boots were so full of CV grease I replaced them with a new set. Haven't worked on the car in a couple seasons and I'll bet he's still puming grease in every trip. 

No certainly not every crevice of the CV.  Physics and logic dictate they are not going to be just like when I greased them.  I'm ok with that.  

I was kind of surprised how little there was in the stars given the previous 4 years with this car.  With as little as was left in the cv, i felt I should add some each trip.  These are fairly heavy cars, with a good bit of TQ, I'm using 930s, and "on a budget ", so im trying to get as much out of my equipment as possible.   As hard as we are pushing these cars now I'm pretty happy with the "work to enjoyment ratio".  I would like to find something that stuck in the CVs a little better.  

Yea the boots were pretty full and a little old so I threw them out.  They were slinging grease as well.  Never had that issue before.  The grease seemed pretty liquidy in the boot, which seemed odd, but I've never run the belray/swepco combo before so I was not sure what to expect.  

Every year I learn new things.  

 

[Big-Red]

I’ve got the grease combo going right now. I’ll tell you how it all works out after Idaho dunes next month haha.  I chit you not I’m running belray, certified labs, neo cv 500, neo hpcc1, and neo anti seize 40 which is similar to bel ray and CRC from napa. I had a little of each grease when I put CVs together. Grease zerks make life way easier without going overboard till it’s slinging out.  My grandpa always said any grease is better than none. I tear my mid boards down every year and probably only do 13-15 days total but certified and belray work well for me. I want to try Frontier moly next. Has a really high temp rating but doesn’t really mean it works well in a cv. Anyone tried it? 

 

[Cookie]

I use whatever Kartek tells me to use, I am short of brain cells and trust their judgement.  I service every two years without touching in between (roughly 40-50 dune days), and they look perfect when I pull them out.  This is with three different cars over 15 years.  All cars were Funco's.