What kind of grease to use on swing bearing teeth?

[Robert Istre]

We were told by a trucker to use moly grease on every joint of our excavator, except the swing bearing teeth, where he said to use the red kind. We don’t know if he was trying to save us money, just plain wrong, or actually correct. It’s getting annoying keeping an extra kind of grease. Please advise?

 

[Runs With Scissors]

My understanding is that moly grease is "better' for sliding parts like pins and such, but stuff like "Red and Tacky" grease is best for high speed parts like U-Joints and wheel bearings.

I think the general consensus here is that.......

"Any good grease that you use regularly, is better than the "correct" grease that you never use"....... Unless there is some 'special property" that you need to address on a swing bearing that I am unaware of, and that's totally possible.

I roll Lucas Red and Tacky on everything, but I also grease very often.

 

[Robert Istre]

After a bit more research, it seems like the red grease is mainly for rubber or plastic stuff that involves seals and bushings. So, are the swing bearing teeth rubber or around rubber? I wouldn’t think they’d be…

 

[skeets]

Red sticky is what I use on everything, I figure that if thats what they used on multi million dollar mining machines it should be good for the little bouta, but thats just me,,,,,,, and yep any grease is better than no grease

 

[GeoHorn]

Lucas “Red and Tacky” grease actually gets very high marks by most. (and the MSDS doesn’t mention the “testicular atrophy” that Mystic Red Tacky#1 does.)

 

[dirtydeed]

I use red n tacky on everything. tractor and excavator get the same grease everywhere including the swing bearing.

 

[DustyRusty]

I use Valvoline red grease and haven't worn out any bushings.

 

[GeoHorn]

We were told by a trucker to use moly grease on every joint of our excavator, except the swing bearing teeth, where he said to use the red kind. We don’t know if he was trying to save us money, just plain wrong, or actually correct. It’s getting annoying keeping an extra kind of grease. Please advise?

I was told by a trucker to avoid red-heads.

 

[The Evil Twin]

TL;DR- the swing bearing should get a EP lithium complex. The teeth could get either.
He is mostly correct in the technical sense. Moly grease is the one to use for sliding metal parts- loader pins, trailer hitch balls, ball joints, etc. The 'red' grease he was probably referring to is a lithium complex EP grease. It's best suited for high speed applications like roller or ball bearings.
The issue with using a moly fortified grease in the wrong application is "skidding". This is where the part that is supposed to roll (bearing) slides on the race instead of rolling along it. The issue with using lithium complex on sliding parts is that it may not protect against metal to metal contact as well.
Molybdenum disulfide is actually a solid. It has a very low friction coefficient and it fills in the microscopic peaks and valleys of the metal parts. Moly grease is usually a lithium complex grease with moly added. So they can be mixed as long as the moly grease does not specify a different base.
Oh, and silicone grease is the plastic and rubber safe one. Although, the boots and seals of greased joints are formulated to be compatible with petroleum products.

 

[fried1765]

I was told by a trucker to avoid red-heads.

If you ever watch "Project Farm" you will see a very convincing grease comparison test.
Lucas Red-N -Tacky easily wins the race!

 

[skeets]

GeoHorn said:
I was told by a trucker to avoid red-heads.
Yep redheads will take you to the moon and back ,and then rip your heart and other things right out!

 

[pgmrdan]

If you ever watch "Project Farm" you will see a very convincing grease comparison test.
Lucas Red-N -Tacky easily wins the race!

He compares the Lucas grease against.the cheapest grease at Walmart: Super Tech. The Lucas beats that one grease. That's not saying a lot for Lucas. Lucas is also a cheap grease.

I'd consider Valvoline before Lucas.