Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Lubriplate is MOST suitable for drum wheel bearings up to speeds of 220 mph that i know of. NOT sure about disk. Other than disk brake wheel bearings, or other obvious units such as engine,trans, axle I know of no other application for which lubriplate is not suitable. I use it for decades even on electrical switches and headlite rheostats.

In case you couldn't tell by my previous posts, I really like Lubriplate, but it does have it's limits. I don't think it would hold up to the high heat of disc brakes. I don't think it would be a good choice for something like the compensator gearbox, either.

Since I already knew about the need for MoS2 in this application, what caught my eye in this thread was Owen's mention of a non-channelling grease - though I don't know how to identify a particular grease as such.

The planetary gearsets in the TL box go in both directions, for up and down of course. Visualize one of the planetary gears rotating across the outer ring gear, and squeezing the grease out of the way on it's transit. If you have a strongly channeling grease, on the return trip there would essentially be an absence of grease because it had been displaced, so you'd have more metal-to-metal contact. A non-channeling grease would have enough movement to somewhat flow back into the cavity to provide lubrication for the return trip. But please don't ask me how to tell one from the other, other than by observation.

Owen -

Yes, that's exactly how I visualized it - that is, after I did a little Googling on "non-channelling grease". The online examples cited ball and race bearings, but I understand how planetary gear sets work from automatic transmission (and Model T's).

Unfortunately, it seems like suppliers don't ready disclose things like channelling properties.

I also wonder about the effect of the compensator planetary set's vertical orientation - has to be some air gap for things to move around.

This has been an excellent thread! I'll report back with anything new that I can turn up - hope others will as well.

Thanks Owen;
I have enjoyed reading everyone's input and you have really added to my thinking about lubricants. I will stick with the Sta-Lube Moly/ Graphite. That seems to be a good choice and allows for peace of mind, so to speak. I don't recall ever hearing discussed the "channeling issue regarding grease properties" even in some the industrial engineering classes I attended back last century, and I find it very interesting to say the least.