Almost ready to take my new Yetti on its maiden voyage. What kind of grease do you use on your wheel pivots and how often do you grease them? I’ve been reading that a lot of people use synthetic marine grease but after looking at the specs on them they are only rated down to like -10 degrees. Also, any brand preferences?
Any is fine in this situation as the grease does not need to “liquify” the super thin film on a moving surface like say a wheel bearing does. The purpose of the grease in the pivot is to keep grime, road spray and dirt out and prevent rusting. The grease type in this location is not nearly as important as wheel bearing greases. My advice is to add a couple squeezes to both inner and outer zirks before you leave to the lake and if you can also on the way back home. The more the better as adding grease will push the contaminants that are right at the gap out.
I was actually very surprised at how much rust was inside the pivot on my Yetti that had only 2 seasons of use on. I only grease every couple trips though but after servicing the system this year will be more religious about it.
Also the paint that is on the steel drop axles is a joke. After those 2 seasons I would say about 1/2 is gone and rust is setting in. I began painting on Bar/chain oil this year to combat the issue as well as with the winches too.
Mark is spot on with all comments here, not something one wants to neglect.
Awesome, thanks for that response Mark! Think I’ll go with Lucas’s Red “N” Tacky just because its water resistant and also contains anti-seize to help prevent rust and oxidation.
Don’t trust the Zerts, take them every other year and clean the rust and smear them with grease.
Long time lurker, first time poster.
This is kind of one of those ‘it depends’ questions. Do you intend to use it only during normal winter or during cold snaps when any sane person would be at home in front of the wood stove?
A garden variety conventional EP2 like lucas red and tacky will work okay most of the time. It will definitely stay in the journal. It might become an issue in deep cold where the grease becomes so viscous movement is significantly slowed or even impeded. I’ve seen it happen up here, particularly with that specific lucas product. It has lots of tackifer and has a high dropping point. It is more of a high temp high pressure grease.
My suggestion would be a synthetic NLGI 1 (SHC221) or even a 00 (SHC007) for winter use. The 00 will run out like water in the summer though. Most of the major companies make a suitable grease, I am just most familiar with ExxonMobil.
If you want to mess with your buddy, pump one side of his fish house with SHC1000 Special. It won’t pivot again until August…
I have Lucas red N tacky in one of my guns. beware, that particular grease tends to separate in the gun and leak…I know lots of grease can do that, but this stuff is particularly messy. I use it on my Yetti, ATV and truck. Amsoil synthetic water resistant is also very good.
Long time lurker, first time poster.
This is kind of one of those ‘it depends’ questions. Do you intend to use it only during normal winter or during cold snaps when any sane person would be at home in front of the wood stove?
A garden variety conventional EP2 like lucas red and tacky will work okay most of the time. It will definitely stay in the journal. It might become an issue in deep cold where the grease becomes so viscous movement is significantly slowed or even impeded. I’ve seen it happen up here, particularly with that specific lucas product. It has lots of tackifer and has a high dropping point. It is more of a high temp high pressure grease.
My suggestion would be a synthetic NLGI 1 (SHC221) or even a 00 (SHC007) for winter use. The 00 will run out like water in the summer though. Most of the major companies make a suitable grease, I am just most familiar with ExxonMobil.
If you want to mess with your buddy, pump one side of his fish house with SHC1000 Special. It won’t pivot again until August…
The reason why I bought the shack is so I don’t have to stay at home in front of the stove during the cold snaps, I’d rather be fishing. That being said, I’m also intending on using it fairly regularly year round as a camper. I’ll definitely stay away from the 00 due to the reason of using the shack frequently in the summer. Thanks for all the replies!
I own and operate a fab shop in north central MN. We work on almost all brands of wheel houses. The problem is not so much of what kind of grease but rather the fact that the pivots have grease fittings in one place around the radius od the pivot. This would work great if the pivot moved all the way around 360 degrees. However it only move about 90 degrees thus it doesn’t get grease all the way around the pivot. half of it is dry and rusts causing the pivot to freeze up. I would suggest adding a fitting 180 degrees around the pipe from the factory one or remove the pivot yearly and apply grease to the entire pivot 360 degrees.
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