Best lubricant for metal gearboxes?

[Marc780]

I did a search and not many answers...I have read opinions from people that swear by rattle-can lithium grease, to even car gear oil, and everything else in between. Is white lithium spray can grease good enough-its cheap and easy to use but I'm not sure if it even lubricates anything at all- or is there something better?

[ALPHA]

I use a really viscous silicon lube made for RC cars ...it spits up just a little the first time you lube the boxes...but after that it hardly makes a mess inside the tank
and the gearboxes run smooth..... use that stuff for upgrading airsoft gearboxes as well...really tough stuff ...rarely breaks down

ALPHA

[FreakyDude]

I use several brands and types. Like everything else in this world nothing is perfect for every application but in general I follow these suggestions
1. make sure it is plastic compatible, Static free and has a high viscosity meaning you don't want 3 in 1 oil. You need some stick for your gears.
2. Anything is almost better than nothing. If you don't have the perfect stuff then apply the not so perfect but clean all the excess away and run the gears to get the grease into every nook and cranny.
3.Don't let your motors get covered. Clean them off before using the vehicle. even if only for esthetics.
4. Keep the gear area clean of grease. Grease is like a magnet for dirt, it traps it and holds it - Gears and motors don't like dirt
5.Don't stick your fingers into the gearbox with a dab of grease on the end thinking you will get that one spot that is dry. Their are some pretty nasty pinch points in your gearbox.
6. Work with the battery removed from the tank when fiddling around the gearbox.
and the last and final one - Use dry graphite lubricants for the shafts on your roadwheels/Idlers, Lubricates but none of the downside of grease by trapping the dirt.

Everybody will have their own opinion on good or bad lubricants. Generally though it is all pretty good for a tank.

[Lord Haw-Haw]

The best I've found (local ACE hardware):
http://www2.dupont.com/Consumer_Lubrica ... _film.html
If you've used chain wax on a bike chain, it applies and finishes the same, but last longer -have run many hours without reapplying.
I suggest the 4oz bottle, very very low viscosity when applying, the stuff creeps into tight spots before it dries.
Now I don't need the gearbox covers I made.

Before appling I suggest cleaning the gearboxes first, If you don't want to remove from tank use MAF cleaner ( http://www.autozone.com/miscellaneous-c ... ner/36011/ ) this will decrease like brake cleaner without harming plastic and most paints. Best though is removing and using a ultrasonic cleaner ( http://www.harborfreight.com/ultrasonic ... -3305.html ).

[ALPHA]

Whatever you choose to use Marc...just be sure to read the labels...if it contains petroleum products ...stay away from it... it will change the composition of the plastic and cause it to break down....meaning the plastic the tank is made of

ALPHA

[brizo58]

Hi All,
Well being a Fitter engineer for 46years use Lithium.i always use it. I got some from work, when I was still working it's the same we use in the wheel bearings on London buses. So it can't be bad. Brian...

[jarndice]

I echo Lord Haw Haw, as a biker I am well aware of the "FLING" of some M/C chain lubes but chain wax stays where it is applied and will not affect the ABS/PLASTIC of your tank. shaun

[ALPHA]

Furniture Polish....any spray on kind...if it doesn't hurt wood..it won't hurt plastic

ALPHA

[wibblywobbly]

I use motorcycle chain spray, the slightly more expensive non-fling variety, you can buy small aerosols of it that will last a tank for ages. The reason it works so well is that it is grease dissolved in a solvent. You spray it on, and it's a liquid, it penetrates into every crevice and bearing and then the solvent evaporates off leaving the grease in place.

http://www.sportsbikeshop.co.uk/motorcy ... _rev/29605

It is formulated so that the grease doesn't fly off when the gears rotate. My back wheel doesn't have any grease on it, which it would do if it was flying off the chain.

A motorcycle chain is a lot of links all moving against two gears and rotating at a gazillion miles per hour for hours. One application lasts hundreds of miles. Bearing in mind that a chain has 150 bhp pulling through it, on a bike that is doing maybe 160-180mph, and how fast it is moving, it does an amazing job. It doesn't harm rubber (chains are fitted with rubber 'O' rings). Anything that a 1/16 tank can do is isn't going to faze the lubricant at all.

I always mask off the gearboxes when I spray it in to protect the paint on the tank, but apart from that it is spray and forget.

It's also useful for any other application where you need to get lubricant into a place that you cant reach, there is a plastic tube that fits on the nozzle, so you don't spray it all over the place. Eg sticking components on a car, gear linkages etc.

Duck oil based products like WD40 will clean muck off, but they aren't lubricants, car gear oil will fly all over the place, normal grease is as messy as heck and will not get into bearings which is where the stress is carried.

RobG

[Jake79]

Lets say one's feeling lazy , you have a new set of tam gears,you do not feel like going through the grinding paste scenario ..could you get away with running them in dry for ten minutes, then just use the motorcycle lube....