it needs a little something to prevent corrosion, on all the components, thrust washers, Teflon washers, bushing face, dowels ,bolts, inner bolt sleeves, etc
For the application you're taking about I'd go with molykote 111, excellent grease for a variety of plastics and rubber, bonds to metal like nothing else. I use it for the sunroof tracks on the Mercedes. Highly water proof and lasts for a couple yrs.
We discussed it for ages. Manufacturer says NO grease. Any grease shortens the lifetime of these 'dry running bearings', and leads to nasty noises, since it forms an abrasive paste together with the dust from the environment. It's a lead, PTFE, copper composite material. So corrosion is no issue. But each to his own. BTW. There is a similar bearing, where the steering column goes through the firewall. If lubed with grease it will sooner or later lead to the dreaded, temperature dependend 'sticky steering syndrome'. Best from Germany Martin
Yes Martin I’ve read the threads. That’s why I ask what is the best. I do understand about dry running. But assembling all the pieces in the suspension dry. Would corrode with moisture. Think of the back side of the washer touching the bushing
I believe one of our popular mechanics might of said I thin coat of assembly lube would also work. When I did mine I did light red grease.
During the 2000s years I was faced with constant noise problems and customer complaints in the industrial environment, only because the old mechanics refused to hear, what the manufacturer says. If you can regrease the bearings periodically there's nothing said against grease. But lubrication with grease on installation and no more after that, shortens the lifetime of them. Best from Germany Martin
Sure I understand. The car I’m working on had all the outer suspension parts fused together by rust and the rubber rings were intact. No usable pieces. Even the Teflon was rusted.
Here's a thorough write-up about lubrication of such bearings Take into account, that we have P1/P10 bearings. P2/P20 have lube pockets and are suitable for grease. But this wasn't intended by the designers and would have affected the dimensions because of the less load these can take. https://www.permaglide.com/en/technical-know-how/recommendations/lubrication-of-plain-bearings/ Best from Germany Martin
Martin, I don't think a film of silicone molykote will be a problem on the metal bits to prevent corrosion. Ideally plating would be employed but that is costly and a bit of a pain for most home diy. Only other option I could see would be using an epoxy paint.
If we just talk about the metal surfaces, o.k. I understood absostone that way, that he wants to apply grease onto the bearing surfaces. But any lube on first installation on the Lead/PTFE/inner surface of the bearing would not only induce abrasive paste but also affect the run-in process. Except on those with lube pockets, but those we don't have. The exposed metal surfaces of the bearings I used (Permaglide) are zinc-plated. The ones I once removed from my wishbones -still the original ones- were free of corrosion but badly worn and noisy since someone lubed them in the past. They were almost seized, since the paste formed a hard substance, which literally clamped the joint. Best from Germany Martin
The bearings have a run-in surface, which should transfer partially onto the inner rotating counterpart. That's how the inventor imagined the purpose. Any lube would prevent this. Best from Germany Martin
Did I misunderstand you? Then sorry. Outer joint of the wishbone with the uprights. I talk about 'bearings', since these bushings and thrust washers are actually plain bearings. Parts 8 and 9: Image Unavailable, Please Login Best Martin
correct 8 and 9 Teflon coated so you believe to run dry. the back side of 9 is not coated and as we all know is held by the pin to stop rotation so you wouldn't use anything on the back of that? Or no lube on any part? Interesting ,The only parts that were not damaged on this car are parts that had grease on them
I do not believe it, I know it due to endless debates 10 years ago with the mechanics from one of my customers But without kidding: If you feel more comfortable, lube the parts. It's no safety issue. It just shortens lifetime of the bearings. It can do no harm, other than suspension noises after some time, when the paste has built up sufficiently to seize the joint. Something completely different on the steering column bushing/bearing in the footwell, where grease induces the 'sticky steering syndrome' after a certain time. Or lube the metal surfaces, which have no bearing function, slightly with a grease, which does not creep onto the PTFE/lead portion, like smg proposed. Best from Germany Martin
Sounds good , Ive read your posts on this subject , my title is BEST GREASE, was curious to know if there was a Best grease. So you believe everything from the factory was assembled dry? and what about if the faces are not all 100% parallel to pass the bolts through? Looking at the way the Arms are built by welding the gussets in a nonstop sloppy bead that had to introduce HUGE amounts of heat, it would be impossible for the bores to be parallel in my eyes, and my reasoning for some type of lube would be to help the inner spacers rotate freely. But I do agree about the build up, the parts did have some grease build up, but under the grease the parts were in ok shape. The parts that did not have build up or grease were rusted beyond belief
And the real fun part is that on the later 328's that whole assembly is coated in cosmoline, that crap collects road grime and dirt like nothing else. Hey no rust, just piles of debris and worn bits.
Ill bet. Im gonna look into the mollykote , but Ill probably use some light red grease I have like I did on my car
Though welded pieces, the wishbones are fairly precise parts. I assume, when they were manufactured, the single parts were clamped in a welding jig with the purpose to maintain the critical dimensions and position tolerances, where the wishbones join the frame and uprights. A kind of dummy frame and dummy upright. Otherwise the assemblers would have had a hard time.
If you are going to use a grease, definitely use a silicone-based grease and not a petroleum-based grease.
