wheel bearing and synthetic grease
 

Hi All,

I will be repacking the front wheel bearings on my '86 300E and would like to know if anyone has used Mobil 1 synthetic grease to repack their wheel bearings?

Is it ok to use synthetic grease in place of wheel bearing grease?

TIA.

hs

Hell Ya, It is good stuff.

I've been using Mobil 1 Synthetic grease on my Astro van for several years. When I went to repack them at the 30K service interval it was like I had just repacked them. The grease was still bright red. I also use the Mobil 1 grease on the grease fittings with excellent results.

It is excellent stuff. This grease is specified for the million-mile lubed-for-life truck wheel hub units our company manufactures.

MB provide a special high temperature, anti-friction bearing grease that's packaged in the right amount for two wheels.

The part number is 001 985 23 51 10.

I do wheel bearing failure analysis for a living. I just wanted to add that typically a wheel bearing fails because of poor sealing - allowing contaminants and water in, and grease out - which seriously degrades lubrication of the bearing and leads to failure. During bearing service, the seal MUST be replaced and not damaged in the process. This is much more important than the type of grease being used, as long as it's a hi-temp grease made for wheel bearing application.

The seals will NOT last 1 million miles.
Just don't want to raise your expectations too high...

Far more bearings fail from bad preload than substandard grease.

Csnow is right. That's why the industry has trended away from serviceable bearings to the throwaway units now manufactured for most vehicles. There were simply too many mechanics - truck and automotive - who could not properly set the preload on a bearing, which caused premature failure.

If it failed during warranty, it was a constant battle between the bearing manufacturer and auto manufacturer. The auto maufacturer would always say, "You build lousy bearings that can't last!". The bearing manufacturer would say, "Your mechanics at the dealership don't know how to properly install a bearing!" It keeps going back and forth like this and the evidence is lost.

I guess MB still trusts their dealership mechanics to service a bearing. At least the ones on my 95 E320 are still serviceable in the front. And yes, I used a dial gauge to set the preload last time I serviced them. The specs are so tight I couldn't do it by feel.