Winch Grease
- Thread starter Dimo
- Start date
chasespeed
Explorer
I tend to use a synthetic, marine grade grease in a LOT of stuff... hasnt let me down yet....
greentruck
Adventurer
I would rate economy as the least significant attribute of a grease used on a winch. After all, there's not much that can be applied anyway to most of 'em. And even good grease is not that costly.
I partially disassembled the XRC12 currently on the truck because I needed to clock it anyway, wiped out as much of the factory grease as possible, and then used a Cat moly grease on it before reassembly. I suspect that the factory grease in many winches is a pretty pedestrian lithium grease, but that's what looked like was in this Smittybilt.
The main point is that lithium greases absorb water, while moly greases repel water. Which do you want in your winch, which is exposed to being dipped in stream crossings, etc and is generally out in the elements whenever your rig isn't parked in a garage?
There's more discussion, plus the specifics on the Cat grease that was recommended to me, along with a link back to a thread here discussing the similar XRC8, at this link on MUD:
http://forum.ih8mud.com/winching-recovery/371911-waterproofing-winch.html
Too soon to tell what the long term success of this will be, but I figured it was a good idea to experiment with and tell others about. Our winch is primarily for self-recovery on an expedition rig. I don't plan to use it much, but I want it to be ready when it is eventually needed.
Internal corrosion because of grease holding moisture is something which I suspect is in large part responsible for a lot of the issues people have with planetary winches. Perhaps if this turns out to be beneficial, maybe manufacturers will start using better quality grease for this application at the factory. But then they're in the business of selling more winches...
I partially disassembled the XRC12 currently on the truck because I needed to clock it anyway, wiped out as much of the factory grease as possible, and then used a Cat moly grease on it before reassembly. I suspect that the factory grease in many winches is a pretty pedestrian lithium grease, but that's what looked like was in this Smittybilt.
The main point is that lithium greases absorb water, while moly greases repel water. Which do you want in your winch, which is exposed to being dipped in stream crossings, etc and is generally out in the elements whenever your rig isn't parked in a garage?
There's more discussion, plus the specifics on the Cat grease that was recommended to me, along with a link back to a thread here discussing the similar XRC8, at this link on MUD:
http://forum.ih8mud.com/winching-recovery/371911-waterproofing-winch.html
Too soon to tell what the long term success of this will be, but I figured it was a good idea to experiment with and tell others about. Our winch is primarily for self-recovery on an expedition rig. I don't plan to use it much, but I want it to be ready when it is eventually needed.
Internal corrosion because of grease holding moisture is something which I suspect is in large part responsible for a lot of the issues people have with planetary winches. Perhaps if this turns out to be beneficial, maybe manufacturers will start using better quality grease for this application at the factory. But then they're in the business of selling more winches...
Last edited:
Antichrist
Expedition Leader
I use one of the Castrol Pyroplex greases in most everything. It's designed for off-road use and actually gets tackier when exposed to moisture.