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tomjkear

Use grease on ball bearings?

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For kits that come with plastic bushings the instructions show lots of places to grease around the bushings. Do I still need to put grease in these places if I am building with ball bearing upgrade? 

Cheers :)

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No, metal ball bearings if they are new normally come lightly greased btween the ball and bearing race. Some people even prefer to soak them in a solvent or oil to remove the grease as there is a very marginal amount of friction caused by it although you lose the corrosion protection it provides.

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Thanks. So I can skip all the greasing steps where its obviously to lubricate the bushings :)

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I generally avoid greasing pretty much anywhere externally including kingpins, step screws on the suspension arms etc. Once grit gets into the grease it acts like a grinding paste. Without grease it can just fall away again.

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I use grease on the edges of places like gearbox covers, because it traps entering dirt and grit like petroleum-based snot.

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If you run mostly In dusty conditions you can skip the grease. If you plan to run in water and mud you may want to put a dab of marine grease on to keep corrosion at bay. 

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19 hours ago, Mrowka said:

I use grease on the edges of places like gearbox covers, because it traps entering dirt and grit like petroleum-based snot.

Yes I do that too, I just avoid using it on the moving parts that the manual tells you to. It's great at trapping dirt which can be bad but you can use it to your advantage too.

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I keep mine dry but spray them out with WD40 to clean them after dusty/dirty runs. Helps with corrosion too. 

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1 hour ago, Frog Jumper said:

I keep mine dry but spray them out with WD40 to clean them after dusty/dirty runs. Helps with corrosion too. 

Yep me too, in the summer, as I generally run on the beach or local park. In winter, I tend to smear just a little grease on each 'face' of the bearing to hopefully act as a moisture barrier when running at the park, which between the beginning of November and the end of March is invariably wet, soggy, damp and generally meh.

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Lot's of grease here.  If it moves it gets lube, except for ball cups.  Crawler axles get a heavy coating of di-electric grease in addition to the gobs of lithium grease in the gears. Plastic street car gears get transparent Tamiya grease.  Open spur gears and suspension pivots get dry paraffin. Bearings get STP from a needle. Shelf queens get silicone spray and Armor-All on the tires.  Everything that gets driven receives a compressed air shower following use.

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+1 on no grease

Only time I use it is when enclosed in silicone sealed cases / boxes - and even then in tiny amounts on gears, more on diffs depending on their design / use 

Both are no substitute for regular strip down / cleaning and - applied in the wrong places - make it that much harder 👍

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