Howdy All,

I have a flat deck car hauler than I use to ... haul stuff like cars & ATVs & deer blinds & feeders & other "stuff"

Figure after a year of use it is "time" to service the bearings and thus I have a few questions.

(A) Bearings appear have Zerk fitting at the end cap under a rubber removable cover - so I assume I can just hook up a grease gun and "refresh" the grease into the bearing that way (instead of "old school" disassembly of wheel and pulling the bearings to individually repack each bearing race & cup).

(B) Lubrication - I'm told the Red ish High Temp grease is preferred for high temperatures like wheel bearings.  Used it to pack new front wheel bearings on a tow vehicle that had worn out the old ones after 200K miles.  Would this be a good grease for the trailer hub wheel bearings? Just guessing that it would be "the Right Stuff".

(C) Big Question :  My good old grease gun had some of the very very thick old dark brown grease (god only knows how many years old it is) used to lubricate Universal Joints & Ball Joints of an old pickup.  Clearly is is not the Redish High Temperature grease.     Just pulled the old can out and have cleaned out the gun from the goop that has solidified to nearly a solid.

Is the old type "dark?" grease "better" for anything automotive or is the Red the best general automotive grease?  In other words should I reload the old grease gun with another tube of dark grease for lublicating something dark grease is better at.   or if Dark Grease is obsolete Should I clear out the old grease gun & load a new tube of Red?

Or

(D)  would you recommend have one grease gun with general purpose dark grease and another with only the Red grease?  Cost of a new grease gun is small if having grease of both "flavors" is better

Thanks for any comments or wisdom you can provide.

Bigger_Hammer

Any grease is better than no grease.   Sounds like you have bearing buddy's in there. If you look inside there are probably a spring/wire looking things inside there.   As you add grease they should compress a bit towards you.    As far as color, I use a marine type on my boat trailer which is blue if I remember right.  

  All that said, pending how old the trailer is and when was the last time if ever you re-packed the bearings, it is probably time.  

Jack up the trailer by the tire you are greasing the hub. Take off the rubber cover. Use the red grease only, and be liberal with it. Spin the tire as you pump the new grease in until the color of the grease is entirely red from the new grease. Clean up any extra grease and reseat the rubber cover.
Easy Peasy

Simplify and use a single tube of red for most everything.

Mystik High Temp No.2 is my usual go-to as it's pretty cost effective.

Just make sure it's a NLGI GC-LB (G=Wheel Bearing L=chassis) grease and your fine.

Thank You for the insights & information!

Bigger_Hammer

This.  It works perfectly.  Pump it in until you flush out all the old grease.

I say pull them apart.  There is no possible way to  really really tell the condition   Timken/ tapered roller bearings without  cleaning and inspecting them.  You may or may not be able to pull and re-use the seals.

Heat damage from  over tightened,  rust from water intrusion, various  brunelling from  running loose or very heavy loads,  and probably  several other things causing damage to races and  rollers.   This of course gets worse if the loads are heavier, or the axles lighter.   Damage to ONE  axle's bearings  is caused by mis-balancing the load  as well as too high/ too low loaded hitch height.   Rough roads, of course.

Color in general doesn't mean anything about grease.  It can roughly indicate the base stock it's made of. https://www.mystiklubes.com/Articles/Grease/WhatDoesColorSay.jsp#:~:text=The%20color%20of%20a%20grease,the%20grease

I use cheap black/green grease for pins and bushings on equipment that don't spin at high speed.  Mostly partial rotation and sliding.  Works in sealed ball joints to extend life.

I used to have a couple 16 oz tubs of Ford wheel bearing grease to pack bearings.  It was dark in color.  Lately I have used Mystik JT-6 High Temp Grease #1 red grease for u-joints and bearings.  Mainly because I can buy it locally at a decent price.  The blue marine grease from Mystic is not rated for disc brakes.

Mystic use chart

I tend to like moly greases (ford typically spec’s a moly blend for bearings) but I’ve used the red just fine in trailers and other stuff.

Tearing them down is really the way to go, especially if grease and condition is unknown. Can check brake condition as well. Then just touch up with zerks occasionally during/after trips.

Buy one of these.


When you pull off the highway to refuel shoot the hub temps from time to time. Checking sidewall temps too will give you a heads up on a possible low tire pressure issue.

WTR 81322. You’re welcome.