Moly lube for spline shafts?

[voisinen]

CEA551D4-8F39-48FD-BF69-8B7F01DFFFD2.jpgHas anyone tried using loctite LB8012 moly paste to lubricate spline shafts?
Spec sheet shows 60% moly.

[Omega Man]

Welcome to the forum!
There is always some good discussions on spline lube, some are listed at the bottom of the page.
I’m rockin’ chains myself
Gary

[20774]

Welcome as well! There have been discussions about the discontinuation of a favorite spline lube, Honda Moly 60. Read some there:

https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread...0-DISCONTINUED

Snowbum has additional discussion about spline lubricants on this page:

https://bmwmotorcycletech.info/chemicalsetc.htm

[akbeemer]

I use the PGlaves concoction of greases to lube my splines. I suspect he will be along soon to provide the formula.

[lkraus]

I've been using it anywhere BMW calls for Optimoly TA since 2011. It's also labelled as Loctite 51048. My label claims 65% moly.

[PGlaves]

I use the PGlaves concoction of greases to lube my splines. I suspect he will be along soon to provide the formula.

Short Question - Long Answer (Short answer below in Bold)

Basics: To be called a moly grease it must have a little moly. Most of what you find in the auto parts or hardware stores (such as the ubiquitous Sta-Lube brand) contain between 3% and 5% powdered molybdenum disulfide (moly) by volume. To be called a moly paste it must have at least 50% moly by volume.

The greases with 3 to 5 percent moly do not contain enough moly for splines. In my opinion most moly pastes lack certain key characteristics necessary for clutch and driveshaft splines. At least three key characteristics are important: 1) Anti-wear to protect against the sliding action of the splines. 2) Anti-corrosion to protect against oxidation. 3) Cushioning to protect the metal against the power pulses as the engine runs (fretting corrosion).

My experience with actual moly pastes such as Honda Moly 60 is that the 50% or more moly content does well for #1 but performs poorly on numbers 2 and 3. It also dries out too quickly in my opinion.

My original concoction took a moly paste and a very sticky water resistant grease and mixed them together 50%-50%. This was a mix of Honda Moly 60 and Wurth Sig 3000 grease. Because of all the advice to never "mix" greases, I let my first batch sit on the shelf all summer before I used it the following fall. I found no degradation so used it.

Now for some serendipity. I accidentally stumbled on the fact that a company known as TS Moly, an oilfield service company based in Houston sold a moly gear oil additive. Without fully doing my homework I mentioned this fact in a Benchwrenching column. About two weeks later I received a telephone call from a gentleman who was an executive with TS Moly. He told me that they had received several phone calls from people wishing to buy the additive. But he said that they sell the stuff in 55 gallon drums and 5 gallon pails and folks were wanting to buy pints and quarts. He asked if I thought there was a market for this among motorcyclists. I said yes and soon Guard Dog Moly Lubricants was born. It was a two or three person spin-off from TS Moly. Ben Mathes and I had several phone conversations and I met him once when he visited the Houston club rally.

One of our conversations migrated to discussing spline lube and I explained what I had been mixing together. Pretty soon GD-525 Moly Grease was on the market.

After a few years Ben Mathes retired and Guard Dog Moly Lubricants closed down. But the parent company, TS Moly, still sells some of the former Guard Dog products, including GS-525 Moly Grease. See: https://www.tsmoly.com/grease-c-2.html

They also now sell their Gear Oil additive in quarts, gallons, 5 gallon pails, and 55 gallon drums. See: https://www.tsmoly.com/additives-c-23.html

By the way, I had/have no interest in Guard Dog or TS Moly, except for an appreciation for a person/company that jumped in to provide a good product for BMW motorcycle owners once they heard about the need.

[98lee]

TS Moly has discontinued the Guard Dog 525 (I just spoke with them). They have evolved it to a product that they call TS-60 spline lube.

It can be purchased through Ted Porter's Beemer Shop or direct from TS Moly. This would appear to be the best choice for spline lube.


https://www.beemershop.com/product/t...line-lube.html
This is TS Moly TS-60 repackaged for Ted. TS Moly recommends buying from Ted as shipping may be cheaper.



https://www.tsmoly.com/grease-spline-grease-p-367.html

https://www.tsmoly.com/grease-spline-grease-p-369.html

https://www.tsmoly.com/grease-spline-grease-p-368.html