New Recommendations for Trailer Hub Lubrication

May 1, 2000
ExxonMobil Corporation has announced its support of the trucking industry's newly revised recommendations for trailer hub lubrication using synthetic

ExxonMobil Corporation has announced its support of the trucking industry's newly revised recommendations for trailer hub lubrication using synthetic semi-fluid grease. Mobilith SHC 007 has been the corporation's primary semi-fluid lubricating grease on the market since 1987.

The revised recommendations, recently approved by The Maintenance Council of the American Trucking Associations, advise filling nondriven wheel-end cavities to the halfway point when using semi-fluid grease. This represents an increase in volume over previous recommendations.

"We're in complete agreement with The Maintenance Council's new recommendations," said Dick Morrow, ExxonMobil's senior applications engineer. ExxonMobil worked closely with the trucking industry to develop the new guidelines. "The new guidelines," Morrow said, "were necessary due to the development in recent years of various new hub systems, which complicated the job of factory technicians performing initial lubricant installations."

The new recommendations will help prevent improper filling due to inadvertent miscalculations. "Filling wheel-end systems halfway with Mobilith SHC 007 will ensure that it performs as designed-which means reducing unnecessary and unscheduled downtime, as well as significantly reducing parts and labor costs," Morrow explained.

Mobilith SHC 007, which contains a high-quality synthetic base oil and lithium complex thickener, can withstand temperatures as low as -40 degrees and as high as 375 degrees F. Therefore, it has performance advantages over oil lubricants that have been the industry standard.

When used properly, Mobilith SHC 007 not only eliminates relubrication leakage, which can contaminate brake shoes and even lead to catastrophic bearing failure, but also significantly extends service intervals beyond the 100,000-mile intervals typical oil lubricants require. This makes it the ideal lubricant for trailer hubs, said Morrow.

"In our business, Mobilith SHC 007 has virtually eliminated leaky oil seals, which has dramatically reduced the number of our trailers that are taken out of service," said Jerry Thrift, group manager of maintenance services for Ryder Transportation Services, one of the country's leading rental and leasing companies. "Ryder began using the product three years ago, and now it's in 15,000 of the company's 46,000 trailers." Eventually Ryder's entire fleet will use Mobilith SHC 007, Thrift added.