Grease or no Grease

[mharrel]

We took our TT out in Sept for the first trip of the year. It had been parked since the summer of '19. When I went to put down the stabilizer jacks, they were rusty and creaky. My first thought was to spray some silicon grease on them for lubrication. Then I thought the grease would attract all kinds of dust and road grime and maybe do more harm than good. I ended up doing nothing and after a little exercise, they were fine. Now that the TT is parked for the winter, I'm wondering if I should grease them or leave well enough alone. What's best?

Interesting that with the word "grease" both the noun and the verb are spelled the same, but pronounced differently.

[Qwkynuf]

Originally Posted by mharrel

We took our TT out in Sept for the first trip of the year. It had been parked since the summer of '19. When I went to put down the stabilizer jacks, they were rusty and creaky. My first thought was to spray some silicon grease on them for lubrication. Then I thought the grease would attract all kinds of dust and road grime and maybe do more harm than good. I ended up doing nothing and after a little exercise, they were fine. Now that the TT is parked for the winter, I'm wondering if I should grease them or leave well enough alone. What's best?

Interesting that with the word "grease" both the noun and the verb are spelled the same, but pronounced differently.

????

Not anywhere I have ever lived...

Rhymes with "geese" both ways. I have occasionally heard people pronounce it with a 'z' sound, rhyming with "ease", but even then I never heard of a distinction between 'doing' and 'being' grease.

Funny language we have here!

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by mharrel

We took our TT out in Sept for the first trip of the year. It had been parked since the summer of '19. When I went to put down the stabilizer jacks, they were rusty and creaky. My first thought was to spray some silicon grease on them for lubrication. Then I thought the grease would attract all kinds of dust and road grime and maybe do more harm than good. I ended up doing nothing and after a little exercise, they were fine. Now that the TT is parked for the winter, I'm wondering if I should grease them or leave well enough alone. What's best?

Interesting that with the word "grease" both the noun and the verb are spelled the same, but pronounced differently.

Strange, most people I know pronounce it the same if they're buying it or using it.


As for using it on the stabilizer jacks you're right, it will attract every bit of grit and dust from the road that flies by it. I prefer to spray mine with a dry lube. All kinds of it on the market. I use one marketed for use on Motorcycle and Bicycle Chains.

As for the "rusty", not a bad idea to remove the jacks, clean all loose paint and rust from them , and give them a coat of a rust preventive paint like Rust Oleum. If rust is bad using some Naval Jelly first will convert the rust to a phosphate that stops continued growth of rust and also provides better adhesion for the paint.

Some people I've met have even totally disassembled the jacks, had the pieces bead-blasted, and refinished from clean metal.

I'm not all that impressed with the factory jacks and have started replacing them one at a time with a better built jack with better paint and corrosion control.

[comfun1]

Once or twice a season I spray a little PB Blaster on mine. So far I have not had any problems with build up.

[bradbill]

Use a dry lube with PTFE in it. The carrier evaporates and all you have left is the PTFE which won't attract dust.

[Palinduff]

I use some dry grease. Not the slide stuff, it’s too expensive. Dry grease from Canadian Tire or where ever. A third of the price and probably the same stuff. I use it on the slide rails also.

[Chazman]

Yep, grease is grease, noun or verb. Personally, I like Krylon a lot more that Rustoleum. But that's just my opinion.

[aircommuter]

Products like never seize type compounds or like others said dry lubricants. I don't agree that grease attracts dust, I think it just may hold it when the dust comes in contact with it.

[Bronco Carl]

Go to a good bike shop and ask for bike chain dry lube. Good chain lube is not cheap but works great where you would like to keep down the attraction for dust.

[mdsnitc]

Another vote for dry lube, I just hit mine when I winterized the camper. I use "Maxima 74920 Dirt Bike Chain Wax" because that's what I have around for the dirtbikes.

[Chuck_S]

Click the little speaker icons on this page. Grease is pronounced the same way regardless of being a noun or verb.

https://www.google.com/search?client...e+verb+meaning

-- Chuck

[TowPro]

I use motorcycle chain lube made for dirt bikes. Also use it in hitch balls and 5th wheel hitch pivots and plates

[D W]

Originally Posted by bradbill

Use a dry lube with PTFE in it. The carrier evaporates and all you have left is the PTFE which won't attract dust.

X2. Here's what I use:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/WD-40-SP...0059/204960991

[mharrel]

Thanks for the replies. It sounds as if PTFE is the way to go. I was unaware of the dry lubricants. As someone suggested, I think I'll use it on the slides as well. The slide lubricant collects all kinds of dirt as well.

As for the pronunciation of "grease", I have never heard the verb pronounced as any other than "greeze", and I am somewhat of a pedant. But this is Texas. I looked it up in the dictionary and both pronunciations are accepted. I learn something everyday.

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/grease?s=t

[Bama Rambler]

If I'm doing it, it's greeze/greezing, if I'm using it, it's grease.

I use dry lubes on any sliding surfaces exposed to the elements.

[MR.M]

for stabilizers WD-40 dispels water prevents rust

[pgandw]

Originally Posted by MR.M

for stabilizers WD-40 dispels water prevents rust

Unfortunately, the protection does not last long periods of time. The solvents in WD-40 tend to evaporate in a matter of weeks (or a few months), depending on climate.

Several decades ago, a publication called Practical Sailor (kind of like Consumer Reports for the maritime world) tested several things as rust/corrosion preventatives. WD-40 was one of the best (and cheapest) in the short term. Reapplication was needed in a few weeks in the marine environment (matches my experience).

The solvents in WD-40 were very good for some purposes. In Juneau, Alaska we used WD-40 to remove the glacier silt that glued itself to vehicles. No detergent would touch the glacier silt. Until I found out about WD-40, I was ruining the paint trying to get the silt off.

Fred W

[MR.M]

Originally Posted by pgandw

Unfortunately, the protection does not last long periods of time. The solvents in WD-40 tend to evaporate in a matter of weeks (or a few months), depending on climate.

Several decades ago, a publication called Practical Sailor (kind of like Consumer Reports for the maritime world) tested several things as rust/corrosion preventatives. WD-40 was one of the best (and cheapest) in the short term. Reapplication was needed in a few weeks in the marine environment (matches my experience).

The solvents in WD-40 were very good for some purposes. In Juneau, Alaska we used WD-40 to remove the glacier silt that glued itself to vehicles. No detergent would touch the glacier silt. Until I found out about WD-40, I was ruining the paint trying to get the silt off.

Fred W

Works well for me for 6 months of protection . if the stabilizers were out in the rain and weather everyday maybe not so much but since they are pretty protected i find it works fantastic for keeping the rust off the threads and other metal parts of the stabilizers for months . Don't want to lube the screws on the stabilizers as they will unwind themselves . learned this the hard way . now it's just wd-40 . if it were out in the weather all day everyday then maybe something different . but since it's not it works great

[Dakota 1120]

I have used spray on silicone and works well, does NOT leave anything that will hold dust/dirt when traveling.

As for WD-40, the WD stands for Water Displacer and it's basically glorified kerosene.

[campkasten]

I use a dry lube spray similar to the one we used on our popup camper's slide out bed rails. It does not attract much in the way of road debris.


I do use WD40 to clean the stabilizers if they show signs of getting creaky...