Spur gear - To lube or not to lube

[Fred Flintstone]

That is the question.
Should we be putting grease on the big spur gear or should it run dry?

 

[zderekv]

I don’t see a need to lubricate anything made of nylon/plastic. Even lubing or greasing a steel spur will cause it to attract and hold dirt and grit. So it’s a no for me dog.

 

[HeavyBag]

I don’t see a need to lubricate anything made of nylon/plastic. Even lubing or greasing a steel spur will cause it to attract and hold dirt and grit. So it’s a no for me dog.

...and that attracted dirt will now act as an abrasive sandpaper-esque agent.

 

[Jddemelfi]

I run grease but I have a steel spur. I also seal the case to keep dirt out. I'm not convinced it does too much but it cant hurt if done right ....Lube for Life.

 

[XtrmTJ]

My vote: "No" ?

 

[weave]

It will quite it down if hardened steel.

 

[The_Man_With_The_Ruckus]

I did grease my steel one and it quieted it down... until about 30 seconds later when my rear diff ring exploded, snapping off the rear section of the chassis. then it didn't make any noise at all LOL

 

[Lephturn]

I just am about to replace a plastic spur gear- good timing. Given that this gear is the key part of the slipper clutch, putting grease anywhere near there seems like a bad idea.

 

[weave]

I'm a retired machinist and make some of my own parts, and yes a little gear grease is good for metal to metal gearing. If you ever have taken apart a rc tranny/differential with nylon gearing you will notice the gearing has lithium grease. I grease all my metal gearing on all my rc RC vehicles and have no collections of dirt and it will quite the meshing contact of the gearing. Metal gearing is louder then nylon gearing, that's why they use nylon, to keep the noise down. However, they won't stand up to high torque brushless motors.

 

[The_Man_With_The_Ruckus]

Given that this gear is the key part of the slipper clutch, putting grease anywhere near there seems like a bad idea.

I put grease on the spur just on the teeth. I am careful not to get it anywhere else, and I am not having any problems. plus, the centrifugal force will want to fling the grease outwards, away from the slipper.

 

[weave]

Yes, you don't need but a dab or two. I know some hobbyist that use Vaseline and have had good lubrication with that. I myself haven't tried Vaseline. The whole reason to use a grease is to quite the noise that hard steel gearing produces, nylon gearing produces none. And you want use a high viscosity grease so it will stick to the teeth and stay, even during rotation.

 

[The_Man_With_The_Ruckus]

you are 110% right that you only need a dab. I used a bunch one time and it got EVERYWHERE! rookie mistake. there are still spots where it is still greasy on the case! oops...