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Cable Lube ?

Oldgrunt

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Does anyone have suggestions for a great cable lube? I have always used liquid grafite on the cables of my Harleys, and it seems to work well.

Oldgrunt :twisted:
 

gimpyrobb

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There is a PS magazine article about using 30wt. I use pneumatic tool oil, as I have a shitload. I have heard others use waste motor oil. Is this a winch cable question? I might have answered wrong.
 

Recovry4x4

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I've heard bad things about using waste oil. Gimpy, what do you consider a crapload in reference to Pneumatic tool oil?
 

gimpyrobb

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Re: RE: Cable Lube ?

Recovry4x4 said:
I've heard bad things about using waste oil. Gimpy, what do you consider a crapload in reference to Pneumatic tool oil?
I have multiple 5gal buckets
 

rosco

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RE: Re: RE: Cable Lube ?

On the winch cable side of this thread.... What is the bad part of used motor oil?

On the Speedo Cable side...... If your subject to cod weather, as I am here, use something light, but just on the bottom half. I use a dab of the light Lubriplate, aircraft grease. The lubricant will migrate up the cable and you don't want it getting into the instrument.

Lee in Alaska
 

Barrman

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RE: Re: RE: Cable Lube ?

I was in charge of the weigh in for the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby Saturday. There were 3 of us in a line. A lady next to me would register the cars, hand them to me to weigh and then I would hand them to a guy who would work graphite powder into the wheels. I knew one of the granddads who was there and he started chuckling at the graphite use. He said "we used to use that stuff on aircraft control cables. It isn't nice to be stuffed into a small space, spray that stuff, get some in your nose and sneeze it all over the plane."

We got to talking later and he brought up my M715 asking how I was coming with it. I told him it was mostly done and did he know what a Duece was? "I went to school in 1956 on the GMC 211 and 135 then they sent me to M38A1 school and then to school for the REO M35. Which Duece are you talking about?" I told him I had a REO M35 Gasser. His eyes lit up and he started spouting off tech numbers for it. Things like timing advance, plug gap and fuel psi.

Then he points behind us to the graphite and says he was trained to use it on all the control cables of the military trucks including the speedo cable.

I am sure other stuff will work for you. But, at least in that one case that was the formally trained policy.
 

gimpyrobb

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Re: RE: Cable Lube ?

BKubu said:
I've heard the same bad things about using oil, Kenny. I use chassis grease.
Well, the ps article says that there is a heavy-er cable lube made specificly for winch cable, but not to use it as it will pick up grit that will ruin the wire strands. Grease might function that way. I'm just regurgitating what I've read.
 

JeepMan

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On the used motor oil -- For show purposes probably used motor oil would be okay but would'nt it kind of damage the cable over time? I mean there's going to be corrosives, (thats why you change it is'nt it) and grit and other stuff that would'nt be good for cable.
Just my opionion.
 

ida34

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RE: Re: RE: Cable Lube ?

I like graphite because it does not gum up. We used about 8 tubes when I was getting cars ready for pinewood derby. I even put is on the outside of the wheels to cut down on rolling resistance. It worked. The last time out we had a win, second place, and fifth place.

If we talk brake cables, I love the older brake cables with the zerk fitting in the middle of the cable. I had frozen cables on my water buffalo. It had been sitting long enough for the tires to sink 8 inches into the soil. The handles were even locked from rust. The cables had the zirk fitting and I pumped bearing grease in. I kept trying to force more grease in. After a few minutes I could see traces of grease coming out of the control end of the cable. I checked the cable and it was freed up. I I have new brake handles to put on but I don't have to replace the cable because of the fitting. I think there is a tool out there that attached to the end of a cable and forces lube into tach and speedo cables. I would use the lube products that come with the tool. On push pull cables like the engine stop, I would use anti-seize lube. I think the graphite might be to fine for the metal wound cables. I would use graphite on cables like bike cables with the plastic liner around the cable.

As to the winch cable, all I can say is the LO says 30 weight. I would not use waste oil. We use to spool the cable out and submerge it in 30 while we where spooling in the cable. The trick is to clean it just before it goes into the 30. Easy to do in a motor pool with more than a couple hundred feet of fairly clean concrete but hard to do for most of us. We only did this yearly.
 

Oldgrunt

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Re: Cable lube

Sorry guys I should have been more specific, I ment the throtle cable, speedo ect... Chris when I was in the Corps we used cosmolean (not sure of the spelling but it is really sticky and a bitch to remove) on all wench cables.

Brett
 

emr

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RE: Re: Cable lube

Winch cable info if U guys don't mind, I thought the acids in motor oil are supposed to rot the core fibre in the mil wire rope? and some grease's also, i thought and don't have the TM but thought i remember, that sadley is usually bad info to myself, that some grease's also were acidy and would rot the core in the winch cable?...Thanks randy
 

emmado22

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EMR,

Correct on all accounts. There is a specific winch cable grease.. The official name escapes me right now, but it's in the back of the -10.
 

fsudad1958

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Plant City Florida
I'm in the crane business, for winch cable use a light oil peanut oil works well and is biodegadable. There are several good petroleum based cable lubes avalible from rigging supply stores avoid anything thick like grease as it will trap water and other contaminants in the core.
 

jimmcld

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Denton, Texas
On the winch cable, John Deere makes a "Cable and Chain Lube" that goes on in a spray foam. It makes an old rusty cable look like new.
 

WillWagner

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Dunno if this link will work. Click on lubricants and additives, chain and cable lubricants then cable lube. This stuff has worked great for me.

..:: PJ1 ::..
 

clinto

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Sorry for resurrecting an old thread.
You shouldn't apologize, members should be thanking you. This is what we want! Find old pertinent threads instead of starting newer duplicate threads!

:beer:
 
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