Brass bushing question

[DUUANE]

Hres a thought. In vehicles whith brass/bronze suspension bushings we should probably be looking for a grease without the ep additives..with all the talk about gear oil with ep not being friendly to yellow metal it got me thinking..a friend of mine has been going through bushings like crazy in his m37's..maybe this is a contributing factor?

 

[USMC 00-08]

I would be interested in knowing if that is the cause or not.

 

[tennmogger]

From what i have read the EP additives only become an issue for higher temperatures, like 300 deg F. Not an issue for suspension components. I would want to use EP grease, not avoid it.

 

[DUUANE]

Ok thats interesting..heat activated chemical attack..i will definately see what i can find to read when i have time.
Thanks for chipping in.

 

[Big Tom]

That is correct EP additives only effect yellow metal at high temps

Big Tom

 

[DUUANE]

More reading suggests that sulphur ep additives attack copper in the alloy creating copper sulphide and under ep conditions create copper disuphide which is very hard and acts as an abrasive accellerating wear (and heat i would immagine). Heat compounds the reaction doubling the rate for every 10° temp increase.
We do long trips on logging roads and some decently hard wheeling. The suspension definately gets a workout. Moly disulfide is a good thing..but i will have to look into the other additives more i think.
For sure this is a crittical issue for gearboxes..bushings would be a much slower failure..something that fails in 3 or four years vs ten or more.
Steel on steel is a different ballgame.

 

[DUUANE]

I spoke to my grease rep..ive been using a product called super metalium for more than a decade..he said it didnt contain anything that would hurt yellow metals..my buddy has been using a regular moly ep grease..
So thats the bottom of the bag so to speak. I was using their non moly product and wasnt aware they had one..so i will be switching..
Happy PM..