Summarize

A grease is a grease is a grease, yes? Well no, actually. Not at all. Is your grease correct for its application? If not, the end game may prove catastrophic. South Africa’s leading performance lubricant supplier, Habot has a grease for every need and solution. Habot is also ready to support your every grease need too.

Few understand that it is crucial to use the right grease for any application. Take for example an Airbus A380. Yes, the biggest passenger jet in the sky. At cruising altitude, temperatures drop to minus sixty degrees Celsius in the undercarriage wells. Then the A380 comes in to land in the middle of summer when ambient may rise to over forty C. 

Now, as the fully laden six-hundred ton behemoth approaches at 300 km/h, its wheels are standing still. Within an instant through that chirp-chirrup touchdown, the landing wheels take the full burden of all that weight slamming down at exactly the same time, as they also accelerate from zero to that 300 km/h, at an instant. 

If the plane is landing in a tropical zone, it may be raining or flooding. So the wheel grease and the bearings it supports must deal with water and wash too. All at the same time as maintaining the mechanical stability and integrity of the undercarriage while the grease looks after itself too. 

Now just imagine the wrong grease was used. A grease that may not have dealt with just one of those extreme conditions? The outcome could be catastrophic. Which is why, whatever the application, the grease should specifically be designed for it. 

Yet while auto workshops apply ideal engine, gearbox and drivetrain lubricants to any model, any grease seems to do. Few technicians understand the intricacies of greasing, how it’s made, or which grease to use for each application. All of which could result in catastrophic failure to safety items as crucial as the wheel bearings on your car.

Several aspects contribute to preparing a grease for an application. From temperature range to thermal stability, the load the grease must bear and the shock the equipment is subjected to. The speed an axle must rotate to and the environment the grease must operate in, its resistance to water, dust and chemicals, and its exposure to conditions.

Other factors in selecting the correct grease include its own compatibility. Never mix greases, be that a mineral grease with a synthetic one. And don’t use different base oil viscosity or consistency greases together. Different additives in a grease may also conflict at specific operating speeds or temperatures.

It is therefore crucial to adhere to original equipment manufacturers instructions, specifications, and ratings and to be sure to select the correct grease for any application. To that end, Habot supplies and supports an incredible selection of greases, and grease brands, including premium brand Brugaloras to satisfy any and every need.

Be it the wheel bearings on an Airbus A380, a component deep in a next generation Pratt & Whitney fighter jet engine, or just the wheel bearing of your Venter trailer, there’s a Habot grease ready to do the job, and all the necessary advice and support waiting for you right now at www.habot.co.za/grease