Rubber Grease

[Ribrickulous]

Just a quick product recommendation.

A guy in my garage saw me using white lithium grease on some rubber grommets and recommended this red gel called rubber grease. Looked like it was 40 years old, made from vegetable oil.

I found a comparable new product from Toyota that uses propylene glycol and lithium as the lubricant instead of oil based stuff.

Doesn’t degrade or swell the rubber so everything (o rings, seals, grommets) all stay the size they’re supposed to.

Original rubber grease: https://www.amazon.com/GENUINE-Corro...59645110&psc=1

Propylene Glycol rubber grease: https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Genuine...-127632-2357-0

Both great products. I post because I’ve seen more than a few people around here struggling with grommets and tabs etc… this has helped a huge deal.


-Ed
1972 CL350
1985 VF700F

[ancientdad]

I like the idea, but actually I've always used white lithium grease on sidecover tabs and have never had any issues with the grommets swelling. Either way, a little would last a long time so it would be a relatively cheap investment.

[Ribrickulous]

Yeah, it’s been my go-to since I found it - replacing radiator mounts, fairing grommets etc on the interceptor, all those tough ones that wrap around an interior hole. Knock on wood but they’ve been great.

It’s less slippery than the white lithium stuff, thicker too, which I think has been helping with installation.

Ostensibly you can use it for just about any brake work also, but I’d worry about it holding up to the heat near the calipers.

Maybe I’m just worrying about something I don’t know enough about, though.


-Ed
1972 CL350
1985 VF700F

[ancientdad]

Better to be concerned than not.

[Richard Pitman]

Red rubber grease is good stuff. I've been using it for ages on the side panel grommets, also on the air filter hoses, and on the air box rubbers on my 600/4. I think it was originally intended for use in hydraulic braking systems, lubing rubber seals when fitting new ones. I wouldn't use it there though, prefer to just use brake fluid on seals, and high temp silicon brake grease on caliper pistons and sliding pins. Brembo make a suitable grease.

[WintrSol]

Red rubber grease for me, too. Plant-based instead of petroleum, so won't harm rubber. I also use it around the door seals on my autos, in place of the silicone grease that GM recommends.

[FrisianWheel]

I literally stick to Dow Corning High Vacuum Grease (I think it's called Molycote now). I'm using it on all rubber parts that I think need to be greased. It's very sticky (hence the name), made for rubber parts in ventilation systems and has suitable specifications for motorcycle use.