Just a quick FWIW. I'm a Dispatch/Fleet Maint Supervisor for a tanker trucking company. I get to be exposed to different presentations on lubes and tools and some very cool stuff. The other day, a Schaeffer lubricants rep stopped in and brought his Timken load tester and some name brand greases. (I'd asked him to come by, as I'm shopping for better tanker S-cam and bearing grease.) I got to personally load test Lucas, Rotella, and Mobil, against the Schaeffer Red semi-synthetic. I was pretty amazed. The Scheaffer Red kept going when the others began to literally smoke in the bearings. I'm NOT easily impressed, guys; I scoff at a lot of everyday things you probably believe. As far as their GREASE goes, I highly recommend Schaeffer Red, and plan to use at work as well as the old Land Rover. Check them out at www.schaefferoil.com.
I'M NOT SUGGESTING OUR Amsoil SPONSOR HAS A LESS IMPRESSIVE PRODUCT! I was not able to test their product in the mix.

 

Let us know how that grease works out for your application.

 

hhmmmm....I have actually never lubed my s-cam before....ever....I had over 600,000 miles on my last truck and trailer. Maybe it's time for a lubin. LOL

 

Big Rig, we haul to the Rocky Mountain states, Florida, Jersey, Wisconsin, and many points in-between. Food grade oils and occasional FR-56. We found that the NAPA-discount chain store lube is literally gone when the guys get back. I have a 3-week rotation for greasing the trailers. If we don't the bearings and S-cams just dry up and wear out. The Schaeffer (and Lubrication Engineers) grease is by far the best. LE is a bit pricey at $6 tube, the Schaeffer is around $3-4 a tube. What kind of trailer do you run? What kind of weight-net? We net around 46K on the bean oil.

 

Interesting note on oils. The "High Mileage" oils on the market have a phosphorus additive that was taken out of oils, because it was causing havoc with catalytic converters. The phosphorus helps lessen point source friction (of rod tips on the rockers). Since more and more new cares have roller rockers, the phosphorus package isn't really missed. The high mileage oils are designed for older-style engines (without rollers) so the phosphorus can help lessen wear. I guess they figure the converters are toward the end of their service life on high mileage cars??

 

Have Run 53 reefer, 53 Dry, Flatbed, and currently run 6700 gallon tanker with bulk milk, cream, and molasses. Generally net 54,000 to 57,000...Most of our tanks are made by Walker.

Top Rocky's usually everyday, and our driving conditions are considered extreme. A lot of gravel roads, mud pits, 6% grades, a lot of heavy braking.

Just thought it strange, Dad has been driving 25+ years, and me almost 10, and neither of us ever heard of greasing the s-cam. Maybe I need to. lol

 

Right!!!! What is an S-Cam
(my best richard pryor voice)

 

lol.... BigRigs use air brakes and drum brakes. Similar construction to the drum brakes on your car, but with some changes. lol....anyway, you have a brake pod (basically an air holding chamber that actuates the brakes when applied) then a shaft from the brake pod to the inside of the brake drum. When the brakes are applied, the brake pod extends a shaft that turns the shaft that goes into the brake drum area. (similar as to putting your finger into your closed fist and rotating your finger) just rotating your finger doesnt make your closed fist on your other hand open up.... thats where the S cam comes in. it is in the shape of an S...Put that S shaped cam on the end of your finger in your hand, rotate your finger, and your closed fist will open...same concept. When the shaft from the brake pod goes into the brake drum, there is an s cam at the end of it, so when the shaft rotates, it rotates the Scam which engages the brake shoes to open. Very simple and reliable design.

on a bigrig, the shaft from the brake pod that goes into the drum area has a grease zert, and I'm sure that's what Jeff is talking about, and not actually lubing the S cam...to lube the s cam, would be like putting grease on the lining part of your brake pads on disc brakes. lol...I know what Jeff means, but I'm just busting his chops. lol

the brake cam is what we call the S-cam...you can see how it's shaped like an S, and how greasing it will cause grease to get into contact with the brake shoes. The shaft between the 'brake cam' and 'adjusting nut' is the actual part that gets greased. If an S-cam is wearing out, which I have never seen happen, then the most common problem would be improper slack adjustment or drum clearance is too tight causing drag. Some tanker companies like to tighten the brakes on the trailer a little bit to tight to help with stopping the bigrig when loaded. If someone is actually lubing the S-cam itself to make up for premature wear because of over tightening the brakes, it could lead to a brake fade problem, and higher maintance costs, and lower MPG's. We USED to have a mechanic that tried to do a similar thing. lol

all that being said, I would lean towards agreeing on the lube of choice, but it would be interesting to see the sub zero temp qualities of said grease also. Usually the recomendation of grease is Meritor spec O-704 NLGI grade2 ....It is good down to -30 degrees f...lithium based grease, clay based, and calcium sulfunate based greases, sometimes don't like each other, and actually shorten the grease's lifetime drastically if mixed. I'm not sure what the primary base on Schaeffer grease is.

Then again, I'm not a mechanic of BigRigs either. So I could be wrong. lol.....Just going off of what I learned from Dad, and uncles, and grandpa, ya know.

 

Exactly like old motorcycle single leading shoe drum brakes. Except that we didn't bother shaping the cam so much like an S.

Rob

 

yeah, i agree BR, i've never actually greased my s-cam either. if i did i would definitely use the same lube we use in the bedroom, cuz as you know, that is some strong lube to take the pounding that we give it. lol lol

Love you sweetie! xoxoxo