Recommended Winch Grease.

Been searching through the forums/internet the past month trying to find out what a recommended grease would be to pack my winch up with. I just received it in the mail and want to take it apart degrease all the crap grease and repack it with some good quality stuff to make it spool smoother and last longer etc.
I have become overwhelmed with what I have read about different greases so maybe TW can help me out in this department. (Didn't know where to post this thread so I'll throw it here)

Living in FL I need a good grease that will:
-prevent rust
-not wash out
-not absorb water
-Last extreme winching applications (obviously)
-Temp range are 20F-120F (I don't want it to turn to liquid in the summer and not do its job)

I would love to hear what others have used and not just "hey try this" type answers.

Thanks in advance guys/gals.

 

Why do you assume the original grease is crap? Is it a crap winch?

 

Use whatever you use for the driveshaft U-joints (should be some brand of non-moly NLGI Grade 2 grease). No point in keeping several different grease types around your truck.

 

I just have read how some winches have grease that is really tough to free spool and some don't have very good quality grease. I just want to get some really good stuff in there before I install it.

Kind of like when I buy a new vehicle I change the oil with synthetic or diffs and trans with better gear oil.

It is not a top of the line winch like Warn, It is a smittybilt X20 10,000lb model 98510 which will do the job for me.

 

I was going to use that. I use the Lucas Red n Tacky in my u joints but wanted to hear what others had experience with.

 

The Smitybilt wenches come with tar stuffed inside from the factory. Would take take a big guy and a little guy together to unspool it. After repacking it with normal grease I can unspool it with zero effort.

I used Lucas extra heavy duty grease..
http://mobile.walmart.com/ip/360525...38889992&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=78652496672&veh=sem

 

Yeah that is what I hear. This is why I want to replace the grease. Did you pull it completely apart and get all the grease out prior to repacking it?
I have seen that grease too. Thanks for that.

 

Incidentally this is what I use in my U-joints and sway bar links.

 

I disassemble everything and removed every last bit of that junk. I also resealed the solenoid cover with some ultra grey silicone. The solenoid has a problem of being improperly sealed allowing moisture inside causing corrosion at the terminals. There are writeups everywhere about how to service the Smitybilts and how to do reseal the solenoid. There's a few here at TW as well I believe.

One interesting note about the winch when I took it a part. There was a "T-Max" inside the lever cover that is part of the casting.

 

Aeroshell 33MS is the recommended grease for Warn planetary winches (the new version of Aeroshell 17), its pricey stuff at about $20 per tube, I just rebuilt my M8000 and with the new grease it freespools very nicely.

 

nice!