Greasing wheel hub.

[Acheron]

Just wanted to check something, have taken both front wheels off however the n/s/f stuck like a cow. Had to spend ages rocking on it, hitting it and prizing it away from the hub. Looking at the wheel, it looks a bit tired where it connects to the hub, and the hub itself is all covered in rust and when the wheel goes on, it doesnt like to come off.

Is it safe to grease the hub all the way around, and do you need any special grease and how much? Basically greasing the outer edges (the flat surface around the holes in this picture; )

So the wheel is a bit more free moving. I've had it off twice and even going back on it felt very stiff and the bolts had a hard time pulling the wheel to the hub. I also assume it would be a bad idea to grease the bolts, as they were really stiff when going in aswell.

[Petrolhead_Rich]

Copper slip the surface with a thin smearing, don't use grease, copper slip transfers heat much more effectively!

You can do the bolts too, but DO CHECK THEY REMAIN TIGHT FOR A FEW WEEKS AFTERWARDS!

Personally I would leave the bolts as I'd rather struggle to undo them than have them come loose! But definitely worth doing the face of the hub!

[Acheron]

If i have no copper grease, is it a bad thing to just use normal standard grease?

[Eggman]

Unlikely to do any harm, but it wouldn't do as much good either. Lithium (multipurpose) greases are mainly lubricants, but in this application you're more interested in the corrosion inhibiting properties of copper grease. Have a little outing to the shops and buy a wire brush to clean the hub up with and a big (500g) pot of copper grease. That'll last you a LONG time - the tiny tubes of copper grease are a nuisance to use and not as good value, but handy to keep in the toolbox for emergencies.

[deveng]

The most important thing is to remove all corrosion from the wheel and the hub. Once this is done grease the hub.

The most important thing is to remove all the corrosion.

And whilst the wheel is off, make are you remove all the corrosion

Failure to do this hugely increases the risk of a wheel coming off!

So to summarise, remove all the corrosion.

[seagrey]

what makes a wheel stick is not the hub to wheel face but the centralising ring that sticks out in the middle that your wheeel cantrte sits on,if that is crusty it will always stick and the chances of the bolts tightening before the rim is seated properly are great.
clean the hub face and the back of the wheeel by all means but dont neglect the centre.
I always used copperslip on bmw and v.a.g. stuff with fine threaded wheel bolts and certainly on anything where the bolt protruded through the back of the hub.
If you are torquing them down to manufacturers spec you would probably get a wrong reading with a used dry bolt any way.

[TallPaul]

Personally, I'd use normal Lithium grease, copperslip shouldnt really be used on any fixing that requires torquing up as in theory, the copper particles can break down, allowing the clamping force to be reduced. Its a very small risk though. There is a much greater risk of the copper promoting corrosion of the alloy as it is contact with steel.