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Litihium grease, LM2 or EP2?
Slimy38 - 16/8/20 at 04:33 PM

I'm looking to replace my decade old tub of LM2 Lithium grease, but then EP2 shows up when I'm doing an Ebay search. What's the difference between the two?

As you can probably guess by a half kilo tub taking many years to see the bottom, I don't use it very much. But basically any time I hear 'lithium grease' I reach for the LM2. Would I be better with EP2?


coyoteboy - 17/8/20 at 10:57 AM

LM2 is multi-purpose, EP2 is extreme pressure. They have a different additive pack to make the EP grease operate better at extreme pressures (high load conditions) but that doesn't mean it's necessarily better for the application you're using it for. EP is high load, but if you're not using it in a high load scenario the addition of the additives may reduce other performances such as viscosity stability and high speed performance.

The overall answer is use the correct grease for the point being lubed. There is a train of thought that suggests that if the joint is designed properly, you shouldn't need to use EP, so it should be the exception, not the rule.