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Noticed how smooth my crane boom extension went after I switched from grease to dry lube on the sliding pads
Used to take me a good 20 minutes fighting with sticky sections on a Liebherr LTM 1050 back in 2019, but after I saw a tech at a jobsite in Tulsa spray that dry lube on his boom, I gave it a shot and now the whole process is under 5 minutes with way less wear marks has anyone else made that swap or am I just lucky?
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susansingh4mo ago
Wait, you had a Liebherr LTM 1050 and you were fighting with grease on the sliding pads? I would have never guessed that was a thing. I always figured grease was just the standard for everything on those big cranes. That's wild to me that dry lube made that big of a difference. Like, 5 minutes instead of 20 is a huge jump. I mean, I've seen guys at the rental yard cuss at sticky sections for ages and nobody ever thought to try something else. Almost sounds too good to be true, you know?
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alicea264mo ago
Oh man, you'd be surprised how many guys just grab the grease gun out of habit. I've been there myself on plenty of jobs. @susansingh, the thing with grease on sliding pads is it attracts every bit of dirt and grit on the site, and then you're basically sanding down your boom sections every time you extend. The dry lube trick isn't some magic fix, it just keeps the surfaces clean and the sliding friction actually consistent. I switched over on my old Grove 40 tonner years ago after watching a rental guy fight a section for half an hour, and honestly it's one of those little changes that saves your back and your patience. You still have to keep the pads clean and check for wear, but the dry stuff makes a world of difference when you're running a section in and out all day.
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