Wasted $300 on a 'universal' rail oil that wrecked my bearings

I bought a 5 gallon bucket of this no-name rail oil from an online surplus place because it was half the price of the name brand stuff. After about two weeks of using it on a busy office tower in downtown Denver, I started hearing this grinding noise from the guide shoes. Opened up the rails and found this thick, sticky gunk that had gummed up all the bearings, had to replace four sets. Has anyone else tried cheaper oils and ended up paying way more in repairs?

2 comments

2 Comments

dakotal161mo ago

Actually rail oil should be thicker, that sounds like cheap hydraulic fluid they sold you instead.

rivera.jesse1mo ago

Stuck with the cheap stuff once and learned that lesson hard too.