In the design and evaluation of mechanical system performance it is important to know the frictional qualities of the lubricant. Without correct numerical treatment of the lubricant during simulations of large systems, e.g., drive trains in trucks and buses, the results will, to a large extent, be inaccurate. However, obtaining detailed information places demands on the test equipment as the events are both transient and highly loaded. Under quasi-static conditions, forces are measured with force transducers, but in elasto-hydrodynamically lubricated conjunctions, where pressures are so high that the surrounding surfaces deform elastically, this cannot be done without permanently damaging the equipment. The conceptual design of the test equipment must therefore incorporate the measuring process in transient conditions (loading-unloading times of 200-500 μs) being performed in real time, and allow extreme pressures of up to 3 GPa without component destruction. One way to obtain accurate friction data successfully is to apply a concentrated force pulse to a non-instrumented surface and to measure the response from that pulse elsewhere. The development of a measurement technique, the Lulea ball and bar apparatus, which utilises wave propagation theory, is presented in this paper. An oblique impact on a robust end plate on a rod was used to generate both non-dispersive compression waves and dispersive flexural waves. The normal force created by the axial wave was measured using strain gauges, while the transverse force was derived from the fast Fourier transforms of two lateral acceleration histories, using dynamic beam theory. The relation between the normal and tangential force histories showed the frictional properties at the impact as a function of time. A variety of lubricants was also studied at Hertzian pressures of up to 2.5 GPa, and the development of the method and results are presented. Experiments indicate that different lubricants exhibit different frictional properties and that the resolution in the test equipment is sufficient to indicate this