90W Gear Oil for rear diff; what is a good one to use/opinions??

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Just wanted some input on what brands are good quality; Thanks!
 
Anyone?????????
 
I've been told several times to just get the cheapest gear oil you can find and change it out on the regular service interval. I just bought a 5 gallon bucket of whatever the Advance Auto is in 80w90 GL5. For the transmission I got a gallon of GL4, something to do with the yellow metals on the syncros.
 
I agree with the cheap stuff if you are putting your axles under water/ mud ect.. regularly. I would go 30,000 or more if it was not under water. Therefore I would use a name brand.
 
Thanks buds!
 
Most of the synthetics mentioned above say they are safe for limited slip axles, any disadvantage to using one "safe" for synthetics...(I imagine it has additives) in a stock rear end? Also it seems hard to find straight 90W gear oil?? I assume it is safe to use 75-90 or 80-90???
 
I'd go as far as saying that even the cheapest gear oil is better than what was available back in the 60's and 70's when these rigs were engineered.

For what it's worth, I run Valvoline conventional 80/90 hypoid gear oil and change it once a year, whether the truck needs it or not...

Personally, I think that Synthetic lubricants in a 40/60/80 is akin to putting a racing saddle on a donkey.
 
Ha I get that!!!!!!
 
I disagree, the better quality synthetics, and high quality conventional(though the price difference negates the case for expensive "high quality" conventional in my opinion) oils improve the shifting characteristics of the transmissions, transfer cases and limited slip equipped axles- because they are better lubricants. Has nothing to do with when the metal pieces were cast or forged, which THAT process hasn't really change all that much over the years. Peel apart a brand new rear axle, auto or manual transmission - take those gears out and place them next to gears from 1965 and you would be hard pressed to tell the difference. The chemistry of the oil is vastly improved, much better detergents, actually being absorbed the the metal rather than just coating the metal.

Now if you don't drive your truck often, or its subjected to water quite often, leaky seals, or just plain worn out the argument against quality lubricants seems to gain traction. However I would argue that those instances would further the case FOR using higher quality lubricants. Rust protection being at the very top of the list, absorption versus coating, higher quality detergents... Of ALL the things we buy for our trucks - lubricants are pretty close, if not are, the cheapest things we can purchase that have the greatest impact on longevity. I counter that if you go the cheap oil route, skip the non-sense of high frequency changes and just change the filter, replace whats lost or shrug your shoulders and go.. MEH - because the is little difference.

I've been working in foundries and with industrial machinery going into my third decade now, worked as a mechanic for a while during lay-offs. As a journeyman Millwright, I'm constantly getting information, test results, SEEING the effects of proper lubrication practices as well as IMPROPER preventative practices. Scene some pretty awful working conditions, so I have a fair amount of experience in dealing with this topics. I only use synthetics.
 
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... Has nothing to do with when the metal pieces were cast or forged, which THAT process hasn't really change all that much over the years.

The foundry that I deal with goes on and on about the new process that they use. Claim that they can control the metallurgy, precision, etc, make much better parts than in the past. Maybe they are just blowing smoke and the industry hasn't advanced at all on 50yrs?

... Peel apart a brand new rear axle, auto or manual transmission - take those gears out and place them next to gears from 1965 and you would be hard pressed to tell the difference.

Using a trans as an example, will see that everything (gears, bearings, shafts, housings, etc) are smaller/lighter in newer units. The older units are more lightly loaded, the load is spread over a larger area.

... The chemistry of the oil is vastly improved,

Fully agree, just about any new fluid far exceeds the original spec for a FJ40.

... actually being absorbed the the metal rather than just coating the metal. ...

What brand(s) of fluid is absorbed into steel?:confused:

The main advantage of synthetic is long life, if the rig isn't operated in a way that takes advantage of that, not driven often, etc, then it's a waste. If the rig is operated in a way where contamination is likely, it doesn't matter what kill me dead bouquet fluid is in it, once contaminated they are all dead and must be changed ASAP.

We were on a trail run, one of the guys broke a rear axle. The owner carefully drains the fluid, we are thinking, good deal not polluting. Get it back together and he is scooping up the drained oil and attempting to put it back in, taking forever. One of the guys offers bottles of new, his reply, this is brand new, high $$ shock proof, need to save it!:eek:

Cheap fluid far exceeds the original spec, has little $$ value, so is less painful to change. By changing more often, gives the opportunity to better monitor condition (debris on the magnet, etc) contamination, etc, more likely to catch problems before they become huge. We work on a bunch of Cruisers, most of them get wheeled often, and most run cheap gear oil and have never had a lubrication related failure.:hillbilly:
 
The foundry that I deal with goes on and on about the new process that they use. Claim that they can control the metallurgy, precision, etc, make much better parts than in the past. Maybe they are just blowing smoke and the industry hasn't advanced at all on 50yrs?

Sure there are advances, more robots, less people, yes metallurgy has changed. Environmentally there have been HUGE changes. I bet you they have made most of their changes to reduce people, not to increase production volume. However they still make molds, still pour molten metals into molds.... same as always. My point is older machines DO benefit from the use of newer lubricants.



Using a trans as an example, will see that everything (gears, bearings, shafts, housings, etc) are smaller/lighter in newer units. The older units are more lightly loaded, the load is spread over a larger area.

How are older units more lightly loaded? The new smaller, lighter units are generally in smaller, lighter vehicles. Older vehicles are heavier.




What brand(s) of fluid is absorbed into steel?:confused:
You do realize all metals are porous....


The main advantage of synthetic is long life, if the rig isn't operated in a way that takes advantage of that, not driven often, etc, then it's a waste. If the rig is operated in a way where contamination is likely, it doesn't matter what kill me dead bouquet fluid is in it, once contaminated they are all dead and must be changed ASAP.
The main advantage of synthetics are, much better ability to deal with shock loading, much better detergents and the by product of that is the fluid can be used for longer periods of time, provided a good quality filter is used.

We were on a trail run, one of the guys broke a rear axle. The owner carefully drains the fluid, we are thinking, good deal not polluting. Get it back together and he is scooping up the drained oil and attempting to put it back in, taking forever. One of the guys offers bottles of new, his reply, this is brand new, high $$ shock proof, need to save it!:eek:

I guess I don't understand your point here? Should be saving it anyway, though after a failure I wouldn't run it again after a mechanical failure.

Cheap fluid far exceeds the original spec,
Cheap oil is cheap because has been little to no effort or advancement from the manufacturer after its initial development. I'm not saying ANY lubricant will totally protect a machine from a mechanical failure. What I'm saying is new lubricants are by far and a way better at the job
they were designed to do.

{QUOTE="Tools R Us, post: 9907728, member: 3869"] By changing more often, gives the opportunity to better monitor condition (debris on the magnet, etc) contamination, etc, more likely to catch problems before they become huge.

I doubt many people who use cheap oil(though I'm pretty sure you do some of these things) actually cut open filter housings, really inspect oil quality, though just because you don't see obvious metal particles doesn't mean there isn't any present, or change oil more frequently. Plus if you go through hassle of changing your oil more often JUST to use cheap oil - how much money are you really saving? That aside, I have better things to do with my time changing fluids just so I run cheap oil.

We work on a bunch of Cruisers, most of them get wheeled often, and most run cheap gear oil and have never had a lubrication related failure.:hillbilly:

Do you mean "We" as in you and your friends? How can you make that claim? Just because there was oil on the parts doesn't prove anything.
 
I've found that the giant Cruiser gears will only last 250,000 miles when run with cheap dino oil.
Upgrading to expensive synthetics has made some of them last for a quarter million miles.

Pretty sure Mazola corn oil would also be OK for these machines. And Crisco for knuckles (It's digestible!).
 
I've found that the giant Cruiser gears will only last 250,000 miles when run with cheap dino oil.
Upgrading to expensive synthetics has made some of them last for a quarter million miles.

Pretty sure Mazola corn oil would also be OK for these machines. And Crisco for knuckles (It's digestible!).


so if i used one of the synthetic and dino blends maybe they would last two hundred and fifty thousand miles?
 
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