Cheap gear oil or H2O give rough feel? (1 Viewer)

[aamiggia]

I'm trying to narrow down the rough feel from my front end.

Recently I changed my fr / rr diff fluid with cheap gear oil. I wanted to clear the slight sludge possibly caused by grease getting sucked into the diff fluid. Once I free my diff breathers, I plan on changing the fluid to synthetic, but at $12/L I'm holding off for now.

Soon after the diff fluid change I felt that the truck rolls rougher. It is not driveline related because I feel it increase with speed and when the truck is in nuetral. It is even noticeable when the transfer case is in nuetral.

I may also have water in there because shortly after the change I did some deep water crossings.

So basically do you think it's the cheap gear oil or water?

 

[CharlieS]

I think cheap gear oil is fine. If you got water in there then it may not be lubricating all that well.

Personally, I'm running some Coastal 80W-90 gear oil in my front diff to get a "flush" after doing my birf job (just in case). I plan to put some name brand dino oil in in a week or so.

Charlie

 

[tarbe]

$12CDN/liter is kinda pricey...

Go to www.avlube.com and buy a case of Mobil 1 75W-90 for $6 US/quart plus shipping.

 

[semlin]

it's C$10/litre at crappy tire or walmart

 

[Cruiserdrew]

I've run lots of cheap gear oil and never had a rough feel to it. In fact, the specs on the cheap stuff are the same as the specs on the good stuff. While I try to keep good stuff in the diffs, I don't sweat a few thousand miles on the cheap stuff depending on the circumstances. My FJ40 always runs on the cheap stuff, and I change it 2-3 times per summer when I've been in water. It works just fine.

For a rough feel, look at wheel bearings, u-joints, transfercase out put and the like.