Lucas Oils Anyone?

[Dirtys87]

Hey folks, just wanted to find out from my fellow cruiserheads what they think of the Lucas line of additives. I've seen it on ESPN's off road races and sides of trailers but I wasn't quite sold until I started using that stuff. I've used them for my Fj60, the 100 and also my bike the last six months or so. I've put in the engine oil additives, used the fuel stuff as well. As far as I know, it works great. Recently, the shop who installed my gears also used Lucas Diff Gear oils ( I just happened to ask what type and weight oil they used) on the project. Told me not to use synthetic for diffs and T/Cs ( good thing because I was about to do another total truck oil change). I am totally sold on Seafoam and Heet (thanks to this forum of course) but does anybody else have any kind of experience with the Lucas stuff?


PS- I am not, in anyway shape or form, connected with the company. I just happened to play with their counter display at Pep Boys, Autozone and Kragen. Been playing with that damn thing the last few years so I figured I'd buy the stuff!)

 

[hurricane1001]

Additives

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/images/lucas/lucas.htm

Read, watch, learn. After watching that I wont run a oil additive.

 

[agent orange]

I saw that test in the 80s forum too and its still bull****. For it to be even vaguely scientific he would have to run the same oil with and without the lucas in there. The synthetic is already foaming before he put the lucas in. The lucas made it foam worse because its made to help the oil climb the gears the get where it needs to be, so it climbed even higher on the gears where it could get whipped up even more. Plus his comment about gears in the oil pump is stupid because the oil pump gears are immersed in oil, they wouldnt cause aeration because they dont run open to the air, they draw oil up the pickup and spit it out.

As far as im concerned all that "test" says is he doesnt know how to make a scientific comparison, he doesnt know what a confounding variable is (dino vs. synth), and that synthetic with lucas additive might not be the best choice for your tiny unrealistic toy gear machine.

 

[hurricane1001]

He did run the machine with and without the additives. The synthetic had a slight airation to it, but the lucas sent it into a froth. Yes the oil climbs, but at what cost. Airatted oil runs hotter then unairatted oil. The same thing happens with the countertop sample, i've done it myself. Crank the hell out of it for 50 turns and see how frothy it gets. Then crank the regular motor oil for 50 turns. You'll see how noticable the difference is.

 

[agent orange]

Yeah but that situation doesnt happen inside a motor. The only gears even close to that are the timing gears or the cam drive gears, but none of those are immersed in oil. They are either force oiled or oiled by runoff from another part of the motor. The little parts store demo is meant to show the properties of the additive, but its not a realistic test of its performance. Ive got a quart of the lucas in my truck right now, its leaking less than it has for quite some time, and after a several hour trip ive pulled the dipstick to check the oil level and it wasnt remotely frothed.

 

[Clutchee]

I saw that test in the 80s forum too and its still bull****.

One thing is in the 60's forum he is asking about Lucas additive vs. the 80's forum asking about gear oil.

 

[agent orange]

I dont know s*** about the gear oil, i just hate to see people making summarily dismissive claims from inconclusive pseudo-science.

 

[Clutchee]

I dont know s*** about the gear oil, i just hate to see people making summarily dismissive claims from inconclusive pseudo-science.

Totally agree......buddy of mine cracked a 3spd case in half & drove it 15 miles home
(case had Lucas 90W oil)......saw drips of oil on the driveway

 

[ellington12]

i'm generally very skeptical of any additive that claims to "fix" something. however, i'm completely sold on Lucas' power steering stop leak. a while back the steering box on my 60 starting leaking and eventually got so bad that i couldn't ignore it any longer. i didn't have the time, money, or energy to fix it correctly so i figured it couldn't hurt to try the Lucas stuff. the stuff just plain works, even though i think it's supposed to be more for rack and pinions. the massive leak is now a just a seep. i'll eventually get around to pulling out the box but for the time being, i can live with the seep.

 

[Tinker]

Strange how Randy's R&P recommends synthetic gear oil, particularly for breaking in new gearsets.

IMHO a good synthetic is better than a good dino of the same type. Additives are for VatoZone parking lot mechanics.

 

[Texx]

I've used Lucas for quite awhile now, not their oil additive, but gear oil additives and in particular diesel and gasoline fuel injector cleaners are the bomb. I also had a friend with a very leaky 60 series box that used the Lucas power steering pooky to great result. Im not putting additives in the motor oil, but I'll use it elsewhere.

 

[iichart]

I am a little confused after looking at the so called test in the link above? are we talking about lucas gear oil or the oil additive. I ran the gear oil in my zuk diffs with no aperant problems and was going to do the same in my 60. but is the test showing reg oil good and synth bad or reg oil good and lucas bad?

 

[agent orange]

It is trying to show that lucas additive makes oil aerate badly. It actually shows the author is terrible at making scientific comparisons. I cant think of anything of actual value the test shows.

 

[motoman426]

I have run lucas a long time in my pickup land cruiser and well as my big rig and have over a million mile on the truck running the lucas so if only time and stress will tell then here it is with a truck over a million miles on it and still running strong. I am not going to say that it is bc of the lucas but I have not found it to hurt any and you will not find any better of a hub oil out there.

 

[theside00]

Since we are talking about additives what about the fuel injector cleaner that is poured into the gas tank? You guys think that that is worth it?

 

[Dirtys87]

Wow, some very well good points made here. The link kinda surprised me though. However, the masses couldn't possibly be wrong. I'm not saying that we all should go with the flow but The amount of positives do outweigh the negatives (for now).

theside00- I've used the fuel additives and i could tell the difference between starts and accelerations on my 60. As far as tests, Haven't done any, but if you drive your rig enough, you know it's character.

 

[theside00]

Ya I am about ready to drive home wich is about 8 hours and was hoping that it might increase the gas mileage a little bit but who knows they are get terrible mileage but they are to sweet to give up.

 

[Dirtys87]

Honestly don't know if it will increase your mileage but definitely clean out your fuel system. Kinda like what Seafoam does without fouling up the plugs. IMHO of course.

 

[bigbrowndog]

I have used Lucas fuel additive in my diesel for years with out a problem. I often buy 3 x 44 gallon drums of diesel at a time and it does not discolor after the additive has been put in the drum. Some times they will sit for a fair while as I often just use the pump at a service station when it is cheap and keep the drums for later. The microbes can turn the diesel a brown color if untreated. A friend has a relative with a Taxi and he tells me the Taxi's here run the engine oil conditioner in their motors but I have never tried this.

 

[fjdemon]

I'm a big fan of lucas. Power steering fix is great stuff. I also use the injector cleaner. Oh, that lucas will keep transmissions from slipping. Put some in auto toyota van and it shifted better and didn't slip. Big fan!