Gear Oil

[matt_helton]

im curious what weight gear oil you guys all run in your race truck rear axles. and any brands you have had good or bad experiences with.

i have a 9" with a spool and i want some imput as to the oil types you guys run and why. thanks.

and i know this has been brought somewhat before but the search turned up nada for me.

thanks again.

[CRAIGHALL]

TORCO...because Jim (Performance Differential) said so ! Atleaast thats what he sold me and said to use.
Craig

[Kritter]

[ QUOTE ]
TORCO...because Jim (Performance Differential) said so ! Atleaast thats what he sold me and said to use.
Craig

[/ QUOTE ]

Jim is the man so if thats what he says...I will have to agree, jsut since he said that.

[hoeker]

Royal Purple max gear 85-140 the best oil you'll ever use!

www.royalpurple.com (http://www.royalpurple.com)

[matt_helton]

ok well i guess my real question is what weight oil to use???

85-140 is what i was using, but it was Curries side brand...9plus. so my real question i guess is does anyone use convention weight.....85w-90? the 85-140 is obvoiusly thicker but in a race application is it that important or will standard automotive weight oil work ok? so does anyone use 85w-90 gear oil in their race cars or just the thick stuff?

[BHTool]

why dont you just use your "rear end lube"

[Project1500]

Straight 85-140 for your setup.

[hoeker]

stick to the 85-140 in anything seeing high impact use. (ie. anything off road)

[PBR]

matt if you are looking for the best this i what all the big dogs run(and us too), swepco 203... check it out.
http://www.swepcousa.com/lubesite/gear.htm

[matt_helton]

thanks for the help guys.

[Steve_Sourapas]

I run Swepco in my rear end and have run both 250w and 210w. I prefer to run the 210w as it usually will run 25-40 degrees cooler that the thicker 250w.

[Josh_K]

Its interesting that the thinner stuff (200wt) runs cooler that the heaver oil (250wt).

I always used swepco 250wt because I presumed that it was better that the thinner stuff. Do you know how hot you rear end gets? I would like to know. I am guessing that mine gets to about 250f after a couple hundred miles of hard running.

Josh

[partybarge_pilot]

"Do you know how hot you rear end gets?"

In the 5 car (fortin)We ran the swepco 250w for years and always came up with burnt leaky seals and poor life. Switched over to Redline high shock and all those seal problems went away, parts life also went up. The TT now gets Redline with very good results. Thicker isn't always better, roller bearsings have a higher load rating in oil than they do in grease....

[hoeker]

in a 15 minute CORR race my rear end gets 230 deg with Royal Purple 85-140

partybargepilot is right, thicker isn't always better. i've discussed Swepco with the engineers at royal purple and they're certain their 85-140 has as good or better shock load capacity than swepco. we will test it to find out for sure soon.

www.rosshoek.com (http://www.rosshoek.com)

[Dezertpilot]

So what would you guys reccomend for a DD with a spool? I was told no synthetics by Jay over at PDC but he said something about SwepCo 250. I dont know no synthetics? Why not?

[Racbaja]

There is only one choice when it comes to gear oil. L&E Lubrication Enginers. We have used this oil for years and finally ran out and had to search for a distributor here in California. I found a guy in Huntington Beach that sold it. We run this stuff in the stock car, 5/1600 and my dad ran it in the dragster years ago. The guy who sells it is very knowledgable with motorsports and can point you in the right direction. He mentioned some big names that run the stuff and I will never use another gear oil period. I have his name and number at work and will post it tomarrow. Most guys on here are loyal to there own brand and this is only my opinion, but this stuff is great and runs cooler.
Ron Plunkett
www.bajacoalition.net

[Hemp]

So what would you guys reccomend for a DD with a spool? I was told no synthetics by Jay over at PDC but he said something about SwepCo 250. I dont know no synthetics? Why not?

Jay is building me a custom 9 in with spool right now and i cant remember which oil he said but i remember he said he was gonna put a different oil as because me truck is hardly driven on the street. just letting you know

[WannaB-class5]

We ran red line in a truck (9" with a spool) DD for like 4 years, no problems

[Beachracer]

80/90 from Pure Power its what is in 19 Bigfoot trucks for the last 6 years and they dont break, Cory Mac uses it for 3000 HP on his rear diff, its rated GL-5 for government tank programs , and currently in 13 winston west and hooters cup cars .some weights can cause drag. I switched from lucas.

[Chris_Wilson]

There are lots of oils that are used successfully. I use Schaffers 85-140w w/moly
non-synthetic in both prerunners and race diffs. Never had a gear failure.

[Dezertpilot]

Everyone seems to swear by what they use. So I guess I really just have to do some more searching and see what will best suit me for a DD this is not an all out prerunner but does see dezert at least once a month. I am thinking some of the lubes that people are using are maybe strictly race and wouldnt really suit me for a DD? I am really leaning towards SwepCo I am currently using some of that nasty smelling stuff in my manual trans.

[GASPORTS4EVR]

AMSOIL Baby!! Synthetic 85W-140 or Synthetic (Severe Gear) 75W-90, both can be used in race, towing, and street applications, this oil definetely protects gears and bearings from scoring and wear as well as stands up to extreme heat, I have sold this oil to offroad race, roundy round race, trucking and daily drivers and have had great success and test results. The big rigs amaze me, they pull loads of 80,000.00 lbs. up hills with a 500,000.00 mile drain interval.. I am a dealer, so if anybody has any questions, give me a ring @ 866-606-5371...

[GASPORTS4EVR]

Here it is Devon, give me a call sometime..

Chris

[pciscott]

In my rear ends we use Swepco 250wt, we tried synthetics and found poor gear wear and pitting. The Swepco coats the gears and gives a cushion for off-road abuse. For everything else I use Neo Synthetic Oil, Leon Patton even recommends it after he saw how good our motors look compared to others. Neo is almost magic, we lost oil pressure on lap one at Laughlin in the Protruck. After a quick pit stop to check that the oil was full we ran it hard to the finish line for three more laps. After the race we found that the oil pump drive rod had broke and we had run 3 laps with zero oil pressure at 6000 RPM and the motor still looked good. When I put Neo in my personal vehicles they seem to run quieter and you can go longer between oil changes. We have also had very good luck with Neo Synthetic ATF and the tranny runs 20 degrees cooler than with Swepco ATF. Sorry I jumped a little off topic and good luck with your spooled DD.

[jeff]

Gear oil... here's my take and experience with the stuff. Try to prevent running the gears too hot. You'll see some racers have diff temp gauges. There's a reason. The correct gear oil weight depends on the load, the gears, and the amount of heat it has to withstand.

A big problem with many gear oils is they allow lots and lots of tiny bubbles to form while the gears are turning. Air in oil is bad. Really bad. Most of the gear additives like Lucas make the bubbling or "foaming" worse. And when I say additive, I mean a climbing or clinging additive, not a limited slip type additive. Don't believe me... test it for yourself. Stick to straight gear oil without additives. I'd run a good synthetic over a dino based gear oil any day. Look at the number of racers that use synthetics versus those that use non-synthetic. I like Redline products. They are pretty inexpensive and work really well. A really good race oil is sold under their Heavy Shockproof line. It will rob some horsepower but it's pretty gnarly stuff. It works really good in rear ends that generate lots of heat. If you want to free up a few HP you might try their Lightweight version. Another brand that not many people know about is Schaefer. They've been around since the 1800's and their moly line of lubes are pretty amazing for the price. Schaefer's lubricants are really popular with the big rig and equipment operators. I've tried a few of their products over the years and was really happy with the results. I switched to Redline only because it is available locally and is usually cheaper.

Aloha

[Dezertpilot]

I am going to run Swepco in my spooled rear end. That seems to be the overwhelming majority of people. Now I am searching for synthetic motor oil.......oh and Jeff I did run Redline Lightweight gear oil, you know the yellow lube. Either it sucked in general or the water that got mixed in it from the Old Compadre water crossings at this years 500 turned it to crap. But I run the Swepco 212 in my trans and I think I am going to run a similar grade in the rear.

[FABRICATOR]

An interesting blurb on motor oils. No, I don't use Quaker State. Dino only!
http://www.quakerstate.com/pages/carcare/whattoknow.asp

[Josh_K]

Swepco 250 here too.

[matt_helton]

well being that i started this thread last july when i was putting my new 9" together, ill tell you what ive been running. NEO Synthetic 85-140. ive put tons of hard race miles on it and each tear down she looks just as good as new. im gonna stick with the neo.

[Josh_K]

Matt I belive you. I think it goes back to load x weight = total heat.

[matt_helton]

roger that you big internet goon. :)

[BAPerf]

PCI Scott,

Depending on the way the oil holes were drilled in the crankshaft, it is possible that the crank was acting like an oil pump. Keep in mind that oil pumps don't suck very well, but you also don't need the pressure, just the film of oil for protection. There are good and bad points about cranks that "suck" oil through them. I'm glad that there was no damage, quite a testament for Neo's Oil!