Gear lube question

Hi Mike ,
Yeah,,,,you’re right,,,,,,that’s not a lot of miles for a road tractor .
But,,,like you said,,,,he was using 90 wt gear oil .
The EP additive in gear oil makes a big reduction in wear .

And I’m not saying the other doesn’t work well either,,,,,,but I would love to see some pics to prove this out .

The EP,,,( extreme pressure),,,additive in gear oil is very helpful for long gear life,,,,bearings as well .

Tommy

 

Ya, that’s why I mentioned I wasn’t comparing lubes, road tractors can and do haul 80k (more in other states, Nevada I recall seeing 3 trailers being pulled) but “dirt trucks” are a stop and go thing, transmission is subjected to as many shifts in a month that a road tractor will see in a year, plus the constant loading on the transmission and rearend(s). I sure @Truckdoctor Andy can elaborate, heck, I was always my dads wrench and “yard driver”, wouldn’t make a wart on a truck drivers ****

 

Once again I’m very confused and yet enlightened by the HAMB! Went out into my shop and looked at my gear oil selection and this is what I found…
Pennzoil purchased a couple years ago for the Richmond 5 speed in my Bonneville car…


A jug of Valvoline gear oil from probably 25 years ago when I rebuilt the TopLoader in my Ford horsey thingie…

And then this bottle of stuff marketed for two wheelers but still rated as gear oil…


Only the Pennzoil is strictly GL-3, the other two seem to have the ability to self decide how much -3, -4, -5, or even -6 to put into use. And they all three are for transmission and rear differential use. Thanks guys, now I have another thing I have to learn about!

 

Hehe, you guys are funny. Sometimes these threads just make you shake your head...

 

yup. Still haven't answered any questions, have we.

 

I thought we did back on the 1st page

 

Yeah, you're right. There it is in one of the first posts. Before we got sidetracked with the white metal urban legend.

 

Stop by the dealer I work at. We have both GL4 and 5 in stock. We use BG fluid services, and so do alot of dealers.

https://www.bgprod.com/catalog/driveline/bg-syncro-shift-ii/

 

I was thinking the answer was to use a GL-4 spec gear oil as that is the modern gear lube that supersedes the GL-3 or GL-2 spec that was the original recommendations; and that GL-5 is not recommended by the OEM's because the EP additives can be aggressive against the soft metals in the transmission; but that several people have successfully used GL-5 and not noticed any unusual wear patterns. Oh, and some loon suggested you could use a straight grade SAE 50 engine oil, or even a Cat TO-4 spec oil in SAE 50 viscosity grade, but that guy's crazy and you probably shouldn't listen to him.

 

I expect you could use a lot of different oils and it would work just fine.

btw where do you find SAE 50 engine oil?

 

I’m sure lots of people have gotten by not following standards. Some have had better luck than others, and some have followed manufacturers guidelines with bad results. Some of us have had good results with products some call snake oil. With a large enough sample of users, there will always be mixed results.

 

Probably at any commercial truck dealership, or any parts store that has parts for trucks.

 

Yup.

It would appear that some still insist on remaining on their "chose your own reality" adventure.

 

I hope the poor ******* that started this thread is sitting back with a beer watching the **** show.

 

On the contrary, I'd say he's used us and disappeared. He hasn't been around since the day he started the thread.

 

I’m not saying there won’t be any wear in a transmission at a million miles. Most transmission problems are caused by driver error. Rear drive axles get Synthetic Gear oil. The maximum weight trucks are allowed to be is 80,000 without permits. Obviously not all tractors go a million miles without problems, but it’s not uncommon for them to. It all depends on the driver and the maintenance program. 50 weight oil is what is normally specified by Eaton Fuller or Meritor.

 

Apparently no one knows?

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/non-california/pure-guard-motor-oil-50w-5-gallon/pgdn/nd505gal/v/a/14074/

From the description in the link....

"Motor Oil; SAE 50W Non-Detergent; 5 Gallon;

Non-Detergent oil is a pure mineral-based lubricant with no detergent or oxidation inhibitor additives. Blended with premium blend stocks to provide lubrication and to help prevent rust and wear.

Non-Detergent oil is recommended for use as a general purpose lubricant. Suitable for compressors and hydraulic systems which require non-detergent oil. Can be used in manual transmissions and gear boxes where an extreme pressure gear lubricant is not required. Non-Detergent oil is not intended for use in on-highway vehicles."

 

I carry gear oil in my bone stock '37 Buick Special, as the cluster gear shaft is a little loose and lube leaks out the front of the trans. Maybe some day I'll run out of things to do and blow it apart to fix it, but for now those bolts that haven't been touched for 86 years will remain untouched.

You can get straight weight 50 at a lot of motorcycle shops. You can even get SAE 60 at shops that cater to those of us who ride ancient V-Twins in hot weather. A bonus is that it leaks out slower.

And you can always go to the Store of Satan and order it from your phone.

 

Back in the mid 80's the leasing company I worked for ran a lube test for Fuller. We took about 20 road tractors and Fuller used different lube in transmissions in groups of maybe 4. They also shipped barrels of the correct lube to each service location that would be servicing the trucks. This would be used in the event of a leak. Failures were sent to Fuller. They had various weights of gear oil or motor oil. The results of this test convinced Fuller to change their fluid recommendation to synthetic motor oil. If I remember correctly, the only failure was due to a seal leak and total lack of lube.

In our lease fleet we had about 6000 tractors that hauled things that ranged from steel at over 80K gross to empty beer cans for Anheuser Busch. Yes it is possible for heavy duty transmissions filled with motor oil to go a million miles. However, at this mileage there is probably quite a bit of wear. Back in the 80's our average trade cycle was around 500K miles. With the engines of the day it was more economical to trade the truck as engine repairs started to be required.

Differentials require gear lube due to the "wiping" or sliding effect of the gear mesh.

 

You used to be able to buy 50 wt Valvoline Racing Oil at your local speed shop or auto parts store but I haven’t gone looking for it for a very long time now.

 

I went to Tucson today for several things including a stop at Don's hot rod shop. They have red line MT90 in stock.

 

Amazon has 50 weight Valvoline racing oil for sale. Old Harleys like heavy, straight weight engine oil, which is why I try to keep on top of availability.

 

The last manual transmission I rebuilt was a '64 Ford 3.03 Toploader. I used Valvoline Syncromesh Manual Transmission Fluid. It's not specifically rated for use in this transmission, but after reading and researching, that was the oil I decided to use. Two years later it's still working well. With all the testimonials I've seen in this thread, it seems you can use just about any oil in an automotive manual transmission and have no issues. Good luck to us all.

 

Just to lighten the mood... I like to equate lubrication to a piece of ***... Sometime's something is better than nothing...

 

I'm a cream puff . I can get a gallon container easily at Napa of GL-1 90W goes in the trans and the o/d unit, I have to shift a little slower until the end of the block (on cold mornings) and after that it's normal. I found some GL-4 140w at the local hazmat drop off, they put stuff that's sealed back out for the public to use (You can get up to 5 things free). I've gotten oil, wax, detail products, cleaning products and paint for the house...........what can I say I'm a recycler at heart .

 

That would require lubrication.

 

Something's better than nothing...