Synthetic ????

[SY2455]

Looking for input, my truck now has 70,000 miles & I was thinking during the next service which is done on the transmission & transfer case, I would change over to synthetic oil for the added protection (while still using lube gard). Also looking at synthetic for the front & rear Diff too.The trans pan on every service has been clean & I'm ask why do you change oil every 12,000 miles when it's this clean.
1. For those that use synthetic what brand do you use & why. How do they compare B&M, Lucas, Red Line,& Mobil One which I use for engine oil now, (every 2500 miles.)

 

[AlaskaTy]

I've heard from numerous members not to use mobile 1 synthetic for your tranny.

 

[SY2455]

Thank You. I wanted to add Castro synthetic too.

 

[AlaskaTy]

I've heard B&M trick shift syn is a pretty good one to run, also there are always the stand outs like Royal purple, red line, or amsoil that should work fine (never tried them). Never heard anything about castrol though.

 

[SyTyJedi]

I ran the following for several thousand miles and tons of racing/boosted launches.

Trans: Amsoil High Temp ATF
Diffs: Amsoil 'shockproof' Gear Oil 75w90
Xfer: Amsoil High Temp ATF

No problems, and the trans fluid is still crystal clear. Truck has been down for awhile, I guess I could see how the diffs and xfer case looks.

As far as a difference...I'm not sure what the previous owner had in there, but things felt 'smoother' afterwards and from that point on the truck seemed to just move better, with less noise and 'friction'....does that make sense?

Just my exp.

 

[SY2455]

Thank You it does make sense, The last time I went all Synthetic was in a 1982 Cutlass Cruiser with a Real 350 Diesel, & I'd went from 17 & 24 MPG to 27 & 37 MPG. But that was in 1989. I haven't heard of Amsoil before where do you buy it, is it common stuff.

 

[AlaskaTy]

Thank You it does make sense, The last time I went all Synthetic was in a 1982 Cutlass Cruiser with a Real 350 Diesel, & I'd went from 17 & 24 MPG to 27 & 37 MPG. But that was in 1989. I haven't heard of Amsoil before where do you buy it, is it common stuff.

I think amsoil is all mail order or on the internet.

 

[SyTyJedi]

I got my Amsoil stuff at local speed shops. There are a few oil change places around here that actually carry it and will include it in your oil change service.

 

[Captain Morgan]

Do not use synthetic tranny fluid. Just use standard dextron III and a bottle of Red Lubeguard.

 

[tealty]

WHen i had my old typhoon back in the day, it had regular tranny services with the shitty walmart fluid. After about 50 low 12sec passes at the strip in the Florida heat, I decided to change to a deeper pan/new filter and run the mobil 1 stuff. For some reason, about a week later my trans takes a crap at just normal highway driving. On a separate occasion, I used some of that b&m trickshift on a newly built powerglide and that takes a dump about 1000 miles later. I recently moved to a cheap turbo400 trans with a crappy tc and have been running the walmart supertech dex III. in it for about 7k miles. This trans has taken lots of racing abuse and for some reason its still holding together and the fluid is still holding up. WHenever I use this cheap trans fluid in my trannys..they always pull through for me. I have never had any luck with mobil 1 or trickshift....save that money and go buy an icecream with it or something....seriously.
later
Jordan

 

[Captain Morgan]

here is the old 2 page thread on "why not to use Mobile 1 ATF"

http://syty.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=31733

 

[SY2455]

Thank You to all who reply to my ??? I'll keep doing what I'm doing Req tranny fluid @ 12,000

Any thoughts about synthetic gear oil in diff (front & rear)????

 

[Lynn D. Brown]

Synthetics in Autos

Synthetics in Autos

Lloyd,

It appears that one of the main advantages of synthetic oils, i.e. less viscosity or friction (more slippery) can be a disadvantage in Automatics. This makes some sense, since Auto trans bands and clutches need to have some friction to transfer power to whatever they are connecting to.

The connections in an Auto trans are not direct mechanical connections (like steel gears meshing) like U have in a manual trans or a rear end. Instead the "connection" has a "transmission" fluid in between the steel gears. So, the thickness, or viscosity, of the fluid is important, and U need to have some friction from the fluid in order to transfer the power. So, maybe the low friction that the synthetics have can be a disadvantage here.

On the other hand, where U do have a direct gear connection, like manuals and rears, the lower friction of the synthetics would most likely be a good thing. One exception might be in the clutch type limited slip rear ends, which, once again, do not a direct mechanical connection. I know GM has those and so once again the lowest possible friction from the fluid may not necessarily be the best choice.

Just some opinions from an engineering stanpoint, I'm not an expert. I'm glad to learn all this beacuse I wasn't aware of it. Come to think of it, I burned the forward clutch out of my GN HD rebuilt trans w a full load of Mobil 1. I am now testing out a PATC MegaRaptor trans on my TY. I am using their HD trans fluid which is not synthetic. I'll see how that works.

 

[Lynn D. Brown]

Synthetics in Autos

Synthetics in Autos

Lloyd,

It appears that one of the main advantages of synthetic oils, i.e. less viscosity or friction (more slippery) can be a disadvantage in Automatics. This makes some sense, since Auto trans bands and clutches need to have some friction to transfer power to whatever they are connecting to.

The connections in an Auto trans are not direct mechanical connections (like steel gears meshing) like U have in a manual trans or a rear end. Instead the "connection" has a "transmission" fluid in between the steel gears. So, the thickness, or viscosity, of the fluid is important, and U need to have some friction from the fluid in order to transfer the power. So, maybe the low friction that the synthetics have can be a disadvantage here.

On the other hand, where U do have a direct gear connection, like manuals and rears, the lower friction of the synthetics would most likely be a good thing. One exception might be in the clutch type limited slip rear ends, which, once again, do not a direct mechanical connection. I know GM has those and so once again the lowest possible friction from the fluid may not necessarily be the best choice.

Just some opinions from an engineering stanpoint, I'm not an expert. I'm glad to learn all this beacuse I wasn't aware of it. Come to think of it, I burned the forward clutch out of my GN HD rebuilt trans w a full load of Mobil 1. I am now testing out a PATC MegaRaptor trans on my TY. I am using their HD trans fluid which is not synthetic. I'll see how that works.

 

[mrweelr]

I used Mobil1 synthetic in my original trans that used to shift rock hard and it slowly deteriorated within 20K miles. I have a B&M cooler, Derale pan, etc. and used Lubegard with each fluid change. After my rebuild, I will use only regular ATF with lubegard. I agree with what others have said about this topic.

 

[Lynn D. Brown]

Lubegard

Lubegard

Say Guys - Where R U getting your Lubegard ?

 

[kwick6]

Re: Lubegard

Re: Lubegard

Say Guys - Where R U getting your Lubegard ?

Napa.

If you want to save a few bucks, you can buy it online.

 

[SY2455]

Thank you for the reply. Did you notice part two to this ? which Lynn D, Brown reply to. Any thoughts about synthetic gear oil in diff (front & rear)???? NOTE to Lynn D, Brown I get my LUBEGARD at my local NAPA Auto Parts store here in Beaumont CA. Online price $7.79, Local price $11.49

 

[Loeryder]

As far as I am concerned Synthetic is the ONLY gear lube to run in your diffs.

Still use the LSD addiditve in the rear though.


On my Z71 when I changed the front diff to synthetic I had to change the vent to preventage seepage. The rear diff came with synthetic in it already.