ATF and Diff oil recommendations

Slicknik

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I’m going to change out my trans oil/filter,gasket/ and diff oil this weekend , any recommendations would be awesome

Mercon/dextron lll is my first choice

I have the e4od trans and the sterling 10.25 open diff

So ATF and gear oil suggestions, I tow heavy about 6 times a year (6-10k ) and do about 1500 miles a year with this truck,

1991 idit f350 E4OD 2wd
 
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Cubey

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Valvoline synthetic 75w140 is under $13/qt from Walmart. Or if you want much cheaper, Walmart's SuperTech full synthetic 80w90 is about $6/qt.

75w140 is what people usually use for heavy duty/towing.
 

CDX825

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Valvoline maxlife is my go to ATF. Ive used it in a lot of vehicles with good results. Valvoline also makes a quality gear oil.
 

BR3

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Have done significant research on the gear oil topic, hands down, as far as lab tests go, amsoil severe gear 75-140 is the best gear oil made. I don't think it out right lost a single catagory, and did outright win most catagories. I've read studies from several independent firms, not some marketing bull. But it's definitely not as cheap or readily available, so my choice was Valvoline full syn. 75-140, mostly because it's on most Walmart shelves for a decent price and scored decently enough to make it better than the best options available when our trucks were made
 

smithman

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ATF: Valvoline Max life gallon from Walmart. It goes in many things.

Gear oil: 75w-140 Lucas oil, bought by the gallon from Amazon.

My choices, to be cost effective but have decent stuff. I just bought another Lucas gallon recently to do other vehicles and prices are even lower now on Amazon.
 

BR3

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On the Lucas, I don't want to be contrary, but the same studies that discerned that amsoil severe gear was the best, also found that Lucas's products were so poor that they didn't even qualify for the weight they listed on the bottle .

Aka less than half the quality of the cheapest oil you could buy normally (supertech) (side note-spoke to a rep face to face, admitted that Castrol and supertech flow from the same nozzle)

Please avoid Lucas products if at all possible, I don't mean to run it down, but I don't appreciate companies that spend more money on advertising than product development
 

chillman88

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On the Lucas, I don't want to be contrary, but the same studies that discerned that amsoil severe gear was the best, also found that Lucas's products were so poor that they didn't even qualify for the weight they listed on the bottle .

Aka less than half the quality of the cheapest oil you could buy normally (supertech) (side note-spoke to a rep face to face, admitted that Castrol and supertech flow from the same nozzle)

Please avoid Lucas products if at all possible, I don't mean to run it down, but I don't appreciate companies that spend more money on advertising than product development

I have always heard the same thing. It always makes me cringe a little bit when people "swear by Lucas"
 
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IDIBRONCO

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(side note-spoke to a rep face to face, admitted that Castrol and supertech flow from the same nozzle)
This explains a lot. I knew that Super Tech (10w/40 at least) is good oil. I had a 1984 Mustang with a junkyard 3.8 in it when I bought it. I always ran Super Tech oil in it. After several years and probably 60.000 miles, I got tired of the leaky valve cover gaskets. While I had the valve covers off, I decided to pull a pair of rocker arms to check for wear. They almost looked new. No sign of bad wear at all. So I was happy and kept running Super Tech until I moved so far away from Wal-Mart.
 
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Cubey

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Aka less than half the quality of the cheapest oil you could buy normally (supertech)

Actually, Lucas is cheaper by the gallon for 75w140 by about $8 (based on Crapazon price) vs 4qts of SuperTech 75w140.
 

BR3

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I suppose I assumed most people would consider "normally" available in a store near them, but many do buy online these days, so I suppose that may not be the case.

Either way I'd definitely not run Lucas, it technically didn't qualify as a 75-140 anyhow lol
 

ironworker40

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I don’t buy oil or filters from wall mart anymore
I used mobil one from them with mobil one filters for years.
I had a blazer spin a main with 102,000 on it and it was my inlaws truck before I got it. It had the oil changed every 3000
Then I had a pickup I bought new lose a lifter at 30,000. That was the last time I bought oil from wall mart unless its for a lawnmower
I say its like everything else they sell. Made cheaper for them so they can undercut the price.
 

BR3

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Sceptical of the above. Are you sure that both of those instances were a direct result of using "Walmart" oil? Was there any real proof that innadiquate film strength due to low quality oil was the cause? Several test, and I'm sure 100k more individuals would tell you they had nothing but good experience from it.

Not trying to discount your experience, but I think any expert or test you could devise,as well as a truth seeking frame of mind, would yield that any oil made in the past 15 or so years if maintenanced properly would not cause mechanical failure in Grand fashion. Not to mention it would cost much more money to design/produce a separate product than to just sell what you already have. Anyone in big business would confirm. It's the same principal that lands trucks with entire unused systems just simply missing a switch/relay, because it
Would cost more to designsell a harness without it than to just leave a plug bare

It's always best to get as much info as possible before making a decision, the more facts you can gather from the most sources, the closer to truth you are, so always be weary of blanket statements like " it's cheaper so it's worse"
 

The_Josh_Bear

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How'd
Have done significant research on the gear oil topic, hands down, as far as lab tests go, amsoil severe gear 75-140 is the best gear oil made. I don't think it out right lost a single catagory, and did outright win most catagories. I've read studies from several independent firms, not some marketing bull. But it's definitely not as cheap or readily available, so my choice was Valvoline full syn. 75-140, mostly because it's on most Walmart shelves for a decent price and scored decently enough to make it better than the best options available when our trucks were made
Have done significant research on the gear oil topic, hands down, as far as lab tests go, amsoil severe gear 75-140 is the best gear oil made. I don't think it out right lost a single catagory, and did outright win most catagories. I've read studies from several independent firms, not some marketing bull. But it's definitely not as cheap or readily available, so my choice was Valvoline full syn. 75-140, mostly because it's on most Walmart shelves for a decent price and scored decently enough to make it better than the best options available when our trucks were made
How'd the Amsoil compare to Schaeffer's? I've run Schaeffer gear oil and moly grease for close to 10 years and have no complaints.

I think in general though any modern gear oil will do just fine in a pickup. Unless you tow 4,000lbs most days it shouldn't even be much of a concern. And if you do grab a synthetic of your liking and call it good for 50k or so.
 
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BR3

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Amsoil edged out schaffers just barely in a few catagories,but I would have called it a close second. Redline did very well too.

Royal purple, Lucas, and standard Valvoline did not so so hot.

Surprisingly enough, Valvoline synthetic did great though
 

Cubey

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I don’t buy oil or filters from wall mart anymore
I used mobil one from them with mobil one filters for years.
I had a blazer spin a main with 102,000 on it and it was my inlaws truck before I got it. It had the oil changed every 3000
Then I had a pickup I bought new lose a lifter at 30,000. That was the last time I bought oil from wall mart unless its for a lawnmower
I say its like everything else they sell. Made cheaper for them so they can undercut the price.

The way to tell if a product like motor oil is different is to check the bar code. Valvoline gear oil from Walmart and oreilly should have the same bar code if its the same product. It would be different from Walmart, so you cant buy a "better" version at oreilly for more money and return the Walmart one to oreilly. Typically special versions are like TVs, computers, where model numbers end in "wm".

My mom ran cheap Walmart oil changes for something like 17 years in a Corolla and when i got rid of it at 19 after being tboned but still drivable, at 160k it still ran fine aside from a slightly vibrating idle, but that may have been motor mounts. It used no oil, just leaked a little.
 
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