A Couple of Questions

[schoelta]

I am contemplating the using synthetic oil in my 86 6.9L. A truck magazine I was looking at had an article about using Royal Purple oils in it. I was wondering if any other people run synthetic oils in these engines and if so how do they feel. Are there better ones out there that Royal Purple? I see that Shell has a synthetic Rotella, and I also know a bit about Amsoil. Is it worth the extra money? I was thinking that since my truck gets mainly driving in the city limits of Omaha, and that I only put around 5-7K on it a year, that I should run a better oil (if there is one) than the standard Shell Rotella.

I am also looking to put a bigger fuel tank in my truck. I found a company that has a 45 gal tank, but it is for the '87 and newer trucks. They told me that the sending units and filler necks are different between the '86 and '87 trucks. How are would it be to convert my '86 to the '87 style so that I can use these tanks?

Thanks for your help.

Tim

 

[Ironman03R]

I wouldnt switch to a synthetic unless your truck has very low miles, and has had regular maintence its whole life. If not, the synthetic oil could break loose sludge build up and plug things up.
Everyone has a favorite brand and your gonna get mixed responces.
FWIW, I bought my truck w/ 150K on it and knew it was used and abused, I change the oil every 3K and use Shell Rotella only. I have 227K on it now and just changed the valve cover gaskets, the inside was almost spotless.
The most important thing is that you change the oil regularly.

 

[KR69IDI]

I agree with Ironman. Stick with dino oil if it has some age on the engine (which it probably does).

 

[f-two-fiddy]

It'll get expensive adding oil between changes, also.

These engines usually use a little oil.

 

[schoelta]

Thanks for the oil advise. As for the fuel tanks, I was thinking of replacing both of them. That would give me a total of 85 gallons at a full fill. However, I don't have a rear tank. The truck did have one at some time, but the repvious owner removed it due to rust. So I would replace that tank first. This is why I want to know how easy would it be to switch my fuel lines, etc. to the '87 style? Would I also have to get a different fuel gauge since the reisitance is different?



Tim