Gear oil question

Discussion in 'PSI Superchargers Tech Questions' started by fathead, Dec 18, 2006.

  1. fathead

    fathead New Member

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    I'm new to this blown/pro mod stuff.I have a Strange 9.5 Ultracase floater rear axle.Do I run the synthetic 75/90?.Seemed to work ok with slower cars I had before.
    Thanks in advance for your time
     
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  2. Mike Canter

    Mike Canter Top Dragster
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    We use 80w-140 Synthetic is ours with no problems. The thicker oil helps reduce impact on the gear teeth.
     
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  3. blwnaway

    blwnaway Member

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    Synthetic gear oil not only reduces the life of your gears it is harsh on track surfaces if leaked. The synthetic works great in every day cars because there is no stress and it works against heat but in a race car there is no heat but all stress. Lucas works best. If you have any questions about this call Tom at Toms differential @ 208-265-8111 and can better explain.
     
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  4. Mike Canter

    Mike Canter Top Dragster
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    I will beg to differ with you. Where did you ever get information that synthetic gear oil reduces the life of gears? Please tell how so I can pass it on to our synthetic oil sponsor and his petroleum engineers. Any oil on the track is bad.

    There was a time in the 1980's that people also thought that synthetic oils like Mobil 1 would damage your car engine.
     
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  5. Tim Stevens

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    Blower cars are TOUGH on gears. Use Redline Shock-Proof, the thick red snot. No, they are not a sponsor, just a product I have had EXCELLENT results with!
     
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  6. Michael D

    Michael D New Member

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    I own and operate a truck repair shop. I wish everyone would go back to the old lubricants, because now everyone uses the new synthetic stuff, and I don't get to repair or rebuild nearly as many rear ends or transmissions as I once did.

    Michael D.
     
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  7. secondwindracing

    secondwindracing top alcohol

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    Holddddddd on guys......I just got a strange top loader and as of today, tuesday december 19 I called strange. I was asking strange what lube to use in my top loader and they said DO NOT USE ANY SYNTHETIC OIL IN IT..as for me I started to read all of the post so I called... so...BLWNAWAY answered it just as strange did, they said it was hard on gears and they also had several other reasons..I think everyone in here has all good ideas, and is very smart..so maybe some things work great for some people were other things might not work so good for others..If it's not broke don't fix it!!!! Dave Lowe
     
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  8. IGO1320

    IGO1320 T/D 2268

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    synthetics

    I have always used amsoil in the rear with good luck, after I saw this post I looked in it....the gears don't look as spiffy as they used to....has the formula been changed maybe? 20 years ago one of my "bright" (or not so bright) ideas was to run atf in the diff thinking it would cut down on drag...well it cut down on gear life... after just a few runs they were worn out......that is kind of what this looks like, there is a definate amount of wear and backlash has increased. Open for suggestions as to why?
     
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  9. Mike Canter

    Mike Canter Top Dragster
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    I talked with Tracy at Strange today and she gave me the reasons that Strange does not want Synthetic Gear Oil in their rear ends. With my little knowledge on gear oil I have sent a email to a petroleum engineer with what Strange's answer is and I will hold back (bite my tongue, that will be a first for me, lol) until I get an answer back. I will tell you this...based on what Strange told me I am going to keep running our synthetic gear oil.

    We use synthetic oil, fluids, gear oil in our F-22 Fighter, our new F-35 Fighter and the C-130J with no problems.
     
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  10. secondwindracing

    secondwindracing top alcohol

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    hi Mike, tracy is also the one I talked to so let me on this:confused: she said it would be very hard on my ring gear and pinion??? thanks Dave Lowe
     
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  11. Mike Canter

    Mike Canter Top Dragster
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    Tracy at Strange said three things:
    1. The viscosity of synthetic oil is too thin and gets thinner with heat

    From what I have researched that is totally wrong. The viscosity is a measured standard that all oils have to meet when at operating temps. The oil is thinner to start with is because it doesn't change with temperatures as a standard oil does so it is the correct viscosity to start with. That is why synthetic oils are better to use in both hot and cold weather. In Thule Greenland if we didn't use synthetic gear lubes and motor oils the trucks froze up at -40*F

    2. The synthetic oil squeezes out from between the contact of the ring and pinion so it provides no impact protection.

    I don't know what synthetic gear oil they have used because once ours gets on anything you can't get it off. It has more cling than regular gear oil so it provides more impact protection. This is one of the problems in spilling it on the track.

    3. Synthetic oils are not compatible with orings and seals.

    Maybe back in 1960 that was true but not now. Corvettes roll out of the production line with synthetic engine oil in them. All the aircraft use synthetic oils and they have no problems with orings and seals. Those are old wives tales from twenty plus years ago when synthetics first hit the comercial market that never proved tp be true.

    I know several people that use synthetic gear lube and have never ever had problems. We have always used it and never had problems. All my cars have synthetic motor oils and gear lubes and I have 200,000+ miles on some of them without a failure. If you use synthetic transmission oils in a motor home Allison transmissions doubles the mileage between oil changes. I will not switch from using synthetic oils and have no evidence to warrant switching. We have never lost a ring and pinion or a bearing due to wear or lubrication failure. Have had a unrelated bolt failure. Lucas sells synthetic gear lube. Formula One cars use synthetic oils and lubes(Mobil 1), NASCAR uses synthetic oils and lubes.

    See, I know I couldn't bite my tongue for long.
     
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  12. Mike Canter

    Mike Canter Top Dragster
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  13. Will Hanna

    Will Hanna We put the 'inside' in Top Alcohol
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    just go with what works

    i'm knocking on wood as i type.

    we run a strange 9.5 top loader, strange/us gear. we bought the car from ed marx. dont have a clue how many runs the rear end and the oil had on it. it had redline gear lube in it. anyone who has watched me run over the past year and a half knows i've shook this thing pretty good. there's not a tight spot one in the gears. we've put around 80 runs on it, no problems with redline oil.

    i'm not a smart guy like mike that can tell you all the specifics, i'm just telling you it works fine.
     
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  14. T.A.D. 776

    T.A.D. 776 New Member

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    I am also a true believer in synthetic lubes for everything I own and run. It saves me money on my racing parts and downtime on everything else cars, trucks, boat and shop equiptment.
    Not just because my business Full Race Supply is a Warehouse Distributor of Redline products.
     
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  15. Slayer

    Slayer Member

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    I have a 1998 Dodge Ram 3500 with 160,000 miles on it that I use for towing my race car around. It has synthetic oil in the rear and trans from the factory. I don't think that Dodge would put any oil in their vehicles that would have a chance to cause wear quickly. I know it's not a race car but my truck sees quite a lot of stress towing. I saw Amsoil mentioned in an earlier post, is this stuff any good for motor oil? I was approached to run it in my TAD by a potential sponsor.
     
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  16. IGO1320

    IGO1320 T/D 2268

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    Synthetics

    I mentioned the amsoil, I have used it since 1984 and have had great luck with it, seals do not harden and absolutly (sic) no residue buildup that I have ever seen in a motor, my current p/u has 230,000 no smoke when started and no leaks, until recently when we bought a new duramax this was "the tow vehicle" now I cannot tell you about residue buildup becouse I have never had a valve cover off of it....but I quit using the amsoil in my racemotors becouse I started eating the lifter bores and I talked to amsoil and found out they had cut the zinc out for emission reasons....still use it in my street vehicles. My rear gears in the dragster are starting to look rough, now maybe there is something else going on other than the amsoil gear lube but since this post started thought I would look and was I surprised. Let me know what you find out please mike...thank you.
     
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