Gear Oil

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Sterling

Sterling

FABO Gold Member
FABO Gold Member
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What is the preferred gear oil for a cone type sure grip ? It has been a few years since I have had a street car, I am assembling a 8 3/4 center section now. I had good luck with the Lakewood BFL , but it seems no longer available. Had problems with synthetic and the cone sure grips, went to the BFL and worked fine.
 
90w with friction modifier added or already in it.
 
A close friend who owned his own rearend shop, since passed, warned me against synthetic gear oil years ago. Would not warrantee his work if the customer insisted on synthetic.
He used nothing but Torco, and Motorcraft friction modifier.
Edit: weight according to location. He used 90/140 in southern California. Bought Torco by the drum.
 
Regular old mineral based GL-5 with LSD additive already in it is available at some places. Valvoline used to be widely available, but stopped putting in the additive a few years ago. Castrol is out there, Amalie, and Walmart brand Super-tech. It's nothing fancy, brand should make little difference. Or like Rusty said put the additive in yourself, only enough to get it to stop chattering.
 
The ford one stinks like hail
 
Do not use synthetic in a 50 year old cone. Find some cheap old 80W90 dino gear oil, and while a cone doesn't need the whale oil it certainly doesn't hurt anything... Here's the easiest way to put it in a rear axle..
1969dartcleanupweek17 026.JPG
 
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slight hijack here...but related. I put amzoil 80/90 in the A833 but have not run it. No clutches or anything in there. I had an extra case laying around and thought .....looks good. I was gonna put it in the diff but now Im thinking not.

Thanks for posting this.
 
clementine said:
slight hijack here...but related. I put amzoil 80/90 in the A833 but have not run it. No clutches or anything in there. I had an extra case laying around and thought .....looks good. I was gonna put it in the diff but now Im thinking not.

Thanks for posting this.
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If that 80W90 was a hypoid oil you don't want it in your transmission, it will eat the bronze.
 
dadsbee said:
If that 80W90 was a hypoid oil you don't want it in your transmission, it will eat the bronze.
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Yep, a GL-4 isn't corrosive to yellow metals.
And if a product claims to be both a GL-4 and a GL-5, it doesn't do either as well as a product meeting only one of those specs.
 
Definitely 80w90 GL5 with that stinky ford friction modifier .
 
Might be ok to use in trans? although additive needed for diff. Hmmmmmm. It does say GL5 in the fine print but no Hypoid...
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what say you @dadsbee?
 
AJ/FormS said:
You mean whale, stinks like whale cuz that's what it is, namely, whale-oil. Or was at one-time.
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What really didn’t know that we always called it weesel piss . Used to put a few drops in the guys coverall pocket so they would smell it all day and wonder where it came from …..
 
Order the additive online and you won't even have to track it. You'll smell it coming in the mail from the last 3 depots....
 
dadsbee said:
Order the additive online and you won't even have to track it. You'll smell it coming in the mail from the last 3 depots....
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I worked at a home based manual transmission place for awhile doing the first 'R' of R&R for a few and smelled of burnt (and fresh) 90 weight for most of that time. Its so pervasive. The nice lady I was dating at the time 'got used to it':rolleyes:....Thats all Im saying.
 
clementine said:
Might be ok to use in trans? although additive needed for diff. Hmmmmmm. It does say GL5 in the fine print but no Hypoid...View attachment 1715842572 View attachment 1715842573what say you @dadsbee?
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GL-5 is for hypoid gears, so it doesn't need to also be specified.
The nasty smell is sulfur and phosphorus compounds used as anti wear additives. This is what reacts with yellow metals like synchros, so there is much less in GL-4s. Hypoid gears require much more anti wear properties, so GL-5 has more sulfur and phosphorus.
The Amsoil should be fine in most differentials. If I had it, I'd use it. I don't think I'd shop for it due to the cost. Maybe you'd need more LSD additive.
There was a building at the Pennzoil plant in Oil City called the Old Barrel House. It was a brick building where kegs and pails had been filled with gear lube for almost a century. I'll never forget the stench of that place.
 
S'cuder said:
GL-5 is for hypoid gears, so it doesn't need to also be specified.
The nasty smell is sulfur and phosphorus compounds used as anti wear additives. This is what reacts with yellow metals like synchros, so there is much less in GL-4s. Hypoid gears require much more anti wear properties, so GL-5 has more sulfur and phosphorus.
The Amsoil should be fine in most differentials. If I had it, I'd use it. I don't think I'd shop for it due to the cost. Maybe you'd need more LSD additive.
There was a building at the Pennzoil plant in Oil City called the Old Barrel House. It was a brick building where kegs and pails had been filled with gear lube for almost a century. I'll never forget the stench of that place.
Click to expand...
I remember wrestling a 4 spd when it was 19.. had long hair. Took 3 days for the smell to leave.....
 
My dad is an old skool mechanic. He always used conventional gear oil plus K&W sure grip additive and zero issues with cone type sure grip.
 
A few replies have said not to use syn oil. Other than 'opinions', what evidence is there that it causes problems.
My GTO also has a cone type LSD rear axle. It had slight gear whine when coasting. I tried two mineral oils with the correct LSD additive, made no difference to the whine.
I then used Redline 75/140 syn & it almost completely eliminated the noise. Twenty six years later, still using Redline & zero problems.
 
My dad went through 2 different cone type sure grips when using Amsoil synthetic gear oil. I installed another, with the Lakewood BFL and had zero problems. That’s why I thought it was the synthetic gear oil. I have not tried synthetic with the clutch type, but if it is working for you, good
 
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