2000 Tundra Differential Oil

[2000ltdken]

After reading the Amsoil White Paper on Gear Oils, I am thinking the RP 75w-90 Maxgear that I put in the differential may not be the very good. I have 4k miles on the Maxgear and the company told me it was good for 50k miles. I was thinking about changing to Lubrication Engineers LE607. I do tow my 6000 pound trailer over the mountains about 5-6 times a year. I want my truck to last a long time. I would like to have a long interval between changes. Any input would be great.

Ken

 

[jbl]

I would definetly exchange the royal purple after the facts from Amsoil. Maybee your truck will survive but my head will suffer if using that lousy performer as royal purple did.

 

[unDummy]

Towing loads up a diff. I would simply upgrade to a 140wt gear oil. Amsoil 110 or 140wt, Mobil1 140wt..... would be a good choice. LE607 is a 110wt so if you have it, use it.
Towing also eliminates the long interval. 30k max, and even less as you tow more often.

 

[Lonnie]

We have some Tundra's in severe service running the V8 engine and after testing a few dif lubes have settled for Red Line in the most severe cases. The last tests were done in 03 but I don't know how much gear lubes have changed in 4 years.

I have been using RL gear lube and transmission oil in my V8 4Runner but plan on the next service to switch to Renewable Lube products. A report from a friend that has tried it in a rock crawler is that this stuff works well and they will be able to go the whole season on one set of gears. Previous experience is one to two events per gear set. These vegie juice lubricants look very interesting.

 

[INDYMAC]

I use LE 607 in the rear diff of two of my vehicles (including a 2000 Tundra). It is a heavy duty industrial/automotive SAE 90 (110) GL5 that has served me well. Unfortunately, LE just got done reformulating their gear oils in order to comply with the new viscosity ratings. LE 607 Almasol has been discontinued, but might still be available by the quart from a couple of online venders. The new LE gear oil that most resembles LE 607 is LE 1605 w/Duolec SAE 110 GL5 (Duolec replaces Almasol as their proprietary EP additive). It is listed under their industrial gear oils, and should make a fine protector of hypoid differential gears. It is mineral based gear oil, so the pour point is only -11F. But that's not too bad for a mineral SAE 110. If you live in an extremely cold climate, I think AMSOIL SVT 75W110 would be the ticket for you. Use the AMSOIL SVG 75W90 in your transfer case and front diff while you're at it.

 

[wizzells]

Lonnie,
Which Red line are you using in the diffs? 75w-90? Heavy Shockproof?

 

[ARB1977]

Ive used redline (regular) 75W90 and amsoil sever gear, both work great.

 

[artificialist]

Honestly, I think if you just buy a gear lube that meets OE requirements and replace it every 2 years, you are so far ahead of the average driver, that your truck will seriously outlast others.

Most people just leave the factory fill in, and then develop problems around 80,000 miles.

 

[2000ltdken]

So towing degrades the oil that much? How do the over the road trucks go 500,000 miles on the same gear lube?

Thanks,

Ken

 

[unDummy]

How big are the 'end in OTR trucks? sump capacity? Can't even be compared to underengineered vehicles we drive.

 

[jbl]

Good point unDummy,

My car XC70 2.5T AWD only holds 0.7 litres in rearend and frontdiff angle gear 0.75l. 25% less than one quarter.

 

[heyjayman]

Quote:

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How big are the 'end in OTR trucks? sump capacity? Can't even be compared to underengineered vehicles we drive.

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Most Class 7/8 OTR Dana/Spicer axles hold 18 litres of gear oil. In contrast, my FJ Cruiser barely holds 3 litres in the rear axle, a bit over 1.4 litre in the front axle

I run Mobil Delvac Synthetic Gear Oil 75W-90, as I got a good price on it. The 500,000 mile OCI is based on the capacity and design of OTR Class 7/8 trucks.

On my FJ, based on my observations over about 9,000 km, I'll drain and refill the front axle and transfer case every two years. The rear axle at least yearly, possibly twice a year.

Anybody who hasn't checked the condition of their rear axle lube, might be surprised at how black it turns after only a few thousand initial miles.

 

[2000ltdken]

If I change over to LE607 I don't know how many miles I can put on it before having to change it. Looking at Amsoil website, they call for 50k mile intervals in severe use with Severe Gear. Can I go wrong with either of these?

Ken

 

[INDYMAC]

I think this question is easy to answer based on your 50K mile interval priority. Synthetic AMSOIL SVT 75W110 would be a great choice.
LE 607 has been replaced by LE 1605 (now SAE 110). It is a synthetic blend now with a new EP additive (Duolec). Since it is formulated for heavy equipment that rarely shuts down, I have no doubt that it is a very robust gear oil meant to stay in the gearbox and differential for a very long time. I don't have any personal experience or even third person knowledge of it yet though.
It appears there are two schools of thought on gear oils here at BITOG. Some think synthetics are the be all to end all. But there are a few here that still think there are advantages to conventional gear oils in the differential, if you don't live in an arctic climate.