75w90, 80w90 or 75w140?

[Merle]

Shell Spirax is what I went with. Some crazy million mile claims, by a good company, used by truckers, can be bought in 5 gallon containers and is synthetic.

Front and rear diffs at around 30k, with a refresher around 120k.

Oh yeah, 145,000+ miles now in my 2008, enjoying Tahoe including the cold (not as bad as AK, but nothing is) and I get to drive through central CA with 110+ heat.

 

[truckmike26]

I bought a five-gallon pail of Redline 75W85. My owner's manual says that's the grade to put in, so that's what I'll do. Toyota dealers in Toronto want $27 + tax a LITRE for 75W85 gear oil (the can says "Made in Japan"). The five-gallon pail works out to about $20/litre. It's good for the the 4Runner and the Tundra and my ma's Suzuki.

 

[Climb14er]

I run Redline Synthetic 75W-90 in both diffs and transfer case.

Vehicle runs really smoothly!

Spoke to Redline tech at the factory and we discussed 80W-90 and some of the heavier gear oils.

Not needed in the Toyota 4Runner at all he said. Now if you're towing ALL the time, that might change things, especially with the rear diff. But if you want good lubrication and good mileage, the 75W-90 is more than adequate.

I run their Shockproof gear oil in my Harley V-Twin tranny and this is a MUCH heavier gear oil and the Harley runs very smoothly. Also run their 20W-50 in the motor and their MTL in the Primary. The Harley is much tougher on gear oils than the 4Runner!

Redline is an excellent synthetic oil company and I'm sure that other mfg's are pretty good.

Being that you don't change gear oil in the 4Runner that often, I decided to spend the bucks and get what I think is one of the best, if not the best gear oil on the market today.

YMMV! :cheers:

 

[truckmike26]

Ground zero for oil discussion is - Bob is the Oil Guy -- go there and it'll have your head spinning. An example: some go as far as to "cut" 75W140 with 75W90, a 50/50 mix trying to arrive at 75W115 for whatever reason. Maybe there's a benefit, maybe not.

 

[banzaj]

Hey guys, I appreciate your feedback. I think I'll stick to 80w90 mineral oil and will change it every other year. My second concern after the grade is local availabiliy of genuine brands. Motul seems to be adequate here.

P.S. I have posted the very same request on bobistheoilguy.com - 75w90 synthetic is what the majority urges for.