synthetic 75-90 ?

3bears

Senior Member
I need to change my front diff . I live in a remote area, I went to town yesterday and finding brand name was difficult, and the Walmart had one qt. O rieilleys had some off brand and reading it it said full synthetic, made of petroleum lubricants.. Napa had Valvoline full synthetic but it said for limited slip
but it does have all the spec's such as GL-5 or something, don't have in front of me.

then in small print it said for all differentials.

I would like to do this tomorrow, and don't want to drive to town again (3 hour round trip) and this time of year UPS wont come out here so cant order on amazon.

does anyone know if this will cause an issue....the wording....limited slip ?

thanks
 
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It is when you don't have an open rear diff and you need the extra additive for the rear for one reason or another that things can go south quickly if you get the wrong gear oil...
 
The wording "limited slip" often means it has additives to promote shear in limited slip differentials, whose clutch plates are always under pressure, unlike a transmission whose bands only make direct contact in the third stage of engagement. This should not adversely affect differentials or transfer cases, but read the labels clearly.

The other wording you will often find is "contains friction modifiers" which can mean the same thing, or the opposite, in that it promotes engagement through the addition of friction promoting compounds to specific applications.

I can't speak from the products you saw, but I think you would be best served using an oil that is formulated for hypoid gears and has GL-5 clearly listed on the label in your diffs and t-case. Of course, I don't have a front diff or transfer case on my 4runner. :bounce:
 
Limited slip gear oil is fine in there. I've been running Mobil 1 75w-90 limited slip in mine for ~100k miles with no issues. Like LittleCaesar said the issues come when you have a limited slip and don't put the limited slip fluid in it.
 
Im running Valvoline 75-90w gear oil in my front and rear diffs, good stuff, no issues running it. Any 80-90w or 75-90 GL5 gear oil is good to use and meets OEM specs. Dont worry about the limited slip our diffs dont need it but it does not hurt to have it and most GL5 gear oils have the limited slip additive already in it.
 
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I run valvoline 80w-90 in all but my transmission. Never had any issues. Don't over think it dude. I just get the gallon of from autozone. I change my more frequently then others do. Because I off road and do water crossings.
 
I run valvoline 80w-90 in all but my transmission. Never had any issues. Don't over think it dude. I just get the gallon of from autozone. I change my more frequently then others do. Because I off road and do water crossings.
Excellent point, use and condition (mud, water crossings) plays a big part in how often drive train fluids should be checked and changed. If that's the intended use, don't drop $200 worth of Redline oil in only to drain it out after a season of mud bogging.

In a purely street driven vehicle you can go 2+ years with the same diff fluid, depending on mileage per year.

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I run valvoline 80w-90 in all but my transmission. Never had any issues. Don't over think it dude. I just get the gallon of from autozone. I change my more frequently then others do. Because I off road and do water crossings.

3 years ago I used 80-90 in my transfer case and front diff. Everything has worked great for years until recently.
recently I have been having issues with my 4wd front diff wont disengage on the fly, only when I back up. ( that's a different thread) It engages just fine an don the fly. IN that thread what I was told by many that I need to switch to synthetic 75-90 and that will cure my issue. Many of them had the same issue and it fixed it self when switching to synthetic
 
Based on experience with my previous Toyota 4WD truck (and zero water crossings), I'll be taking the MT-90 in my trans and transfer to at least 50K miles/5 years.
 

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