What gear oil are you using?

What gear oil do you use?

  • Mobil 1

    Votes: 40 36.7%

  • Amsoil

    Votes: 29 26.6%

  • Royal Purple

    Votes: 12 11.0%

  • Traditional Dino Gear Oil

    Votes: 11 10.1%

  • Other - Which One?

    Votes: 17 15.6%
  • Total voters
    109
G.I.G.

G.I.G.

New member
I am coming up on 30k miles on my 4R and am thinking of changing over to full synthetic gear oil in the diffs and xfer case. I wanted to find out what some of you all are using for gear oil and what you think of it. I'm thinking of using Mobil 1 but for a few bucks more per quart, the Amsoil Severe Gear is rated to 100k miles, so spending the extra money might be worth it. I've heard good things about Royal Purple as well, but don't know as much about it.
 
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IMHO you can't go wrong with any of the premium synthetics. 4Runners are much less demanding on the fluids than other vehicles. I guess there's a few higher output V8 (supercharged) T4R's and a few who tow heavy stuff fast but for most of us it's just piece of mind to run a litlle longer interval.

:cheers:
 
Just picked up 7 quarts and having it changed this week.
138967478502.png
 
ALLEGRO said:
Just picked up 7 quarts and having it changed this week.
138967478502.png
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Likewise. I just picked up 7 quarts of 75-90 Mobil 1 for my front, rear, and center diff. I'll be changing it out in the next week or two.

Did you buy the crush washers for the diffs as well?
 
Yes...you NEED to replace those washers (gaskets) when you do the change. The stock ones are pretty deformed when it comes to removing them. Make sure to check the link about how to change the diff fluids. I posted in the last post of that thread the other torques that were not listed in the start of the thread.

After 60K on the Lucas Synthetic fluid that I had put in there a while ago, the rear and front diff fluid came out pretty clean. Some build up (grey slimmy crap!) on the drain plug magnets, but nothing major. The transfer case on the other hand came out almost as dark as used engine oil! It was dark under the truck though, so maybe it wasnt really THAT dark. I changed over to the Amsoil Severe Gear 75w90 this time around.
 
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i just bought some amsoil severe gear 75w90 to change out the fluids... i also found this report on gear oil that tested most of the gear oils available on the market... guess which brand came out on top - AMSOIL.

and mobil 1 was 2nd.


gear oil test
 
I reused my washers on the rear diff and it hasn't been leaking. From my research there seemed to be no easy way to get those washers without spending an hour with the toyota parts guy and getting many strange looks. If you have an easier way to source them I'd like to hear it. (I'm being serious, not sarcastic)
 
Antoddio said:
I reused my washers on the rear diff and it hasn't been leaking. From my research there seemed to be no easy way to get those washers without spending an hour with the toyota parts guy and getting many strange looks. If you have an easier way to source them I'd like to hear it. (I'm being serious, not sarcastic)
Click to expand...

Just give them the part # :)

http://www.toyodiy.com/parts/

Put in your VIN and go to town.

Also I use Chevron 75w90 syn.
 
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Hello,

I have about little over 33,000 miles on my 04 4 runner V6. I am looking to change the differential fluid. Is it possible to do it yourself. It's kind of hard without lifting the truck full up. Which brand of oil would you recommend? I went to Autozone today and all they had was Coastal brand, the price was like $3.69 a quart. Is brand a really a big difference when it comes to gear oil? Plus does my V6 have a center differential or just front and rear? I see in the owner's manual for the oil viscosity and it showed 80W-90 for the rear and the front it showed 75W-90. I see in the thread that people are using 75W-90 for both. is this correct? Would you recommend changing to synthetic and which brand? Is it worth it? if so why? any feedback and experience would be greatly appreciated. thank you!
 
Can you change the differential oil by using the a Trolley jack to lift up the truck? Would it high enough in clearance? Whoever have done it themselves, please suggest how to perform this task. thanks!
 
achen said:
Can you change the differential oil by using the a Trolley jack to lift up the truck? Would it high enough in clearance? Whoever have done it themselves, please suggest how to perform this task. thanks!
Click to expand...

I just crawled under my 4runner without jacking it to change the gear oil. It's a little tight under there, but you're getting nice, even drainage by keeping the vehicle flat and level. The one thing I would suggest to make the job a little easier is to drop the spare tire and set it aside while you do the rear. It gives you much more room to move around.
 
I did mine a few days ago. I agree with dropping the spare 100%. The other thing I did was pull the plug then jack the drivers rear wheel way up to tip the axle. A good bit more oil came out. I didn't bother with jackstands or anything for 2 reasons: the tire stayed on and I wasn't under there while it was jacked.

I let it back down put the plug in and refilled. Rather uneventful overall...

:cheers:
 
bootown said:
I recently did my sisters 99 without jacking and don't see a need to do it on my even lower 02. You just need to get a hand pump to get the oil up to the fill hole. Might be a different story with the 4th gens as they seem to sit so low to the ground.
Click to expand...

Hand pump? meaning no need to remove the drain plug?

Thanks
 
I just did my 4th gen with Mobil 1. Some write ups out there says it takes 6 qts, and it does, but it would be easier to buy 7 qts. Its kind of hard to get every last drop out of those bottles. It didn't help that my pump didn't fit into the bottles.

I also adjusted the parking brake under the console. It really needed that.
 
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