Gear oil

WTF is up with toyota using these weird gear oils that are ridiculously priced? Seems like they are using lighter gear oils just to reduce friction in order to get better MPG. Had to do a bit of online research to figure this shit out. Dealers hadn't heard of the stuff and they kept recommending I'd use 75w90. I called toyota to inquire about it and they were pretty useless about it. Talk about reading from a legal script.. All the guy did was restate what the manual said and when asked if using 75w90 would void warranty he kept avoiding the question and repeating the same thing about toyota recommending 75w85 and that using 75w90 per dealer is up to me.

I found their 75w85 gear oil which is priced at 25 bucks a liter online, essentially a quart. I'm guessing $50+ if you have the dealer order the part number.

According to this toyota started using this stuff in 07, I'm kind of surprised that the dealers around my area had no clue what i was talking about since it's the OEM fluid for several different trucks.
http://www.toyotapart.com/LT_75W-85_API_GL-5_DIFFERENTIAL_GEAR_OIL_T-SB-0118-08.pdf

Have yet to figure out what "75w" is, which is what is specified for the transfer case. The best I found was ATF D6 made by redline, it states it meets API 75W requirements. But putting ATF in a transfer case seems fishy though it is a lubricant nontheless..

In the end I said fuck it and put valvoline synthetic 75w90 in everything, if anyone has any info on why this could be problematic let me know. But it seems like other people are doing and differentials are differentials so I'm guessing other than getting lower MPG and maybe better protection nothing is going to explode. I used ~8 quarts doing both differentials, and transfer case. I cant imagine doing this with toyota fluid.

There was a good amount of metal particle accumilation on the drain plugs @ 4k miles so I would recommend other people do a break in service. Dont want to open a can of worms, but I guess you can say differential break in is a real thing.

 

I buy my gear oil by the five gallon bucket, 80w-90 or so. Haven't blown a gearbox, t-case or meatball in over 1,000,000 miles. I go through a five gallon bucket a year.

Your should be in great shape with the high quality oil you are using. The non api discount oils would concern me.

Howard

 

The second number is the oil's viscosity when hot. Generally the more disparate the two numbers are, the more difficult it is to formulate the oil, and the more expensive it is. 75W85 or 85W90 is easier to make than 75W90, for example. Higher hot viscosity number is good for the rear diff, since it means the rear diff can run hotter without the oil breaking down. I got some chatter in the rear diff with 75W90 that went away with 75W140, so that's what I use now.

Rear diff break-in period is 500 miles. That's why the breaking-in section of the owner's manual (page 156 for 2016) says not to tow a trailer for that period.

 

I just bought Walmart branded 75-90 synthetic for my 2nd gen. Hopefully they will make the exact oil for 3rd gen in time.

 

Just wondering why your looking to buy gear oil all ready?

 

I've already changed all the fluids. I'm one of those "break in guys" that think the engine and other mechanical parts needs to be broken in on a new car and the fluid should be changed at low mileage to get rid of metallic contamination.

 

By the way, the transfer case oil is 50 bucks a quart.

 

Nothing is cheap anymore, and you have to remember the oils are formulated to last a lot longer than they did 20 years ago. I think my f150 says don't change the gear oil until the truck has 120k on it as per the owners manual.

 

Whaaaa? Who told you that?... a dealer/service guy?

 

To each his own I suppose. I change these fluids generally on a 2 year schedule if not earlier depending on the wheeling I do. People are always going to argue over what the manufacturer recommends and what they think is right. I've seen metal in the oil across the board so I feel good about changing the oil "prematurely."

The drain plug magnets basically had ferrofluid on them and these magnets aren't particularly strong so imagine what is not caught by them.

The part number is

$94 08885-81080 Toyota Genuine Transfer Case Gear Oil LF 75W 1 Litre 08885-81080

08885-81080

50 was the lowest price I found online. I'd imagine it's higher at the dealer.

 

I've changed my rear diff oil 3 times since I bought it new. Only the first change at 20k looked like that. The other 2 times were not nearly as full on the magnet.

 

I agree with ya man. Your truck your call. All I'm saying is if your adamant about changing it out I wouldn't bitch about the price. Kinda is what it is.

 

I use Mobil 75w/90. $10 a bottle ($30 does the rear diff).

My truck's rear, front and T-case hasn't let me down yet with Mobil 1 flowing through.

Maybe I'm taking a risk?.... I like to think not though.

 

Just seems silly to me. Seems like toyota did not have the consumer in mind at all. My frustration is more at toyota moving away from what I would call automotive standards and then no one from toyota can help you. My friend brought to my attention that redline makes 75w85 gear oil, and how can that be more competitively priced than something toyota is definitely getting made on mass scale since so many of their vehicles use it? I'm also willing to bet the redline product will outperform the OEM fluid.

 

Was trying to get mobil 1, but napa had valvoline synthetic, and if you reserve online you save 10% so I got it for around 9 dollars I think it was. Better priced than what I could find mobil 1 online.

 

I miss that my ford used atf in the gearbox and tcase... I ran synchromesh to get a smoother shift.

 

I've already changed my rear diff at ~1800 miles with bg ultra guard

$29 75w-90 Synthetic Gear Lube - 1 Quart (Pack of 2)

75w-90. Doing the front diff this weekend

 

Toyota-branded fluid at the dealer will always be expensive. Anyway, this is not a case of Toyota moving away from industry standards, but specifying a "minimum" standard that the common market normally can exceed. e.g. the engine is specified to use

$52 0W20 oil Toyota/ exxon mobil Case of 6 Quarts Full Synthetic TGMO SN 0W-20 Oil

0W20 oil, but you can easily find 0W30 in stores and that would be an improvement.

 

I'm not sure if I understand you. In the case of the motor oil you probably don't want thicker oil for multiple reason , and is even go as far as to say it's not an improvement

 

I know its not a third gen, but I checked all the levels on my 15 sport when I bought it new about a month ago. All were low. Front diff alarmingly so, took almost a full quart to bring it to proper level. Rear diff about half a quart and t case a little less. Used amsoil severe gear 75w90 to top up but will be dropping it all at around 10k after a good break in. Will be checking the auto tranny soon with all the talk of low levels on trucks with tow package.