Your best Synthetic Oil

You're right.

Working in the field with many pieces of equipment over time will allow you to differentiate between junk oil and good oil pretty quickly.

But to differentiate sooner (rather than later) between all the good oils which of them is the cream of the crop, that requires either the ability to read the specs or good oil analyzing.

You could probably do it in the field, but who does? It would require years and years of running one particular kind of oil in a piece of equipment until that engine dies, pulling the engine apart and seeing how much varnish has accumulated, how much wear each component has undergone, etc, etc, etc. Then doing the same with another oil on the same kind of equipment. Nobody's going to do this.

A good oil analysis will let you know at that exact mileage if the additive package is still doing its job neutralizing the acid or not. (And, by the way, I say "good" oil analysis for good reason).

The good oil analysis will let you know what the TBN is at that time of sampling. A good oil analysis will also let you know if any acid is starting to form. The presence of acid in the oil and the quantity of TBN left really go hand-in-hand.

Most guys don't want to bother with this kind of stuff, and that's fine. It's a free country. I'm giving this info for those who it may resonate with.

 

As long as you're using a good, quality brand synthetic oil you're doing your truck a valuable service. I use Royal Purple (no real reason why over Mobil 1 or any other brand), just change it regularly. We all know synthetic is better than petro based oil, so spend the extra $20-$30 per oil change and use whichever one you like. It'll cost you and extra $100 a year, maybe, so that's nothing compared to the longer life you'll get out of your truck.

 

I went with Valvoline. My last oil change, that was all Oreilly had 5 qts of. Plus, I registered for the guarantee. I have to still change it every 4,000 miles, but that's about a years worth of driving for me and I've been told not to leave the same oil in an engine for over a year no matter the mileage. Now that I actually have a license (tehee) I'll probably triple that this year.

 

Well the next oil that I am sure that I am going to use is GC (German Castrol)

After reading a lot on bob is the oil guy forums, a lot of people say that this oil is one of the best that you can get, as it is the only castrol oil that the US has that is still made in Germany.

It is supposed to be group IV or V. [FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif]GC is a TRUE synthetic. Made from PAO/Esters[/FONT]. The only thing is that it is 0w30, but I think that should be fine to run.

So I picked some up from work the other day because we have a sale at autozone for 5 qts and a fram tough guard for $27.

 

Amsoil should have been number one and Royal Purple should be number two, which it is. Mobil 1 is a good oil, but not as good as Amsoil or Royal Purple. Advertising and marketing is the reason it got the most votes.

Just my opinion, and my opinion is the only thing that I am an expert on.

 

Ahh finally GC is mentioned! I thought I was the only one running GC in this forum lol. 0w-30 is not too thin if that's what you're thinking. Try it I think you'll like it, but as somebody mentioned, you can't really tell what the oil is doing until you get an analysis done.

 

This German Castrol 0W-30 is actually called Castrol Syntec. It was formulated for Mercedez Benz in Germany, taking into consideration the Mercedez specs as well as the very cold winters over there. And of course not mentioning all the "side-deals" that go on to get a car manufacturer to put on their stamp of approval on their oil.

Castrol won't publish their TBN spec of this oil. And they won't tell you what it is if you ask them. It's a secret. It's also a red flag!

Take that fact, together the truism, "You get what you pay for" (which is entirely true when it comes to engine oil), I would have second thoughts about putting it in my engine if it's going for $27 for five quarts together with a filter.

Do yourself a damn big favor if you use this oil in your truck: Analyze!

Regarding Royal Purple, I'm amazed yet again at the power of advertising. Last year in a trade magazine, it was revealed that one of the major oil companies got fed up with Royal Purple's claims of how much better their product was. So, they had an independent lab run all the tests that in the areas where Royal Purple claimed superiority.

The test came back showing that Royal Purple's claims were bogus. The American Buerea of advertising "strongly advised" them to "change the wording of their claims".

Buyer beware!

 

I dont necessarily believe that to be true in some cases.

However aren't you contradicting yourself? First you say that you get what you pay for with $27 German Castrol which is too low. Yet the next paragraph you talk about Royal Purple being crap which is about $45 just for 5 quarts of oil.

 

"You get what you pay for" suggests that if something is cheap, expect cheap quality.

If something is expensive, it doesn't automatically mean that it is a quality product.

 

I asked this in the 2-gen. oil fourm and never got any imput...have any of you guys ever used the Lucas oil stabilizer additive? I would think with the 4-cyl. (timing chain engine) it would be better. I used it in my last tacoma and I swear, it seemed to make it a little quieter... who knows. Any thoughts??

 

Been using Mobil One in all my vehicles since the early 80's. Depending on my finances over the years, I buy synthetic on sale. A parts store nearby was going out of business recently and I bought 20 quarts of Royal Purple 10W30 for $20. It is the first time I've used it in my Tacoma. I ONLY bought it because it was ON SALE. If you scan your local WalMarts, Targets, Kmarts etc, you can find synthetic for cheap.

 

Valvoline Syn 5W-30... good stuff and all you have to do is ask for a discount at Valvoline Instant Oil change and you should be able to get a 15% fleet discount...

I change my own in the summer, but Cleveland winters are too tough for my old butt anymore...

Everyone is forgetting about the filter too...you can extend your oil service interval quite a bit, but you will outlast your filter and do more harm. On the 2nd gen's, the filter is an easy top end spin off, so change your filter half way through.

 

Id probably use Amsoil or Royal Purple if I didnt have to change oils every month or two... So I went with the one I though to be best after those, which was Mobil 1. I use Mobil 1 Syntethics for every single oil in my cars, apart from Lucas for Power Steering.

 

I've used mainly Mobil 1 previously for the longest time and last spring I tried Pennzoil Platinum and really like it better than M1. When I used M1 my 3.4 would burn through half a quart ever 3000 miles, with the Pennzoil it doesn't use a drop in 7500 mile intervals. Not only that the engine sounds quieter, idles smoother, and starts better. I also noticed a slight increase in MPG too. Maybe it's all in my head, but these past experiences have made me a believer in Pennzoil synthetics. My first run of PP was enough to convince me to try the higher end Pennzoil Ultra this last change. While I like the Ultra, I don't think I will use it again simply because it's tough to find and isn't sold anywhere in town, where I can get Platinum at any parts store nearby.
Toying with the idea of trying Amsoil my next oil change in the spring, and send a used sample of my old Pennzoil Ultra off to Blackstone to get a UOA done on it. I've heard positive things about Amsoil, I use it in my ATV and like it so far. My biggest hangup with Amsoil is the annoying sales pitch they cram down your throat and the fact that I have to order it online or go through a dealer, I can't just walk into O'Reillys and buy it like I can Pennzoil or Mobil 1 which bothers me. If I do try it, it will be a test run at first and see if it's worth the trouble to get and likely extend my OCI to 10,000 miles instead of 7500 where I sit now. There's no way in hell I would run Amsoil 25,000 miles like they say you can, I think that's a load of bull going that far on the same oil and is asking for trouble.

 

Mobil-1, cause I use it.

 

I use Shell T5 synthetic blend. For the truck, cars ,and dr650.

 

You are all excluding the very best German made fluids. Lubro-moly and Pentosynth. The later which is the OEM oil for Mercedes.

Lubro-moly Toptec. The best of the best. The Rolls-Royce of oils.

 

I use amsoil. Anyone know anything about total?

 

I like it.

 

I just ordered some Amsoil XL and am going to give it a try when it gets here. How do you like it in your truck and how many miles do you run it? I just went with XL because like I said, I'd never run any oil 25k miles no matter how good it is. 10k is max for me which was why I went with XL because that's what it's rated for. If I like the XL I may go with the Signature Series and just run it 10k mile intervals and if it comes out looking good still I may save it and use it in my wife's Explorer for 5k more miles and save a few bucks!!