Oil...conventional or synthetic

Oh no. Another oil thread.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/shell-rotella-labor-day-sale-tractor-supply.627205/

 

I would use Synthetic oil not Dino, definitely in the winter months

 

Synthetic will keep its properties much longer than convensional oil will.

 

I recently did an off road trip to Barstow in 100+ heat. In deep sand with the A/C on I saw an oil sump temperature of up to 214°.
Probably not too hot but was glad to have a synthetic.

 

Would only go with synthetic if you do not want to change the oil as often (~7500 mi./1 yr.). Otherwise conventional is fine since that is what came in the truck. Off topic, but isn't Toyota using synthetic now in it's new vehicles?

 

0w20 or 0w16 full synthetic in pretty much all new Toyotas.

 

Look at this. 1st Gen Taco right in the picture.

 

0w-20 in a 1st gen? Prolly shouldnt do that.

 

For sure.. They do have it in 5w30. I bought some a WM last month that I'm trying out in VQ30s.

 

I would recommend Valvoline synthetic. Sampled tested with Blackstone lab and results were, I could have gone 8.5k with instead of the 7.5 k oil change. Not sure if that will help your decision, also used 5w/30

 

This is what I decided to go with also and so far it has been excellent. But honestly is about just keeping the oil and filter fresh more than anything else. I switched my entire drive train over to synthetic this weekend because I was replacing anyway and the cost wasn't that far off.

Congrats on the new truck!

 

Not sure how long you've been using the M1 HM synthetic....but don't be surprised if you find that it darkens quickly. Absolutely nothing wrong with it. It contains a robust detergent additive that really cleans the internals. The 1st couple of cycles using it netted me some fairly dark juice when I would check it in my daughter's Yaris. However, now that it's been living on it for a couple of years now, the oil tends to stay more golden through out the 5k interval. Not a drop used, leaked or added between changes.

The 5w30 HM formula has a viscosity of 12.7 at 100°C. That's almost a light 40 weight. I like that.

I'll be switching from M1 to M1 HM as I get closer to 100k miles on my Tacoma.