The 5.29 Mega Thread!!

Bob doesn't get it but anyone else who reads my threads and responses know I don't butter things up and I don't whisper sweet nothings in your ear.

I give you straight no-nonsense, tactless, in your face candid opinions and facts. Good, bad, or otherwise my posts are intended to help someone make a better decision.

We agree, disagree, call others out and get called out at the end of the day, I'd still pull anyone out of the ditch and buy them a beer.

Back to 5.29s

 

when I ran 85w-140 no howl. When I switched over to

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

75w-90 after 3 oil changes I got the howl immediately - very faint but it is there. Viscosity makes a difference in harmonics with metal. This Spring I will be doing 75w-110 amsoil to see if it is still there...they are 4.88’s (wrong thread I know)

 

Calm down children.

 

I was told by the ARB folks and Nitro folks to run this to prevent seal damage on the air lockers.

thoughts?

Is there an Ansoil that is safe for the air lockers?

 

Both the Amsoil

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

75W-90 and Amsoil 75W-110 will work fine with air lockers. I run 75W-110 in the rear and 75W-90 in the front. I have air lockers front and rear. One slight warning on gear oil choice, contrary to popular belief, a higher viscosity lubricant will cause increased differential temperatures from frictional heat. I don't think an XXW-140 is necessary.

75W-110 is a good balance of not being overly viscous yet providing superior gear and bearing protection.

 

awesome! Is there an area for Amsoil on here, ordering, etc.

 

@Pablo8 can set you up.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/amsoil-products-atf-mtf-gear-oils.639632/

 

On subject but off-topic...
I am running Nitro 4.56 (on 35's), and it's time for a first front and rear diff oil change. What gear weight do you guys recommend? I typically like AMS Oil but I am open to suggestions.

 

As noted above and links here: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/amsoil-products-atf-mtf-gear-oils.639632/

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

75W-90 front, 75W-110 rear. Thanks!

 

Here’s what ARB recommends for oil, directly from their site:

 

Which is why we’re running 90 to 140 weight, at least until we hit the tropics

 

I couldn’t tell you anything about air lockers. I know that the oil I bought was recommended by @Pablo8 on here who runs it in his taco, but we both have TRD models that have the electronic locker. The

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

75w-90 I have been running is just your standard Mobil-1 stuff.

I’m sure more experienced members here have better advice

 

Honestly, I marginally trust ARB as a company. I have their lockers and compressor, don't trust some of their products, many of which are not up to par, just MY opinion. I absolutely don't trust their lubrication knowledge. You run straight SAE 140 petroleum gear oil in your differential here in WA in the winter and at the very least you will kill your pinion bearings. I cannot even fathom SAE 140 in the front diff.

Maybe I am missing something but the MT-1 doesn't make sense either.

 

Like you I’m running ARB front and rear lockers and their air compressor. I bought them because of their international reputation, which meant I was paying a premium. I have never used their products before but hope they will give us good life and service.

In this area since I have little professional experience (as my expertise is in forest management) and I have to rely on experts guidance on maintenance. Unless proven to me otherwise by other experts I have to stick with their recommendations.

I’m happy to have an open mind though

 

We are so lucky to have Mule more or less local. So many shops screw up ARB locker install, have whiny gear diff installs, etc. Plus us doing locker closer to recent, we escaped the ARB seal fiasco of a couple years back.

 

My camper build had unfortunately several major problems that took 6 months to fix; some by the builder and by me. One major electrical issue (my lithium camper battery was hooked up to a terminal post that was also ultimately wired to the truck battery. The batteries have different voltages-bad juju. I had to diagnose myself, Very frustrating. Since one re-do by my builder, they no longer return my repeated phone calls.

Specifically the installation of both ARB diffs (done in July of 2019) was fine with no whine. But immediately I noticed diff oil leaking out the breather pipes, which were installed near the truck battery. That was never looked at by the builder and to this day it still seeps out. I still don’t know if this is normal...
Yellow arrow points to the ARB breather, blue circle is the oil that has weeped out (need to clean it up!). I did do the 500 mile low speed break-in and also changed the oil at 500 miles

this week after changing the motor oil I noticed that the front diff is a bit wet, damn!


Don’t know how long that’s been going on as this was my first DIY oil change at 20,000 miles.

don’t know if this is the result of using ARB diffs or installation but either way it should have been fixed by the builder. We spent a Ton of money, maybe the build was beyond their expertise...

My point in all of this is sometimes reputation leads to happy outcomes, other times not

 

Well shit. July 2019 probably was the tail end of the bad ARB seals. Man, I thought all was well but blowing oil like that is not a good sign for the seal.

 

Can you tell that I still have a bad taste in my mouth??

Do you know if this a symptom of their bad seals?

haven’t yet figured out which axle it’s coming from...add that to the list. We’ve been on an extensive (going on 5 months now) shakedown drive before shipping it overseas. Wondering if ARB is paying for the fixes?

 

Hi Andy, From what I've come up with, if the locker still functions as designed, then you shouldn't have an air leak. The oil on the clamshell may be dripping down from the breather tube. Mine did this after I changed the oil. I probably added a tad more oil than required, and it "sweat" the excess off. I used the recommended 85w-140 dino oil in the front as recommended by ECGS. They said some sweating was normal. Check out this post from @Texoma here

 

It CAN be a symptom of a slight air leak pressurizing the differential. Should not be hard to isolate F v. R

Yes ARB pays, or rather re-imburses. Are you talking to Mule?