Synthetic oil

Have to agree with the above, makes sense to buy the best oil and filter possible and take care of your truck. Oil changes are simple and high in quality return .

Everybody has their own opinion and if you want to run your oil for long intervals so be it.
Jeff , 06,V6,6spd SR5, bone stock still

 

The FL heat is hard on oil...I feel better with syn. My second/third choices would be Mobil1 and Amsoil.

 

just made the switch mobil 1

 

I started using Amsoil years ago in my motorcycles, both dirt and street. I also run it in all my vehicles. I just did my first change in the Taco at 5000 miles and went to Amsoil oil and filter. I run it in the engine, tranny and differentials. Now I started on Amsoil at the recommendation of my uncle who is a retired GM engines engineer. I also consulted for a small company for a couple of years who was in the business of testing oils and oils additives for all the big oil companies. Guess what the owner ran in his Corvette Z06.... Amsoil. Both of those recommendations tell me something.

 

If you are referring to your Tacoma and they have auto transmissions you can't be using an AMSOIL product as their ATF does not meet Toyota WS trans fluid specs. Did you mean your other vehicles or previous vehicles? Or your Tacoma's have manual trans?

 

Good point about the Toyota WS rating - does anyone know if any of the syns meet that spec or is Toyota it?
Thanks

 

Big big fan of Amsoil and been using it for years in all of my vehicles

 

Just put royal purple in everything, tranny, diffs, transfer case, and I love the stuff, was worth the extra $40

But I will always go with Mobil 1 full synthetic in the engine!

 

OK ????! My Taco has a inspection sticker of 10/09 so I assume that it sat on the lot for approximately 5 months until I bought it. I would also assume they did not change the oil or do anything with the vehicle. It had 3 miles on it when I drove it and now is sitting around 500. I am driving 400 miles to pick up a 4200lb camper this weekend. I want to change the oil before leaving town but am undecided on synthetic. The mechanic I spoke with recommended doing the Pennzoil Synthetic and also said 7500 between oil changes $65. Anyhow, Synthetic or Regular Old School at this stage? Thanks guys....

 

Goblin, go with regular good oil.... Castrol GTX is good. Run that till about 5000 Miles. Then switch to Synthetic. Either way you will be fine. You can make the switch now then change again at 5K. But it will be more expensive that way and you will get the same results... You can also use Dino till about 10 or 15K and then switch... same results... Your engine will not blow up, will not sludge up, and will not break down as long as you change your oil. Also, you can use Pennzoil Dino Oil for and change at 3k... this made my Honda last 200+K... bottom line is if you change your oil, you will be fine. Synthethic is just cleaner, produces less sludge, and offers longer change intervals over the long term. Dino oil is cheaper and requires more frequent changing IMHO than Syn.... but as long as you change it regulary, other parts of your truck will die first. But you will not have an mechanical failure due to oil.

 

Well said!

 

mobile 1

 

Just a couple of thoughts, check the door post badge for the date that the truck was made, I did not realize that in VA., they put an inspection sticker on the truck immediately. Here in MA., no vehicle get a sticker until it regestered.
Since you have only miles on it when you bought it, it obviously went from the factory to the delivery hauler.
You should check with your manual about towing a heavy load with very few miles on it. I think my manual on my 06 said a 1K miles.
Certainly , you could run your oil up to 5K and then change it for syn or stay with the standard dino oil. As I have reported before my two neighbors have 04's with superchargers, they change religiously every 3K with reg Castrol
They have had 3 Taco trucks and love them. Basically changing oil and buying tires. They run there trucks to over 250K before buying new trucks.
They like the low cost of Castrol GT-1 and buy enough for a couple of years when it goes on sale at WallyWorld.

I prefer syn, Mobil 1, I like the benefits, as I average 2 to 3 oil changes per year, at about 5K. My truck is outside all the time and I like the syn for cold weather starting. Being in VA., you may not need that benefit but syn has good heat propertys also.

Jeff, 6,V6, SR5 6spd, Radiant Red bone stock still.

 

Thanks guys! I've decided to stay with the Dino Oil as I don't live in extreme temperatures, don't have a high performance engine, and coast 6 miles down hill to work 5 days a week. Oh, and will prolly only tow 4 times a year.

The camper is 425 miles from me, so I should have a 1000 miles on the truck by the time I hitch it up. I have about 550 now and the Oil is being changed as I type. Using Pennzoil w/ Pennzoil filter. I'm religious about changing oil, so I shouldn't have any problems using the Dino Oil. Thanks for all the great input!

 

Sweet, I noticed that if I use Penzoil Platinum Synthetic, the cost difference isn't too much.

It's about 4 bucks a qt. at wally world... vs like 3 bucks for good Dino Oil... just a thought

 

I was going to search for a thread on dino vs synthetic, but I will just ask here... and this is probably opening a can of worms.. which is better?

I will use google as well to find out, just thought some of you might have some insight.

 

I use castrol part synthetic. Why? I have free oil changes from the stealership, thats what they use. Why pay money and get greasy when THEY can do it, and I'll have stealership documented service?

 

Yea, all the research I did mentioned how conventional oil has gotten much better over time... but obviously, breaks down with heat... synthetic doesn't... well, at least not as badly.

Also read that you should let the engine break in before going syn.