Toploader oil rating?

[davids2toys]

I have done some searching around for the correct Top loader oil to use. I have seen on multiple occasions warnings about only using GL-4!
Do not use GL-5 or multiple rating oil

All I seem to find at the local stores, Advance auto or NAPA are the dual ratings and GL-5...cant find just GL-4

Anybody have thoughts on this?
Thanks...Dave

[marco246]

You might consider Chevron Delo ESI gear oil, 80W-90. It is rated both GL-4 and GL-5.

I have owned a Toploader for about a year now and have used Mobil 1 75W-90, which is GL-5 and synthetic. If there is an authoritative source out there which suggests this is wrong, I'm all ears.

Cheers,
Mark

[spd4me]

I spent a lot of time researching engine and trans oils and ended up using Schaeffers 293 Supreme Gear Lube, Synthetic Plus Gear Lube 75W-90. Manual transmissions like toploaders require some form of zinc base protection. Some people will recommend a paraffin base oil. Schaeffers oils were originaly made for farm tractors and equipment that sit outside year round and needs quick protection when starting up and operating. That's my 2 cents and someone will suggest calling Butch Capps who re-builds them.
Bob

[diegokid]

I went through this a few years ago with the daughters sand rail. From what I understand the GL-5 is harmful to all yellow metals. Don't know what if any yellow metals are used in a T-loader but if any I would be sure before using.

Maybe Butch will chime in.

[davids2toys]

I believe Bob the oil guy was one of the sources that said not to use dual rating or GL5....GL5 supposedly is NG for the Toploader:confused:

[RJacobsen]

I went through this a few years ago with the daughters sand rail. From what I understand the GL-5 is harmful to all yellow metals. Don't know what if any yellow metals are used in a T-loader but if any I would be sure before using.

Maybe Butch will chime in.

I presume that brass would be a yellow metal and seems to me that the syncro rings are brass

[289/271]

Spoke to Capps about this a couple years ago and he suggested Valvoline 80W90 because there is less foaming than some other brands. David Kee (davidkeetoploaders.com) has a section on lubricants on his site and says it depends on how you drive....if you shift fast and aggressively, non-synthetic will probably work better for you, but if you drive like a normal street driver (do any of us really do that??) then you can use synthetic. I've been using standard 80w90 (NAPA or Valvoline) and they both work fine in my close ratio toploader.

[davids2toys]

Spoke to Capps about this a couple years ago and he suggested Valvoline 80W90 because there is less foaming than some other brands. David Kee (davidkeetoploaders.com) has a section on lubricants on his site and says it depends on how you drive....if you shift fast and aggressively, non-synthetic will probably work better for you, but if you drive like a normal street driver (do any of us really do that??) then you can use synthetic. I've been using standard 80w90 (NAPA or Valvoline) and they both work fine in my close ratio toploader.
That is about where I am at....only issue left for me is the GL-4 exclusive issue

[marco246]

I sent David Kee an email this weekend asking whether he recommends GL-4 or GL-5 or does it matter. Also asked him about "yellow metals" in the Toploader and does that matter . If he answers, I'll be back. . . .

[davids2toys]

I sent David Kee an email this weekend asking whether he recommends GL-4 or GL-5 or does it matter. Also asked him about "yellow metals" in the Toploader and does that matter . If he answers, I'll be back. . . .
excellent...thanks

[davids2toys]

I sent David Kee an email this weekend asking whether he recommends GL-4 or GL-5 or does it matter. Also asked him about "yellow metals" in the Toploader and does that matter . If he answers, I'll be back. . . .
Did he ever answer?

[marco246]

Nope. I've had nothing from David Kee. I went to his website and found that the Toploader does have some "yellow metal"--four bronze synchro blocker rings. BITOG (Bob is the Oil Guy) has a short discussion or two, with the claim that GL-5 gear oils, which have more sulfur than GL-4s, can attack the yellow metals, and also that GL-5s are somehow too "slippery" for the Toploader.

I don't consider any of this "authoritative". However, I do know that the gear oil I mentioned earlier, Chevron Delo ESI, has no sulfur at all. Here's a blurb from their Product Salesfax Digest: "They are formulated with ISOSYN base stocks and compounded with a unique extreme pressure additive utilizing an inorganic borate compound. . . . [They] provide a wear protection film three to five times thicker than the conventional sulfur-phosphorus antiwear film. The inorganic borate film is composed of compounds that do not react with metal."

The gear oil is both GL-4 and GL-5 rated and comes in SAE grades 80W-90 and 85W-140. Chevron product is not available in many places, so I don't know if it's a realistic option for you. (Disclosure: I own a few shares of Chevron).

[davids2toys]

I sent David Kee an email this weekend asking whether he recommends GL-4 or GL-5 or does it matter. Also asked him about "yellow metals" in the Toploader and does that matter . If he answers, I'll be back. . . .I left a message on his voice mail yesterday!