Royal Purple for Diff Oil... Experience?

[billmallin]

Troops:

Any of you guys or gals use Royal Purple in your diffs... transfer case?

I use/used Mobile One, but have heard varying tails of greatness (or bullshit depending on the frame of reference) for Royal Purple.

Any first-hand experience?

 

[Leo_Hallak]

I run it.

Been running it for about a year or since i broke in my 4.11's. I heard good things too. No problems as of yet.

leo

 

[Sambo]

We use Schaeffer 80w-90 in our farm trucks, tractors, and all gear boxes....its the best weve found......I've seen Royal Purple break down at high temps in disc mowers....but those aint rovers!.....Ive even seen thier engine oil break down into sludge in newer cummins 5.9 ISBs.....Schaeffers Is expensive .....about 80 bucks for 5 gal for gear oil....but they claim it is the best.....They are out of St. Louis and they are real friendly. They stand behind thier product, even offer oil analysis.. ....I dont know their number but they do have a website.....we also run thier engine oil....its the best ive found....its over 12 bucks a gallon

 

[billmallin]

Schaeffers Is expensive .....about 80 bucks for 5 gal for gear oil

Well, Royal Purple is 9 bucks a quart for 75W90.
4 quarts to a gallon X 5 gallons would be $180... so it is a lot cheaper than Royal Purple.

Maybe I will just stick with Mobile One.

 

[javelinadave]

Any good synthetic should be fine. AMSOIL, Royal Purple, Mobil 1, what ever you can find. Most vehicles out on the road have never had nor will they have their diffs serviced. I use AMSOIL every 20,000 or so in my D-90 diffs and x-fer case and all is well. Everybody has their preferences but the truth be known, if you change it often enough I don't think there is any difference in what you use.

 

[Trey & Melissa Burns]

Bill -
I agree with what Dave said. If you change it often enough then you shouldn't have a problem.

If you have been using Mobile1 and have had no problems than stick with it.


Now, if you want the "boom" for a coolant additive the Royal Purple - Purple Ice is some good stuff.

 

[alex]

What exactly is the benefit of putting expensive synthetic oil in a LR differential? Especially if you wheel it?

 

[billmallin]

What exactly is the benefit of putting expensive synthetic oil in a LR differential? Especially if you wheel it?

Because if my diffs take a shit, I can take it back to the dealer under warranty and they cannot say... LR calls for synthetic... you used crap... no warranty for you!

Besides, what's the price difference... $20? It's $20! It's one less table dance at the titty bar. It's peace of mind.

 

[alex]

OK, what about the Disco 1 guys? or is everone in this thread have a Disco 2?

 

[kennith]

Alex,

Because the synthetics are simply better in situations where the heat can tend to build up. Like when wheeling. If you drive a rover you are driving one of the few recently manufactured vehicles that can live or die based on how well you maintain it. You can't weld your hood or diff cover shut like on a honda, so why not make life easy on both you and your Rover?

Cheers,

Kennith

 

[alex]

Hmm. I don't know.. I just drain the gearoil one or two times a year.. I (and I speak for myslef here) think I'm way more likely to break a differential than wear it out because I use pepboys brand gearoil for $15 for a 20 gallon barrel (or whatever it is, its pretty cheap) rather than $9 a quart royal purple. Also, the oil will get hot with extended high speed driving, but off road? Don't know about that. Slow speed=low heat for the gears. Maybe if you're spinning your wheels and bouncing like a madman it will heat up, but who does that on a consistent basis? Probably not many people with a LR drivetrain, it just can't handle the abuse long term.

Mine came with dino oil. I don't feel that synthetic is an upgrade at all for the diffs - just a waste of your hard earned $$$. Unless your OM specifies it--even I put 93 octane in my beast--or unless you drive your rover on the street like its a racecar.

But in the end, I guess its your money to spend.

 

[kennith]

Alex,

On the street at high speeds your vehicle's diffs are cooled quite effectively by air, a product of poor aerodynamics. Off road, at any speed, going up and down hills, across rocks, and through shallow but heavy mud, mechanical componants heat up slowly but consistantly.


Cheers,

Kennith

 

[kellymoe]

I have always used dino in the diffs and saved my money for synthetics for the crank case, transfer case and transmission. I change my diff oil about once for every 2-3 oil changes, more often if I have realy been wheelin and driving through alot of water. I also add a bit of Lucas Oil Stabilizer to the diffs. Diffs generaly don't wear out. They tend to catistrophicaly explode due to a heavy foot.

 

[driven]

Fill it with the synthetic of your choice and then keep it topped up. The beauty of synthetic is that it maintains it's properties until it gets dirty, which shouldn't be a problem in a transfer or diff case. Maybe, if your truck is getting some age, change it yearly to remove and metal contamination.

 

[alex]

in the TC maybe, but in a diff it will get dirty if you wheel in mud or water, on most rovers. I see so many posts here about people draining the diff oil as often as after every trip because they get water contamination in the diffs. that's extreme IMO, but it can happen even if your seals aren't crap like the guys I just mentioned.

Fill it with the synthetic of your choice and then keep it topped up. The beauty of synthetic is that it maintains it's properties until it gets dirty, which shouldn't be a problem in a transfer or diff case. Maybe, if your truck is getting some age, change it yearly to remove and metal contamination.

 

[D Chapman]

Unless your driving a pavement pounder, I don't see the need to spend the extra dollors on Syn. fluids in the diff's.

 

[MNSUROVER]

I have to agree if you use the truck off road don't waste the money one syn. oils. It is more likely to get dirt or water in the oil before even the cheapest diff oils will break down. I have always run whatever the cheapest oil, that meets the GL standerd I can find at my local auto store and never had a problem due to the oil breaking down.
Also check the bottle of oil to see if it meets the API or GL standereds. If you think about it how many companies spend the extra time and money to do better than what the standered calls for? I bet most don't.