5.29 Nitro Gear Oil Recommendation

I'm upgrading my gears to 5.29 soon. Any diff oil recommendations besides using Nitro's oil?

 

Lucas Oil.

 

To be precise, this:
Lucas 10045 Heavy Duty 85/140 Gear Oil - 1 Gallon

 

Agreed^ the thickest oil you can find.

 

I would say stay with original toyota oil. It rund really great on my 4.88

 

Everything changes if you're running an ARB locker. Nitro recommends synthetic, can't use synthetic with the locker.

 

Nearing the end of the break-in so I'll check out the Lucas as long as it's not synthetic.

 

Schaefer makes some really good gear oil. I’m running 80w-140 non synthetic in my rear diff with an lsd. I have the straight 90w in the front diff and t-case. The shop that installed my 4:88’s uses it exclusively and highly recommends it.
I also believe the Nitro gear oil is made by Schaefer.

 

Thanks John, good info. Wait,,,, what am I saying? I didn't start this thread...LOL

 

Why? Seal not compatible?

 

What's the front and rear diff oil capacities?

 

Yeah, it's the seal/s in the locker that aren't compatible with synthetic oil.

 

As long as you use a pure synthetic without ANY additives. Motul is the only one I have found that makes a synthetic without the additives that adversely effect the soft metals on the seals, bearing keepers and copper tubing inside the ARB locker.

 

Bumping this instead of starting a new thread. Next week I’ll be putting Nitro 5.29s and an Auburn LSD in my 2011 DC. Nitro recommends synthetic, while Auburn is specific about using non-synthetic. Any advice? Auburn gear oil in the rear with the LSD and synthetic up front, or am I getting too deep in the weeds?

 

There's an additive in some synthetic oils that causes a problem.... at least for ARB lockers. Sorry I forget what it is and it may be different for Auburn. But the additive causes seals to fail. @osidepunker knows what this is, he's the one that told me this. i run regular oil in my rear diff and synthetic in the front diff. I think Alex is really busy these days and won't respond so maybe I'll ask him and see if I can get the name of the additive.

 

Definitely use non-synthetic with your Auburn lsd. Synthetic doesn’t play nice with the clutches in the lsd. Also I would use the lsd additive recommended by Auburn.

 

That’s the general vibe I got from reading the threads here on LSD installs. Have a ton of Auburn gear oil and the additive ready to go. Just being cautious about the gears. I plan on being conservative with the heat cycling, and will do a fluid swap at 500 miles on, so perhaps the heat issues with the non-synthetic won’t be as much of an issue.

 

I am going to contact Nitro and get a solid answer for you!!

Thanks, Shawna

 

Awesome, thanks!

 

From Nitro:

We use our synthetic oil on every job we do so you can do it or not either or is works.

Differential Expert, Inside Sales

 

Warren, which oil did you end up going with?

 

Hey Cruz, I run Lucas 85-140 in the rear and Amsoil 85-140 synthetic in the front (no front locker).

 

i also run lucas 85/140 in the rear with my nitro gears and auburn lsd. I run nitro syn in the front

 

Thanks Warren! Looks like I'll be flushing out the front and rear.

 

So I called Auburn directly today and spoke with a very nice lady. She strongly recommended sticking with non-synthetic 80W90 and the friction additive for the LSD. She seemed a little reluctant to speak directly against what Nitro recommended, but did not seem to think it was an absolute must to run super heavy gear oil unless problems arose. Probably going to start there, and adjust if necessary.

 

When I spoke with Auburn Gear a while back, this is what they recommend for their LSD in a Tundra.
Use 80-90w oil
Only use Auburn, GM or Ford lsd friction modifier
Don't use Lucas oil, (reason: it’s noisy)
Don't use synthetic oil
Don't use oil that already has friction modifier in it

If you use Auburn’s proprietary oil and additive you get a 1 year extension on their warranty

 

where are you finding amsoil 85/140? I only see 80/140 in a 5gal pail available

 

Hmm, that's all I see on their website too. I ordered directly from Amsoil about a yr ago and received it in quarts. I'll see later if I can find a partial quart somewhere in the shop.

 

okay cool thanks. I just finally got regeared and looking to get some gear oil order and set aside to change out after the break in.