Transfer Case Lubrication requirements, 2014 and above

Also, for the ATF I'll use Valvoline MaxLife ATF full synthetic.

For the diffs I'll use Valvoline SynPower 75w-90.

 

So where did we end up on this? Is ravenol good enough to put in the transfer case or what? It looks almost identical in the test that was done here. I really don’t know how to read those charts but someone said it was missing something that the Toyota version has.

 

Here’s a little update. When I first bought my truck I changed the transfer case lube and differentials over to 75-90 royal purple. Everything seemed to work fine. But I did notice that 4 x 4 high would not disengage completely until I made a turn. This slowly presented itself. It would work fine although it seemed to pull to the right. I noticed this when doing the typical exercising my 4 x 4 on a straight piece of road on the way to work. Just to keep everything well lubed like the manual says. Would not fully disengage with the four high light blinking until I made a turn.

I changed the oil this weekend to 75 Ravenol.
Instantly I could tell the difference. It engages in disengages perfectly and no longer pulls to the right. I may change it again in a few thousand miles just to make sure I got all the old shit out of there.

 

My mistake was going off of a second generation DIY right up. I figured why would they change that LOL. Well they did! I should’ve realized that when the drain and fill plugs are completely different.

 

I was looking for more compatible oils and found that the latest RedLine oil 70/75w shows as a oem compatible replacement for Toyota transfer case oil. In the meantime I did a voa of Belrey 75w and that's a bust.
Here's the link. https://www.redlineoil.com/mt-lv-70w75w .I am currently using Ravenol 75w. I will try to contact them for a actual voa on the additives. I know in the past that they said nothing was compatible but if you look at the site and click on OEM its list Toyota 08885-81001.

 

I bought a 2014 used with 128K on the clock. As I usually do when I buy a used vehicle, I changed the fluids in the diffs, transfer case and the tranny. The engine oil, coolant, PS and brake fluids were all new. I used Valvoline SYN power 75w-90 in the gear boxes and transfer, and Valvoline Max Life synthetic in the tranny. I've had no issues so far. When I read the oil analysis of the gear oils and the viscosity and additive differences, a thought occurred to me: What if the additive metals are so high in the Toyota 75W to make up for the very low comparative viscosity? Since gear oils have always been thicker than engine oils to resist the shear and compression forces of meshing gears, maybe these higher levels of additive metals are to compensate for the much less viscous fluid? Any ideas?

 

At less than two quarts, I am using the Toyota 75w gear oil. I have seen it for sale at $56 to $60 per qt. Obscene, yes! It is not worth the risk until a boutique oil company reverse engineers the product.
Amsoil did this for Transyd used on the Allison tranny.

 

Without having my manual in front of me, how many quarts of diff fluid should I get for front and rear diffs?

 

https://www.tundras.com/threads/15-tundra-differential-fluid-change-and-drain-plug-gaskets.17221/

First post

Probably get 7 quarts to be safe or just 2 5 quart jugs.

 

Thanks for the reply!

 

I changed my diffs and T-case on Friday.
I have a couple observations and one underwear filling moment I thought I would share so that someone else doesn’t do the same thing.
First, I did use Ravenol in the T-case. The quart bottles come with a pour tube built into them. On my first bottle the tube broke free and I thought it slipped into the T-case. I lost a 1/4 quart on the ground and was freaking. Luckily it broke and went back into the bottle. Man, what a relief. It seems like a cool design but it’s not all that great for controlling into the fill hole. I highly suggest pouring into an empty diff quart bottle and pumping it in. Second, I hate the design of the 3/8 plugs they use on the T-case. I hate something I can’t torque. I suggest taking note of the threads before removal and going back to the same spot. The rest of the job was pretty straight forward. I also dumped the oil and installed a Fumoto.

 

Here’s what’s in Toyota transfer case gear oil lf75w.


Tsb states to put it in there. If top of the line amsoil doesn’t even make it then I’d just stick with this stuff. I use everything amsoil and ima slap Toyota oem t-case fluid back in at correct intervals. Buying it with only 1.5 quart full spec is a lot cheaper than problems from buying $50 in fluid vs $100 in fluid. Too bad amsoil or anyone else doesn’t show an “equivalent” t-case 75w.

But hey, as a dealer tech and now service manager. I’ve seen ppl cheap out on a lot of stuff and in the end. It’s your vehicle not mine lol.

 

Not sure what your saying? I think what your saying is to buy the OEM 75W? But, many on here have confirmed that their dealer sticks in 75-90 because the OEM is to expensive. Pretty F-ing shady but I really wouldn’t expect any less from a dealer. I at least ran the “equivalent” viscosity.

 

BTW, the Ravenol 75W has Toyota’s OEM spec code on the bottle.

 

It has Toyota’s part number on the bottle. Now, that may not mean much but to me it means “equivalent”. The word Toyota has put in their service manual. I just got done reading a thread where many owners were saying the dealer looked at them like they were nuts with the 75W viscosity and told them they just run gear oil they get in a 55 gallon drum. Sounds about right.
I feel very confident that Ravenol is a solid replacement fluid in the T case.

 

Doing all the fluids during Labor day weekend. My truck is at 74k miles but I don't have records whether these were changed or not, just regular engine oil.

Going with Mobil1 and OEM filter, Royal Purple for diffs, Ravenol for T-case and OEM ATF (just going to do flush and fill). Planning on keeping this truck for a while

 

Just drain the ATF and refill, do not flush...or perhaps you meant refill...

 

Correct, that's what I meant

 

Ive serviced my 14 with 75-90 with no issues from it

 

I only use the Toyota 75W oil. It prevents the solenoid from sticking and not allowing the T-case to disengage when you select 2wd.

 

Just bought 2 qts of the Toyota transfer fluid LF 75W. $129 ttl.
Too nervous to try anything different.
Amsoil and Redline have not cloned this seemingly magical elixir.

 

I called the Amsoil tech line to see if they plan to reverse engineer the Toyota Transfer Case Gear Oil 75W LF. Sadly there are not enough Tundra owners to be worth their time.
This is not the same company since Big Al stepped down. The children are in charge now.

 

After all voa's and actual tests of time, clunkiness, and return from 4lo to 2wd plus cost and availability, I'm sticking to Redline 70/75w as i mentioned in the previous posts. Its definitely more fortified than Ravenol. But I like synthetic oils. Stock LF was like a totally fortified smelly mineral oil. Would love to use it all the time but for much shorter drain intervals. So the best fortified synthetic I can find is Redline.

 

I hear that. I gave up my old amsoil dealer membership not too long ago as it seems to be headed a different direction, bean counter decision making vs engineering driven. Too bad as i bet the chemists their would love to figure out what makes the toyota 75w work so well in the Tundra. Heck it may prove to work great in all the Ford borg and warner transfer cases out there too, which ironically had an oil type fiasco and now have a special branded Transfer Case oil that must be used (pretty sure it is just old mercon v).

 

So I just want to make sure that the 75w is also recommended for the 4.6 liter? And that it's the same transfer case? I called my local Toyota parts center and he said 75-90 is what they use for the transfer case.

 

I have a 2015, 60K miles, and I've been using Ravenol 75W. I live in MN and the truck is in 4x4 often, sometimes days at a time. No issues. Smooth engagements. Fluid always looks good when changed out. I'm an engineer and researched this topic both on the forum and on my own.

 

I agree wholeheartedly! Not the same company. They just blew me off. I was a loyal user for years. I still use their tranny fluid and grease. I like Pennzoil Ultra when I can find it. It is scarce as Unicorn tears.

 

Called my dealer they use 75W-90 on all their tundra front middle and rear.

 

I see some of y’all using the ravenol 75w.. but I only see the ravenol 75w MTF-3.. is that what y’all are using? I see the last couple numbers are different. That’s on the bottle of ravenol.. This is the part number for the 75w Toyota oil

$91 08885-81080 TOYOTA Genuine Transfer Case Gear Oil LF 75W 1 Litre 08885-81080

08885-81080. below are the numbers ravenol replaces. And also found this from RedLine also.. seems pretty good.

1. TOYOTA 08885-81001
2. TOYOTA 08885-81081
3. these two are what comes on ravenol replaces

From RedLine oils below

MT-LV 70W/75W GL-4 GEAR OIL

• Popular in Toyota/Lexus LF 75W, BMW X-Drive and other transfer cases transfer cases calling for Shell TF0870
• Recommended for Mercedes 235.10, Dodge/Fiat BOT 350 M3, GM BOT 303 mod, Toyota/Scion Manual Transmissions Gear Oil LV, VW/Audi and BOT270A Graziano Transaxle for Aston Martin, Audi & Lamborghini.
• Offers quicker shifts, a perfect synchronizer coefficient of friction
• Safe for brass synchros, as it lacks the reactive sulfurs found in most GL-5 oils that cause damage
• High performance gear protection and longer synchro life
• Eliminates notchy shifting, even when cold
• Low fluid friction to improve power transfer
• Satisfies the gear oil viscosity requirements of 70W & 75W

Recommended for GL-1, GL-3 and GL-4 applications as well as where most special synchromesh fluids are specifies



sorry to hear a dead horse but currently at 30k miles and gonna do the fluid changes this week. ​

 

Not sure about the ravenol ,seems sketchy but Redline makes a fine product