Thread: Oils - can we set up a definitive list

Also is there a difference in what diff oils are required iff diff is fitted with ARB lockers ? Maxi lockers ? Detroit lockers ? etc.
I have one locked and one unlocked diff. Presumably I can use the same in each.

Rear is an ARB locked Salisbury and front an unlocked Rover (of course) - surely I only need the one oil....

Originally Posted by Pedro_The_Swift

While the amounts is a great idea,,
isnt the rest covered already in TGO?

Not in an easy to find way no! I agree its there, but its not easy to find stuff.

Originally Posted by VladTepes

Also is there a difference in what diff oils are required iff diff is fitted with ARB lockers ? Maxi lockers ? Detroit lockers ? etc.
I have one locked and one unlocked diff. Presumably I can use the same in each.

Rear is an ARB locked Salisbury and front an unlocked Rover (of course) - surely I only need the one oil....

Many ARB stores say you should use LSD oil in an ARB, however this is incorrect according to head office.

However it shouldn't matter either way. EP80W90 LSD or non LSD should be fine in both diffs. Some people use 85W140 in the sals though, as since it is hypoid it gets hot. I would only use it in summer personally though.

The only time you MUST use LSD oil is if you have an aftermarket LSD fitted - KAM or other.

Originally Posted by Lionel

For the R380 another possibility is Castrol VMX-M 75W-85, which is similar to, but a little thinner than VMX-80. Neither of these are synthetic, so may need to be changed more frequently.

Cheers,

Lionel

VMX-M is thicker than VMX-80
It was developed for Mitsubishi transaxles but yeah, it can be used in an R380.

Originally Posted by isuzurover

Many ARB stores say you should use LSD oil in an ARB, however this is incorrect according to head office.

However it shouldn't matter either way. EP80W90 LSD or non LSD should be fine in both diffs. Some people use 85W140 in the sals though, as since it is hypoid it gets hot. I would only use it in summer personally though.

The only time you MUST use LSD oil is if you have an aftermarket LSD fitted - KAM or other.

Daniel from ARB and I had a donnybrook on OL once over this.
For some reason he took an exception to a throwaway line of mine on their O rings and it then went onto LSD fluids.

In his opinion LSD fluids shouldn't be used in an ARB difflock as it may abrade the O ring which is absolute bollocks IMO as no LSD friction modifier I am aware of could do this.
My argument was that if that was the case, pinion and axle housing/hub oil seals would be failing all over the place in diffs.

I then contacted a triboligist I know who confirmed what I thought.

Oh, and I use an 80W-140 in the Sals all year round.
A good compromise would be a 75W-110, but few blenders in Australia blend to this viscosity yet.

Originally Posted by rick130

Daniel from ARB and I had a donnybrook on OL once over this.
For some reason he took an exception to a throwaway line of mine on their O rings and it then went onto LSD fluids.

In his opinion LSD fluids shouldn't be used in an ARB difflock as it may abrade the O ring which is absolute bollocks IMO as no LSD friction modifier I am aware of could do this.
My argument was that if that was the case, pinion and axle housing/hub oil seals would be failing all over the place in diffs.

I then contacted a triboligist I know who confirmed what I thought.

Oh, and I use an 80W-140 in the Sals all year round.
A good compromise would be a 75W-110, but few blenders in Australia blend to this viscosity yet.

I vaguely recall that. A mate who came on the canning trip was told to use LSD oil (and no doubt had LSD oil put in his diffs) when he had F+R lockers fitted a few months back in Brisbane - fitted by one of the ARB stores.

A few months back I asked Daniel for the (updated?) seal PN for an RD03 I was fitting. He told me if they were the brown seals not to bother replacing them as they never wear out (I did anyway - only a few bucks for peace of mind)

That's were that spat started, someone made a comment about O ring failures in their lockers and I said at a guess you would think it would be viton and Daniel somehow construed that as taking a shot at ARB and therefore him ??

Anyway, it was all good, it made me question my limited knowledge on oils and go and ask a real expert.

Originally Posted by Pedro_The_Swift

While the amounts is a great idea,,
isnt the rest covered already in TGO?

I spent a couple of hours searching through the 10-20 oil threads, trying to find what was best for the engine, gearbox, transfer, rover diff and sals diff. Different threads give different opinions, some are also incorrect of outdated. Having a complete list in one spot would be very handy.