Posted by Mike on November 17, 19100 at 10:14:26:
In Reply to: Gear Oil Question posted by Herman on November 17, 19100 at 09:47:46:
: Hi, after reading about several blown rear axles I recently changed the oil in my rear axle (99-K1500-4x4 LT with rear limited slip locking diff.)
: I used to have Quaker State 80W90 GL5 gear oil in it.
: I couldn't get it at the local part store so I did change with the owners manual recommended GM Part No. 1052271 gear oil.
: The bottle says it's a 80/90 gear oil that _exceeds_ GL_4_.
: However, since this oil is the one GM recommends and sells (for more than three times as much $$ than the Quarker State Oil) I am still wondering if this -way more expensive GM oil- is worse than what I have had in my axle before.
: How is your opinion on this?
: Is using the GM product a waste of money?
: Is it worse than GL5, or does it have some special additives, that are only in the GM product??
: TIA for your opinion(s)
: Herman in Germany
In this case, they are interchangeable. This is not true in ALL cases. I run Mobil 1 and suggest that you run a synthetic of some sort. Synthetics do not require any sort of friction modifier, run cooler, and run quieter.