When I first bought my 4Runner about two years ago, it shifted very smooth and easily. The PO said it was fresh dino gear oil from Checkers...brand unknown. I went through the drivetrain and upgraded to Mobil 1 (see title) in the diffs, trans, and t-case. I read that the GL-4/5 wouldn't hurt anything in the transand the Mobil 1 was readily available. It seemed to have lost some of the smoothness at that time, but I just let it go...and I'm cheap and Mobil 1 is not.

Today I swapped out the Mobil 1 transmission (w56) oil with Red Line MT-90 GL-4 (amazon.com at $14.49/qt shipped) after reading this on 4crawler.com:

One word: BUTTER!

There is a noticeable improvement in the shifting smoothness. As for noise level, I have no idea yet because top is off and the tube doors are on

As stated in previous threads, GL-4 is very difficult to find. I went into several Oreilly's and asked if they had GL-4 gear oil. They were all emphatic that the GL-4/5 was GL-4 and that I was good.

Napa can order Sta-lube dino GL-4 gear oil, but I wanted to run synthetic for reduced operating temp and longer life.

<sidebar> I can read. Nothing pisses me off more when I have the bottle in my hand; ask a question; then the employee proceeds to read me the label on the bottle. <end sidebar>

Another inconvenience is that the threads on the Red Line bottle are not the same as the Mobil 1 / Pennzoil / standard brands. My nozzle would not fit. I gave it 15 minutes of my best MacGyver mode and failed. The solution was to empty a Mobil 1 bottle into a pitcher, clean, pour the Red Line into the Mobil 1 bottle (1 qt. at a time) then fill the trans. Oh yeah, clean bottle again and pour the Mobil 1 back in.

Overall the Red Line is 1.5-2 times the cost and no one local to me carries it, but its worth it to me. Smoothed out the shifts for sure.

 

I would not believe everything you read. I have used Mobil 1 gear oil in my transmission, transfer case and differentials since it was available. I have 150,000 + on my truck. It is true that my transmission, transfer case and differentials are TRD units and are not stock Toyotas but I have raced my truck off-road for 4 years, sand dragged, mud bogged, etc and everything is like new inside (I am a bug about maintainence and performance). I read with wonder how some people spend their hard earned money on things that are such a waste.

 

Redline gear oil brought my 1st gens transmission back to life. It is very tight and shifts smooth, but the bearings howled. Now they are nice and quiet.

 

Redline is definitely good stuff!

 

To quote an All-American hero named Sgt. Hulka: "Lighten up Francis"

Nowhere did I say Mobil 1 was *bad* oil. It appears not to be the *best* grade of oil for tranny's with brass synchro's. As stated, I use Mobil 1 in my front and rear diff, t-case, and engine. I've used it in all my dirt bikes and street bikes religiously. I even use Mobil 1 0W20 in my Prius (it shoots flowers out the tail pipe to balance out all of the 2-stroke and fun-fuel I burn ).

Did you even read that it makes shifting smoother by being more synchro friendly? That's it...and it does shift better.

So what you are saying really is that you have no idea what the impact would be on a stock W56.

'nuff said.

COST EDIT

NOT 1.5-2 times as much. At my local Oreilly's the Mobil 1 is $10.99 each + $1 tax. I bought the Red Line for $14.49 shipped and shopped it to death. That's $2.50 more per bottle or $10 per oil change. For some reason I had it in my head that Mobil 1 was $8 each. Very much worth it in my opinion.

 

first time i use mt90 was on a evo with 650hp by recomendations of john shepard,glad i try that product,only oil i use on a manual trans

 

First time i used it was 1992.

 

Bought Redline for my tranny and it made a little difference. You can only expect oil to do so much on a 289k mile truck.

 

I think I'm over due for a trans service. Gonna have to try the red line as my transmission is old and doesn't like 2nd sometimes. And I have heard from many places and people that gl5 is too good for our older transmissions.

 

dont expect it will fix a worn trans

 

RED LINE RED LINE RED LINE. youll feel the difference!

 

can i mix a little less than a quart of GL5 synth. mobile 1, with Redline GL-4, which I ran out of? It's going in a 1st gen tacoma manual xmission. Haynes book states 2.3 qrts. I've added about 2.7 qrts and it ain't runnin outta the fill whole. No local dealers for Redline. So, what can I mix with it? I don't plan on putting something in it, only to drain in till i get the correct junk. Please advise. It's sitting in my garage, ready to continue with filling. Thx, DM

 

Stuff breaks, gear oil or not, if your trans is fowled up, Redline will do nothing for you, it's not a miracle worker. On the other hand, if your trans and diff's are in proper working order you will notice a big change in it's performance. I'm no professional off-roader but I do believe I'm qualified to talk on the subject as I have spent over a decade working on and running grip and drift cars on amateur and professional levels. Mainly S-12 / S-13 Nissan's and AE Toyotas that demand the best.

Redline is good stuff on a performance level and daily drive-ability. I'd recommend it and run it in my wife's 2WD Xterra up to my full grip built 240sx.

 

I use MT-90 for all of my manual transmission Toyotas and no issues just smooth shifting

 

I use Amsoil 75W-90 in my tranny. It's GL-4 (hard to find, Ace had to special order) & not cheap. Works great. I've never found Redline anywhere near me so haven't tried it.

 

Amsoil,

 

I'm an AMSOIL fanatic, gets my vote..... my 2cents worth

 

MT90, Amsoil Severe Duty 75-90, Motul 300????Assuming they all work well warm- which one will work best at -35C

 

If I'm not mistaken, that SD Amsoil is GL-5...don't used it for your transmission.

 

I just did a trans swap last week and put Redline MT90 in the new unit and my transfer case. I ordered mine off Amazon.com for around $15/qt. I can't find ANY straight GL4 oils locally so ordering was my only option. So far so good and I'm looking forward to a long life with this new transmission if the Redline is as good as everyone says it is.

I'm telling you all now, DO NOT use Lucas 75W-90 gear oil in your transmission. I don't care if the label says it's GL4 or not. I was really disappointed in Lucas on this because their stuff has always worked well for me in the past but that stuff is crap.