Ok, i have a 2004 honda rancher 400at 4x4 and a 2006 recon ES i am trying to decide what kind of oil to run wether it be hondas oil or royal purple? or what ever you suggest! i hope to hear from you soon! thx! I also need to know what king of gear oil you would suggest?

 

Required reading:

ThumperFaq: 4-Stroke Oil

Oils Well That Ends Well, Part 1 - Sport Rider Magazine

http://www.maximausa.com/technical/l...beNews2002.pdf


If an oil is motorcycle specific and rated API SG/JASO MA, that is a good place to start! Beyond that, the synthetics have huge advantages over old school petroleum oil, and the best synthetic chemistries are ester based with some PAO thrown in for "balance".

If you are working on the cheap, I recommend Maxima Premium which is a high quality petroleum oil. If you are willing to spend a little more money, then Maxima Blend (ester synthetic/petroleum blend). A big step up from these is Maxima Extra, which is ester based but costs quite a bit more.

Maxima Racing Usa - Overkill


I personally prefer ester based performance oils! These oils are very slick so they cut down on friction, but they use a new generation of wet clutch safe organic friction modifiers...they are also very expensive. Here my favorites are Redline (rated JASO MB yet wet clutch safe, so you know it is really slick!), and for very cold weather Maxima 530MX and Ultra 0W30. I see an increase in torque and horsepower, with these oils!

http://www.redlineoil.com/Products.aspx?pcid=13


As for Royal Purple I am not intimately familiar with its chemistry, but as I recall it is PAO based and fortified with some ester, so that should be good. It is also relatively expensive however. But, in your particular machines, I would highly recommend Maxima Extra over eveything else!!!

 

For the front differential and rear final drive, the oil must be "hypoid" specific, GL4 or GL5, and around 80 weight.

I run Maixma 75W90 Synthetic Gear Oil. Maxima Racing Usa - Synthetic Gear Oil

If you can't make your mind up, Honda's Shaft Drive Oil is a safe choice. It is 80W85 as I recall.

 

The best thing to do is crack open you owners manual and see what Honda engineers recomend.
You can then go down to a Napa or Kraggens or whatever and pick up a reasonable priced oil that will work great in your quad.

 

I have to agree with the guys who recommend the synthetic with esters. I have used about everything in motorcycles and the new synthetics with esters (with friction modifiers if you have a wet clutch) are much better than the older oils.....

 

Besides a new generation of high tech (but expensive!) wet clutch safe friction modifiers (sometimes refered to as "organic moly"), performance oils will also use MoDTC, a wet clutch safe version of the friction modifier moly, rather than the wet clutch unfriendly MoS2.

Oil weights for different seasons: http://forums.atvconnection.com/hond...ight-oils.html

 

i would run lucas oil in your rearend and any other oil because for the most part all oils are the same just different weights run lighter in the winter heavier during the hotter months.

 

This statement is just nonsense!

There is basic old petroelum, Group III synthetic (eg. Rotella), Group IV PAO synthetic (eg. Amsoil), and Group V ester synthetic (eg. Redline, Maxima Extra/Ultra/530MX). All these have very different chemistries!!!

The BEST oils are some combination of ester and PAO. Redline and Maxima are ester based, with some PAO thrown in for balance". Don't be a hillbillie....use technology to your advantage!

 

I've been happy with Valvoline 10w40 ATV oil.

And I agree with reconranger that all oils are NOT the same.

 

All oils are the same? I love to see a Nascar race with everyone running conventional oil. No one would make the finish line.LOL