I had to pull one of my axle shafts out last night to send it down for warranty work, alot of the oil in there drained out. Is it anything special, the oil? I have some 80W 90 Nemco gear oil, will that work? If not what will I have to get, I think I can convince the dealership to send me some gear oil free of charge if I need it but if I don't need it I won't bother and they might send me some out of the barrel crap. Thanks for the help.

 

I would run the kawi oil in it because you have alot going on here like cooling and lubication and also brakes, you need to my knowedge only about 2 liters so a small parcel and 20 bucks you have it and you don't need to second guess.

 

I keep an extra 2 bottles because my dealer ran out of the stuff once. Also I thought you were talking about the rear but I say the same thing for the front, people have used other stuff and made the diff lock smoother but I would be concerned about the long term side effects.

 

The front diff does not use standard gear oil. The service manual calls for 5w-30, 10w-40, 10w-50, 20w-40, or 20w-50. Whatever oil you use in your engine, is what you should put in your front diff. The capacity is 0.45 US quarts (430 mL).

 

As far as I can tell, 10w40 conventional, and 70w90 synthetic are my favorite viscosities for the front diff oil.

25w50 synthetic is a touch thin, and makes the limited slip a little less grabby.
20w50 conventional gets a little too thick in cold weather, but may be good for hot weather people.

I haven't done any lab tests, I have just tried a few different oils. Synthetic is a big plus here, since the viscosity stays more consistent. Doesn't hin down so much in the summer of get too thick in the winter.

The right synthetic viscosity is not even close to the conventional viscosity due to the fact that the front diff doesn't heat up like the engine. The engine's heat thins the conventional oil a lot more than the synth, so the room temperature viscosities are much different.

 

Ive been using lucas oil and i swear that it works better than when i was using 20/50, alot smoother shifting into and out of 4wd

 

I''ll contact the dealer monday and ask for 2 bottles of the front oil, I don't live in a big town or near a big store so its hard for me to get different kinds of oil.

 

Just use some Mobile 1, Catrol syntec or any other quality synthetic oils. The synthetic is not a must, but as Nyroc states, the viscosity stays more consistent .

The Manual calls for 5w-30, 10w-40, 10w-50, 20w-40, or 20w-50,
and use a " API SF or SG, SH or SJ with JASO MA" grade.

Well all this jargin means the type of quality control they use in the process of manufacturing the oil.
The " API SF or SG, SH or SJ with JASO MA" is not even up to date. Their are newer and more stringent quality control systems today.

Here is a link to a current chart from the American Petroleum Intstitute.

api

 

I do have 0W30 100% synthetic oil for my truck, would that be acceptable?

 

That is way too thin. Synthetic is much less viscous at lower temps. Your diff won't be very stiff without pulling the lever, and will slip easier when you are pulling the lever. Use at least 20w50 synth.

I'm not just blowing hot air. I am currently using 20w50 synth (mobile v-twin), and it is slightly less stiff (but steers easier).