VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1933-1936 33 Master Rear Axle Gear Oil

The March 13, 1933 Chevrolet Repair Manual requires SAE 160 Gear Oil for the Rear Axle for vehicles operating above 32degrees F. Do current SAE specs equate to those in 1933? Can I use SAE 85W - 140, GL -5 Gear Oil in the Transmission and in the Rear Axle?

If it were mine I would use straight #140. A little more difficult to find. I did use 85W-140 in my '34 with no problems.

Ill see if I can find it, Thanks Gene.

On Amazon, I found Sta-Lub Hypoid SAE 140 CRC SL24238 API/GL-4 Multi-Purpose Gear Oil.

I will give it a try.

Try your local Farm Tractor Dealer. John Deere carries it and Case International Harvester, too.

Good idea Maybe Tractor Supply

I used Penrite Transoil 140 from Restoration Supply Company the last time I changed mine a few years ago.

Go to page 25 in the following link: https://www.restorationstuff.com/pdf/RestorationSupplyCompany.pdf

Here's another opinion. I'm a synthetic guy, EVERYTHING I own has Castrol edge synthetic in it even the lawn mover. I run the carp out of a 1931 American Austin and my 33 Chevy, I have put over 6,000 miles on the Chevy since I rebuilt the engine a few years ago, Drive it everywhere. 700 miles from Tracy to the Tahoe show in 2016, touring and back. . No issues at all. I use 75-140 Sytrax in the differential. 5-30 in the engine and 75-90 in the transmission.

Thanks Villa, Dale, appreciate it

What about for a 36 FA. I always thought that 600 W oil sold by the Filling Station was the lube of choice.

The 600 gear oil compares to the old 160 used in the pre-1937 cars (for temps above 40 degrees).
In my opinion 140 or 160 can be used BUT some "brands" of the 160/600 sold today seem to be overly "thick".

Some of the "old timers" I run with say they want thicker because the gears are a little worn. It helps in that type of situation.

Terrill,

How do they say the thicker helps with the gears that are a "little" worn. Does such oils unworn them?

Next time I go to my cardilogist I'm going to demand that he take me off baby aspirin. Thicker blood should be better. Right?

Charlie

Charlie
You tell your cardiologist what you like but in my opinion thinner blood (until you cut yourself) is better but in the case of worn gears thicker oil is better.
Tony

Tony,

So the more worn the gears the thicker the grease/oil should be. How thick does oil get before it is called axle/chassis grease. The next time you are lubing the old car just the transmission and differential full of the thickest and firmest chassis/wheel bearing grease you can get. Run the thickest oil in the crankcase too.

Yep, according to you "thicker the oil the better" believers that would seem to make perfect sense. Amazing. Is too!

That's like some who believe the colder the engine runs the better. Goodness gracious.

Charlie

BTW: Consider that I may be just messing with you. Might.

The older gear sets were manufactured with a wide machining tolerence plus the wear factor since I certainly would not be using a thinner oil than original but as several have stated on Chatter finding equivelant oil these days is nigh impossible. That is my reason for stating the thicker the better, with the modern oils adding some light grease may well be needed to bring the oil to the correct consistancey. The thinner oils will lubricate quite well but the thicker oil will add a cushioning effect between worn parts.
Tony

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

Tony,

The above may help explain the purpose of oil, whether in the engine, transmillion or differential.

I'm not so sure that the "cushioning effect" was intended as a reason to go to a thicker oil.

Best,

Charlie

It was and so stated to me by my Grandpa and Dad. During the "Depression Era" and World War II cars and trucks had to last as long as you could make them. I have also found this to be true. We also put STP in to "thicken" up oil. There were many products on the market and on selves at gas stations during that time to "help" your engine last longer.

Terrill,

They won't and you're just wasting yout money, but if you believe that it is so that then makes all the difference.

Best,
Charlie

"I always thought that 600 W oil sold by the Filling Station was the lube of choice."

THH,

If you "google" that stuff you'll find out it's not even a gear oil. It's steam cylinder oil. Lubriplate makes a gear oil that is a match for SAE 160 gear oil of long ago. It's a little hard to find in small quantities but some oil distributors do have small quantities for sale. It makes '32-'36 synchronized transmissions shift the way they should. Great stuff!

Ray W

Brino,

Thanks for the tip. I called the 800 number at Lubriplate and talked with some technical guy. He recomended one in the SPO line. Specifically SPO 288. I looked it up on the Lubriplate website and not sure but it seems kinda heave to me. I'm wondering if the SPO 277 might be better.

https://www.lubriplate.com/Search-results.aspx?searchtext=SPO+288&searchmode=anyword

Anyways it's sold at Restoration Supply. Check out page 22 in their catalog.

http://restorationstuff.com/pdf/RestorationSupplyCompany.pdf

Thanks for the advice and the tip.

Tom H.

If you are still stuck for gear oil

An Australian company called Penrite has a range of oil designed specifically for vetran cars

the have a non additive 140 gear oil and a couple others

http://motofluid.com/trans-oil-140/