VCCA Home Forums GENERAL DISCUSSION New User Forum 54 chevy stock 3 speed/rear diff lube question

WHAT KIND OF GEAR LUBE ARE YOU FOLKS OUT THERE RUNNING IN YOUR STOCK 3 SPEED TRANNY'S AND REAR DIFF'S ??

Brought a 1954 210 2 door post car home - back in January, purchased it from a dealership and never was able to talk to the previous owner to gather info about the car.

I have been going over the car for the past 5 months, trying to address as many issues of neglect and age as possible, which has led me to a LUBRICATION question I wanted to post here, to learn from you folks with lots of early Chevy experience and knowledge.

Before just asking, I'll always try to resource the shop manual. In this case, I am finding the manual to show:
Differential: 90 # standard hypoid gear oil
manual transmission: 90 # standard hypoid gear oil or 90 weight mineral based gear lube.

the manual also states however that the 90 # mineral based gear lube SHOULD NEVER BE USED IN THE REAR DIFF, A HYPOID LUBE MUST BE USED.
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I went through this once before on an old Plymouth, and it was critical that the GL-1 mineral gear lube still available from Napa be used in the manual transmission to avoid brass and bronze/soft metal wear and damage...so not having a clue as to what type lube was presently in the xmn on this 54, I drained it and filled it with the Napa GL-1 90# mineral lube,..now in looking at servicing the rear diff., and in browsing other internet forum posts I have discovered that it is possible for xmn lube to travel through your torque tube and overflow into your rear diff. via seal failure.

That being the case, sounds like I need to drain the GL-1 out of the xmn, and go with a standard hypoid gear lube in both the xmn and the rear diff. I realize the weight doesn't have to be spot on at 90#, but I don't want to assume anything in regards to GL ratings and additives - which could possible cause me huge headaches and expense down the road, that could have easily been avoided.

ALL THAT SAID :) I apologize for the long read here..

WHAT KIND OF GEAR LUBE ARE YOU FOLKS OUT THERE RUNNING IN YOUR STOCK 3 SPEED TRANNY'S AND REAR DIFF'S ??

Seems like everything available off the shelf today is GL-4 & GL-5 rated, and obviously they didn't have or use the additives now present in GL4-5 back in 1954...so I'm wondering if that stuff is gonna be a mistake in the 54..

An ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure kinda thing, I suppose.

THANK YOU MUCH FOR TAKING THE TIME TO READ AND REPLY BACK. I APPRECIATE IT VERY MUCH.

Steve... " No matter where ya go - there ya are

I used 85W-140 in all of my old cars and haved used it for many years and miles with no probems.

Yep, same as Gene...'54 3100 truck for 25yrs and zero issues with 85w-140

Bobalouie

Thank you Gene and Bobalouie..nothing beats real life hands on experience. I appreciate it.

Gene and Bob, would you mind me asking exactly which product you guys are using,...exp: Mobile-1, Castrol, Valvoline, etc...thanks again.

I generally use a major brand and keep extra for topping off as it is better to not mix brands.

I use Valvoline brand. By the way, this truck was my daily driver for over 10yrs., so I have logged over 100k miles on the truck, no issues.
Oh, and it has always been an "outside dog", meaning that it has never been parked in a garage. Even at -15 below, it always fires right up.
Love it!

Bob

Sounds good guys, many thanks...I appreciate an answer that truly addresses the question ( as you've provided back here ) - not only have you not had any issues - but you've also shown me where the reason you didn't experience any issues wasn't just because the vehicle moved on to the next owner before you had time to see a problem take place, etc...my reason for asking - was in respect to a conversation that I had with a Mobile-1 tech, who mentioned that the sulfur additives used today in Hypoid lube was not present back in the 50's - he mentioned something about chlorine, and seems like another additive that escapes my memory now...anyhoo - 100k miles and 10yrs sounds plenty good enough to me,...if it was gonna cause synchro wear you'd no doubt have experienced it,..just for the purpose of sharing info, I'll also mention this....this tech also said something about it (again, when used in the wrong application) eventually causing pitting on the gear teeth, and it reminded me of when I opened up and went through the 3 speed on the 46 Plymouth, as that's exactly what I found - little black pits on many of the gear teeth - ( I had thought these pits were due to moisture ) anyway - who know's - maybe they were - maybe they weren't....also - the tech never did say "don't use it - it will cause this to happen - ( I gotta say - he seemed like one of the better tech's I've spoken with over the years - seemed pretty neutral - and was sharing information with me),.. said he owned a 58 himself, but it was a resto-mod modern engine, drive train, etc..