RE: [ihc] More Lube Questions...

["John M. Adams" <jma@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

John, Thanks for the long and informative post. I guess I'll pass on the
Amsoil. WallMart has the Mobil-1 for $22 per 5 quart bottle, all grades.
I can live with that price, and based on yours and others' comments, I
gather it will serve me well. I might try the grease-in-the-knuckles
trick, too. I haven't seen any further discussion on list, but 31 years
is pretty good testimony.
-John A.

-----Original Message-----
From: John Hofstetter [mailto:hofs@domain.elided]
Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2003 12:35 PM
To: John M. Adams; ihc@domain.elided
Subject: Re: [ihc] More Lube Questions...


At 9:26 PM -0700 11/10/03, John M. Adams wrote:
>Sorry to keep beating on this one, but I have more lubrication questions:
>
>1. I'm poking around on the internet, looking to get an idea of what my
>new Mobil-1 supply is going to cost me, and all I can find is websites
>showing "documented studies" on how Amsoil products are superior to M1.
>There's a million of them! What is it, multi-level marketing? Is there
>anything to it, or is it all hype? I liked having decided (with your help)
>on a product to use in my truck, and now it seems I have more research
>to do...

These appear to me to be facts in this situation:
In tests of metal grinding on metal, Amsoil does the best with Mobil 
1 coming in second best. I should look up the name of the test, but 
it's called something like ball wear scarring. This is a test that I 
first saw in maybe 1953 when Bardahl sales people were using the test 
at County Fairs and such. It's a valid test, but the difference 
between the two oils is not very significant, in my opinion. There 
are other tests, and the best test of all is what actually happens in 
your engine. Consumers Reports a few years ago rated Mobil 1 the best 
oil available after their tests on NY taxicabs. I think what one does 
is balance the difference in cost against the results of the tests 
that Amsoil pushes.

Amsoil is sold by a kind of pyramid sales plan. Consequently, if I 
buy Amsoil and Fleck (Back Country Binders) is my next in line in the 
pyramid, he gets a commission. Consequently there are hundreds, if 
not thousands, of people pushing Amsoil through their own web sites, 
because they not only profit from what they sell, but also from what 
their lesser ranked sales people do.

Having tried to convey to you that your engine and drive components 
are going to last as long with Mobil 1 as they are with Amsoil, I 
once again confess that I spend the extra money for Amsoil products 
for my Dodge diesel.  There is no evidence that I know of that the 
Amsoil is worth the extra money, but .....

A former digester who was particularly interested in lubricants kept 
sending some of us to the Amsoil site, and I decided, despite nearly 
30 years of using nothing but Mobil 1, that I would spring for the 
Amsoil for my big two rig.  There is, by the way, pretty strong 
evidence that the Amsoil air filters are significantly better at 
trapping dirt particles then are the K&N filters. Some of this 
evidence is observations by our digesters of dust inside the K&N 
filter after going through dusty situations.

>
>2. What's the preferred lube for closed steering knuckles (as in my '67
>1100 T'All with Dana 44 front)? Are there any contrary-to-service-manual,
>new technologies for this application as well?

About 6 months after I bought it new, my dealer filled the closed 
knuckles on my 1210 Traveall with  grease to replace the gear oil 
that came from the factory. I threatened him with what I was going to 
do if the knuckles failed, but as far as I know they are still fine 
31 years later. The dealer is gone, but the grease is still there.<g>

I would pack them with good quality wheel bearing grease. Now that 
opinion should evoke some discussion here.

John

-- 
John Hofstetter
www.goldrush.com/~hofs
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