Kurtomac

Got some Redline on the way from LG for my Rear and Tranny....is this some of the best stuff you guys are using for butter smooth shifting trannys and good at keeping the tranny temp cool under racing conditions and is the redline gear fluid w/ their friction modifier good for keeping low temps and a quiet rear?

Also got some NGK's what do you guys recc gapping them at .050? and some new wires from LG.....Going to be doing all this when I install my longtubes figure while its on a lift change the rear and tranny fluid

Parts to Install
LG Pros
Offroad X-pipe
New plugs
New wires
New LS1 style exhaust manifold gaskets
Redline ATF tranny fluid 4 qts
Redline Gear fluid 2 qts
1 friction modifier

anything else you guys can think of beside a tune?

anybody have any issues with redline fluids in their cars?
thanks for the help

Jason

I use Amsoil.

ctusser

I'd check about the friction modifier. Some of the aftermarket gear lubes already have it included.

MattZ28

I use M1 and I like it. The rear gets Royal Purple.

Tact

andrewjhaley

I recently changed from royal purple in the tranny that I put in at 10k miles, to AMSOIL at 13.5k miles. Noticed a difference in the two and am glad I made the switch. Also have AMSOIL in the diff.

C66 Racing

Used Redline products in tranny and diff, then switched to AMSOIL. Been using AMSOIL ATF in my tranny and AMSOIL Severe Gear Extreme Pressure Synthetic 75w90 in my diff since the 2004 season without a tranny or diff failure (with the exception of a left axle seal leak).

Redline makes some very good fluids, but I was uncomfortable with their polyol ester (Group V) basestock. Mobil 1 used a PAO (Group IV) basestock which is what AMSOIL uses. AMSOIL blends in some Group V esters into its fluids to improve seal performance (PAO tends to shrink seals and ester tends to swell them) and reduce the fluids coefficient of friction.

g1k05

amsoil is supposed to be the best of the best. ive used it in my motorcycle, its good stuff. i will be using it in a few weeks when i get around to swapping my fluids out.

Cruncher

Hi,

I use Red Line products. Because I use Red Line, I sent your comments to the Red Line Compnay for their comments. The mechanic who works on my Z06 (a GM World Class Tech and a C6 Z06 certifed technician) was involved with the development of Red Line oil and he uses Red Line in his cars that he races (he does not work for Red Line). I have tried Amsoil, Mobil1, Caastrol Synthetic, Royal Purple, and Red Line for manual transmissions for variuos cars that I have owned. From what I have used, the Mobil1 and Red Line produced the smoothest shifts, especially during cold (cold for Florida) weather, for me.

When I get Red Line's response, I'll post it.

Cruncher

I have found Red Line D4 ATF to be the best for smooth shifting especially during cold weather. As for the differential, I use Red Line 75W90 gear lube and two bottles of friction modifier. According to several techs, GM changed the requirements to 2 bottles. As for plugs, I use NGK TRIX55 plugs; NGK states that you should not adjust the gap...the plugs are gapped at .044". The AC Delco plugs (irridiums) are gapped at .040" and also state that you should not mess with the gap. As for wires, I found a vendor that offered Magnecore wires at a terrifiec price that no one else could even come close to...they were drop shipped to me straight from Magnecore; I purchased the 8.5mm wires.

Cruncher

P.S. I also had my power steering system completely flushed and replaced the OEM fluid with Red Line power steering fluid. For brake and clutch fluid, I used the 100% sythetic Castrol LMA hydraulic brake fluid.

Kurtomac

thanks sounds good....good to hear something other that amsoil stuff

Kurtomac

factory plugs arent iridiums are they?....whats better delco irridiums or Tr55's never heard of the TRIX55's what do they run?

Cruncher

My '03 Z06 came with Delco platinum plugs.

On the NGK plugs, I did a typo....instead of TRIX55, it should have been TR55IX. The TR55IX plugs are irridium and are gapped at .044".

Cruncher

The product that you are referring to is Red Line...two words, not one. Maybe you were uncomfortable with Red Line because you sell Amsoil? You think? By the way, didn't you have engine failure a while ago...something about a bearing getting locked up or something like that?

mark896

Royal Purple Synchromax

Marcs c5

royal purple here!

ctusser

Did the Red Line Tactical response team safely lock Subdriver in their subterranean prison compound for his blasphemous comments about Red Line products yet?

C66 Racing

I bought my 02 Z06 in Aug 01, changed the tranny and diff fluids to Red Line (better?) at the 800 mile mark and ran several DEs from late 01 to late 02. I ran Mobil 1 5w30 in the engine for all of them.

In early 03 I had my car converted to an SCCA T1 class car by Phoenix Performance. The original stock motor remained in the motor, untouched. At Phoenix Performance recommendation, I switched the engine oil to Mobil 1 15w50. I continued to use Red Line in the tranny and diff.

In July 03, my stock motor destroyed itself during practice when the #3 and 4 piston rod bearings seized. I replaced the motor with a crate LS6 and ran the rest of the season continuing with Mobil 1 15w50 in the egnine and Red Line in the tranny and diff, qualified for the SCCA National Runoffs and finished 6th of 24.

After the season was over and I had more time, I decided to educate myself on lubricants and found out how little I had actually known. My initial search was based largely on determining whether Red Line or Royal Purple was better than Mobil 1. I didn't even know that AMSOIL existed at the time.

During this process, I reviewed probably hundreds of used oil analysis reports on the oil forums (BITOG primarily) and read just about every page on every oil manufacturers websites as well as more threads like this one than I can remember.

What I learned was that the API has not defined the term "synthetic". Oils are grouped into five major groups.

Group I base oils are the least refined of all of the groups. They are usually a mix of different hydrocarbon chains with little or no uniformity. While some automotive oils use these stocks, they are generally used in less demanding applications.

Group II base oils are common in mineral based motor oils. They have fair to good performance in the areas of volatility, oxidation stability, wear prevention and flash/fire points. They have only fair performance in areas such as pour point and cold crank viscosity. Group II base stocks are what the majority of engine oils are made from. 3000 mile oil changes are the norm.

Group III base oils are subjected to the highest level of refining of all the mineral oil stocks. Although not chemically engineered, they offer improved performance in a wide range of areas as well as good molecular uniformity and stability. By definition they are considered a synthesized material and can be used in the production of synthetic and semi-synthetic lubricants. Group III is used in the vast majority of full synthetics or synthetic blends. They are superior to group I and II oils but still have limitations. Some formulations are designed for extended oil changes. AMSOIL XL Motor Oils, Castrol Syntec and many others fall into this category.

Group IV are polyalphaolefins (PAO) which are a chemically engineered synthesized basestocks. PAOs offer excellent stability, molecular uniformity and performance over a wide range of lubricating properties. AMSOIL SAE Synthetic Motor Oils and Mobil 1 primarily use group IV basestocks (though recent info posted on the oil forum indicates that Mobil 1 is also now using a significant proportion of Group III basestock). PAO is a much more expensive basestock than the highly refined petroleum oil basestock of Group III.

Group V base oils are also chemically engineered stocks that do not fall into any of the categories previously mentioned. Typical examples of group V stocks are Esters, polyglycols and silicone. Red Line uses an ester basestock.

I also learned that oils consist not only of their basestock, which varies widely, but of additives that are used as anti-wear agents, dispersants to keep particulates suspended in the oil, detergents, and in most cases viscosity improvers. The levels and types of these additives varies widely as well and is readily determined by used oil analysis.

Clearly I discovered AMSOIL in this process. I learned that Red Line and AMSOIL both openly discussed what base stock they used. Royal Purple was entirely vague on what they used as a base stock. I read about the impact the basestock had on seals. It is well known that PAO shrinks seals and this resulted in early synthetics causing seal leaks. The higher levels of detergents in synthetics, which cleaned up sludge exposed old dried out seals to fresh oil, didn't help this reputation. But, many decades ago, the oil companies found that by adding a little bit of ester to PAO the seals can be made to expand slightly. The ester also reduces the PAO's coefficient of friction.

During my search I read several bad reports on Red Line, particularly in Tremec tranny applications. Clearly like you, I took these with a huge grain of salt, particularly since I had successfully used Red Line in my tranny and diff for about two years. But, after reading about how esters impact seals, I felt that there might be some truth to these posts.

My personal conclusions came down to AMSOIL and Red Line being the best. I chose AMSOIL over Red Line primarily because AMSOIL used the same PAO basestock as Mobil 1, with which I felt more comfortable. Royal Purple I discounted for their lack of disclosure, poor performance on the used oil analysis reports I reviewed, and a nominal additive package. Mobil 1 I discounted for poor used oil analysis reports and a nominal additive package. These were my personal observations and decisions, and I really do try to keep my personal opinions and facts separate.

In the post I made above, I stated what I consider facts. AMSOIL does use a PAO basestock in its SAE line of synthetics and Red Line does use polyol esters. PAOs do shrink seals and esters do expand them.

As an FYI, I switched to AMSOIL at the start of my 2004 race season and used it exclusively in my engine, tranny and diff. I also started using it in all my street vehicles for similar reasons for my using it in my track Corvette. I became an AMSOIL dealer later that same season.

I have lost two motors since switching to AMSOIL. During the 2004 season I had a timing chain snap and at the 2004 SCCA National Championship Runoffs I had the harmonic balancer come off and with it the front oil seal (thus losing oil pressure) while the motor was at high load and high rpm. I posted about both of these events on this (and other) forums.

Cruncher

I will post Red Line's written reply after I receive it. Suffice to say that Red Line is in the business of synthetic oil/lubes/products and nothing else, such as vitamins. That being said, Red Line obviously does know about seals, anti-wear, viscosity, and everything else related to lubricants; it's their business. Clear a nice big space on your floor, because if you're rofl now, you'll be doing cart wheels after learning about Esters and Red Line. However, you should use the brand that you prefer/know.