Who uses what besides what cat recommends. Who uses say ATF. 80-90 gear oil. Hydraulic oil. Motor oil. Was just reading diff opinions and would like to see other people input what you would use in a pinch. 80-90 gear oil and ATF seem real popular
bigpoppa05
i've ran atf before just as a quick filler last minute thing, it only uses 15 oz though so its not like its expensive to go buy the cat stuff. :dunno:
I just have the dealer do it once a year when I get the oil change. Its pretty cheap. I think the best substitute for gear oil however is to simply get rid of the oil,chain,and gears and have a belt drive. I know there are a few drawbacks, but for trail sleds, I bet it can be done. Just get rid of the whole, potential leaky cover, bad gears,weak chain,adjuster,weight,,etc. I work with BIG machines with a lots of installed horsepower and many are driven by toothed, herringbone style belts and some of them last YEARS,running 24/7. Just a wish. :snack:
Like someone mentioned earlier, its barely a pint. But that pint protects the last link in the drive line. Run something decent. I'm not staunch on running synthetic by any means. Currently on my ProCross I'm running whatever the dealer put back in during some updates and a service this past fall.
In the past, I have had very good success running a petroleum based gear oil with some (an ounce or two) engine additive in it as well.(You know, the STP oil treatment for engines??) Learned this trick on my '91 EXT that would almost drip itself dry over the course of a long weekend. That oil treatment is sticky and will stay on parts, even after my chaincase oil got too low. It was a good form of insurance. I still add an ounce or so of it to my chaincases.
In the past, I have had very good success running a petroleum based gear oil with some (an ounce or two) engine additive in it as well.(You know, the STP oil treatment for engines??) Learned this trick on my '91 EXT that would almost drip itself dry over the course of a long weekend. That oil treatment is sticky and will stay on parts, even after my chaincase oil got too low. It was a good form of insurance. I still add an ounce or so of it to my chaincases.
I have been using Royal Purple synchromax for transmissions. I also used it in my diamond drives as it made them much quieter. I see less wear with it as well./
Jester
Jester
Polaris chaincase oil. Cheapest when I was at the dealership last time. Meets standards & not overthinking any of it.
A lot of people think these chaincase's are so critical when they are not,you could use 2 stroke oil and not have an issue.I use ATF and I know it is more than enough because think about what your transmission in your car or truck goes through and is way more critical than a set of chain and sprockets.
Klotz chain case oil. Awesome stuff. Has dry graphite in it so your chain and gears are protected even when all the oil has drained to the bottom of the case.
Any oil will do though. Just the chain going through and oil bath. But if you're asking and you want to do it right, I'd recommend a good quality gear oil. I prefer Klotz though.
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Any oil will do though. Just the chain going through and oil bath. But if you're asking and you want to do it right, I'd recommend a good quality gear oil. I prefer Klotz though.
I can't agree more. I'm the first one to call B.S. on $50. a gallon injector oil, but this stuff saved my bacon on an Apex once. Those sleds were prone to blowing oil past the driveshaft seal when ridden hard in warm weather. The case doesn't vent well. Low and behold one 300 mile 2 day ride in 50-60 degree temps riding in sweaters riding the piss out of it, I later discovered I had blown all the lube out of the case. Gears and chain were all still good and had a thin film of Klotz on them. I would probably use ATF if I was never concerned about developing a leak. It would free up some parasitic drag, but this stuff is peace of mind for me now. Meanwhile I use $3.25 a quart Citgo in the injector tank.
Canola its the best! Seriously its sling oil, ATF should work fine but I like the Klotz with the graphite. Probably can use a shot of dry graphite in the ATF outta the rattle can and achieve the same results as klotz. Not sold on the belt drives for trail sleds either. There's a reason that Poo only offers it on there RMK and they have had plenty of issues with it.
If your running a sealed bearing in the top on the jackshaft I would say you could use anything. The critical part is that bearing. Not sure the gear lube like 75/90 is going to cut it up there. The oil cat recommends is pretty thin. I just use the cat motor synthetic motor oil 0-40 or synthetic tranny fluid. My stock upper bearing was trashed at 5000 miles using cat's recommended chaincase lube. I also fill it a little more than cat recommends. I fill it so the window is completely full anymore an it blows out the upper vent hose, so I know the upper bearing is getting lube.
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