The
transmission, transfer cases, differentials and gear boxes in cars and
trucks contain a series of gears and bearings. These keep moving and
come into contact with each other while converting the torque into power
and transferring it to through the drive shaft to the axles. The gears
intertwine every time the clutch engages and disengages as the vehicle
changes acceleration.
In
short, there is a lot of rolling, sliding, grinding and other violent
action going on in the shafts and gears. This is bound to generate a lot
of heat and friction which will cause untold wear and tear on the teeth
and other metal surfaces until they finally destroy each other.
Lubrication is essential to both promote easy movement and control the increase in temperature. And this is where gear oil enters the picture.
As
the name goes, gear oil is specifically designed to protect the gear
sets and keep them working cohesively and efficiently. It has a higher
viscosity than regular engine oil which allows it to stick to the moving
parts and keep them lubricated properly. The oil forms a film on the
various metal surfaces and keeps them apart while they work together to
deliver optimum power output and keep the vehicle running smoothly. For
certain applications, the gear oil is fortified with extreme pressure
(EP) and anti-wear additives to deliver increased protection.
Gear
oils do not come into contact with the gases, acids and other
pollutants like engine oil. Therefore, they can last much longer and
have an extended change interval. However, the gear oil is also bound to
get contaminated with moisture and debris which can discolor the oil or
make it more viscous. As the gear oil breaks down, the increased
friction can cause difficulty in engaging gears and damage the
components as well. Left unchecked, it can entail a costly overhaul.
Therefore, regular checks and changing the gear oil based on the manufacturer’s recommendation is crucial.
There are a variety of gear oils in the market and in general, synthetic gear oils
deliver greater resistance to shear breakdown than mineral oils. Gear
oils are further classified by the American Petroleum Institute using GL
ratings ranging from GL1 to GL5. The higher the oil’s GL rating the
greater pressure it can sustain and vice versa. Most modern gearboxes
use a GL-4 oil while separate differentials require a GL-5 oil as it
contains more EP additives that lower the coefficient of friction.

Royal Purple Gear Oil,
Max Gear is carefully engineered for use in truck, motor home/RV, and
automotive front or rear differentials, manual transmissions and lower
gear units of marine engines that specify use of an API GL-5 or GL-4
fluid. The high quality synthetic oil is further fortified with Royal
Purple's proprietary Synslide additive technology that makes it
outperform other GL-5 synthetic oils in terms of lower friction,
decreased operating temperature, excellent corrosion protection, maximum
horsepower, suppressed oil-water emulsion and prolonged gear and
bearing life.
Royal Purple Gear Oil can be easily sourced from the online stockist, www.lucky7trucks.com