For Those Of You Smart Enough To Use Synthetic Oil
 

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Mobil 1 5W-40 Heavy Duty Diesel Oil is IDENTICAL to Mobil Delvac 1, so the two can be mixed in your crankcase.

Buying gallon bottles of Mobil 1 5W-40 from Wal Mart is WAY cheaper than buying Delvac 1 from a truck stop.

The only trouble is, you may need to visit more than 1 Wal Mart if you are buying more than a few gallons at a time, as they don't stock that much at any given time.

I do one better.... I get a 40% synthetic blend from my local supplier, Allied Oil and Supply, delivered to my door, for $9 a gallon total cost... no delivery charge. But that is in a 55 gallon drum. My metal wear numbers were higher with a full synthetic and I just didn't realize any real cost benefit. But with the synthetic blend I run now, I get some real excellent used oil sample results and nothing out there on the shelf beats the price I get it at. The blend is equivalent to Rotella T5, except the Rotella is only 25% synthetic, whereas the blend I get is 40% synthetic.

But what was your longest drain interval? Mine was 150,000 miles, with NO special filters, other than changing the Volvo Long Life Oil Filters every 30,000 miles along the way.

Longest drain on my ISX is my current interval of 25,000 miles. haven't tried to reach out and set an oil change record. True, all my samples show the oil can go on further. Just not sure what that distance is. I just haven't gotten into the "I can go xxxxxx miles without changing the oil". Don't have any issues with those that do try to go for big extended drains. Just never got involved in that competition.

Now, that being said, the wear numbers on my ISX going 25,000 on full synthetic name brands (Amsoil, Schaeffer, etc) were higher than the current oil I use (Allied Syntx 15w40 40% synthetic blend). Even after several oil changes on the full synthetics, Iron ran into the 50's to 60's and lead went into the high 20's (sometimes bouncing into the border of abnormal category of 40's). With my current oil, iron at 25,000 is consistently 11-14 ppm and lead is consistently around 7-8 ppm. Soot has hovered around .2 - .4 as well. That is why I said I saw no real cost benefit to using the big name brand synthetics. Based on wear numbers alone, my current choice of oil beats out the full synthetic stuff, and at substantially lower cost. I don't have to waste time tracking down oil or going and getting it. It is delivered to my house for $9 a gallon. I do my own services, get Donaldson oil/fuel/air filters from a local supplier at roughly 1/3 less cost than most other outlets. So my costs have been lower anyway. Not trying to set new records on oil change intervals.

You'll have to look elsewhere to find someone interested in competing for longest drain interval.

Competition??? That's not what it is at all. It is science. It is also a great & easy way to save a bunch of money, and doing your small part to help out the environment. Plus it is a big time saver to boot.

Remember - the money you save is TAX FREE (at least for now, with our heading towards socialism!!!)

If you can't afford to change your oil every 15,000 miles then you don't run a good business, and deffinatley need to rethink owning a truck and your situation.

I use plain old Delvac and Lucas every 10,000 miles, which works out to be evey month. $250 is a drop in the bucket, plus I need as many write-offs as I can get, and who wants to waste all that time getting greasy and oily when I can help a local kid at the T/A keep his job LOL

So what you are saying, is that there are two identical cars for sale, and one is $20,000, and the other is $30,000, you should get the $30,000 car, because you can afford it. :roll: That is total idiocy.

As far as "write-offs" go, that is a bogus argument!!! If you are in the 15% tax bracket, it means you get 15 cents back for every $1.00 you spend. That's real sound economics. :roll:

And lastly, as far as "waste all that time" goes: yes, you are wasting a BUNCH of time; when you change your oil WAY too often.

Whats Aufgeblassen talking about??

Learn plain English, and then you'll know.:clap:

Your anology is way f'd up.......

What I'm talking about is the fact that an avg truck takes lets say 10 gallons of oil.

At $13 a gallon, plus 2 fuel filters, 2 oil filters and then the grease you looking at roughly $180 in materials.

I get my an Ultimate PM done at the T/A for $185.00

As far as wasting time, I can drop the truck off, go shower and grab a bite as usual and the trucks ready when I get back.

I DO need the write offs, because I do not have any payments and I do not have any depreciation left on my truck. Then again, I actually make money out here, which is hard for the average trucker to comprehend seeing how they are wraped around a truck payment, and leased to a company that pays by the mile.
Once again, if you can't afford to drop $200 each month on an oil change, then you need to find a new job cuz your not going to make it out here buddy.
I'm not saying..... I'm just saying