SSG_Karg
Enhanced member
I have not proven it myself, but rumor on the street is that GL-5 does not play well with brass synchronizers. YMMV.
Personally I use Redline in my 833.
A833 fluid
- Thread starter 74 360 dart sport
- Start date
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Personally I use Redline in my 833.
Brewer's recommended to me if you use regular gear oil to use Sta-Lube 85W-90 GL-4. If you use synthetic to use MT-90 Red Line 75W90 GL-4. I use the Red Line and noticed my shifter is not as hot as when I used Sta-Lube. It shifts great with no problems with the Red Line oil.
I've also read that numerous places.
Thanks! I read that earlier and was planning on going that way, but thought I'd ask about the gear lube above since it was free. I'll also look into the Redline fluid.
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72Duster440
Well-Known Member
Based on tons of recommendations, this is also what I run. I had to have it special ordered, nobody around me stocked it. It's only been a few hundred miles, but it seems to work fine so far, shifts nice and easy.
AJ/FormS
68 Formua-S fastback clone 367/A833/GVod/3.55s
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Here are my experiences; Not saying what you should run.
Back in about 2002 or so, I got in my head to run synthetic manual trans oil.
My goals were quicker shifts and reduced Cluster-pin wear. My A833 was running DextronII
Well, with the synthetic, I got a lot of gear clash, and the trans was shifting noticeably slower.
Well, I figured it was just a slippery oil. So I took the trans down, and deglazed the cones. Put the trans back up, and no change.
So I took the trans down again, and this time I cut some channels in the braking-cones, for the oil to be squeezed into, and flung off. I only did Second and Third. Then put the trans back up. No change.
Remember, prior to making these changes, it had been shifting pretty good. I just wanted to try synthetic, and so far it was not looking good.
So I reasoned that, with this slippery oil in there, those daymn heavy gears were just not slowing down fast enough. OK, maybe I need more clutch departure; so I cranked some in, No change.
and some more, with no change.
In desperation I took the box down again, and slick-shifted Second Gear. and put the box back up, better but not better enough.
So I took that box down again, and apart, and washed all that synthetic chit out. By now I was more than perturbed. I filled her back up with ATF, and tossed it back in. BTW, I was running the Alloy boxed overdrive with the wide ratios, which is what started all this monkey business. BadaBOOM!, I had a greased lightning 1-2 shift.
So I took the box down AGAIN, and slick-shifted Third gear.
Now
Running ATF, I had noticed the Cluster pin was not liking it. At some time in the past, I had cut a new groove for the Woodruff key, and flipped it 180*. One of the reasons that I wanted to run synthetic, was to reduce the pin-wear.
So at this time, I slipped a new pin in there, and I reasoned that with my new-found shift-speed, I could give some up, so ............... I replaced the fluid with a 50/50 mix of Dextron III, and 85/90 NLG-whatever, all dyno oils.
And that was how it stayed ......................... until
in a moment of excitement I rammed her into "fourth" and promptly exploded that tiny overdrive gear.
SOOOOOOO, in went the back-up trans which was the standard 2.66 box, slick-shifted of course. Until found another od box at a swapmeet not long afterward
Aaaaaaaaaaand, I did all the mods to it, same as the first one. Why you ask? Why didn't I just swap the od gear over, you ask?
Well as it turns out, Chrysler made TWO overdrive gearsets, and none of the gears are interchangeable between the boxes; NONE of them, just my luck. Well they say First gear swaps, but Hey, I just swapped everything out of the iron box into my alloy box.
and then I found another odbox for $50, and I just couldn't leave it there, so I took it home for a spare.
And wouldn't you know it, my lil 367 shredded that second gearset.
Now, as it happened, the third box had the same gears as the first set, so I transferred all my modded parts and ran it. but, installed a GVod behind it so I could split gears and cut the rpm drops in half.
Then I ran that also with the 50/50 mix.
Well, about this time, My 223 cam dropped lobes, so I got me the next bigger cam. and promptly lost bottom end; and I could never get it back. and Now, split-shifting all-the-time was getting old.
So I made a call to Passon Performance, looking for a Commando gearset, which he had, and while I had Jamie on the line, I also ordered one of his alloy boxes and a matching cover. My thought was that the Commando gearset would solve my far-apart 1-2 shift-split, problems... which it dis very nicely.
Then I slick-shifted Second gear only, IIRC, and assembled that with the GVod behind it, and now I had seven useable gears, but no longer progressive like the od-box was. Most of the time I shift it like it is a 5-speed.
And yes, that did the trick, and that Commando set-up is still in the car today
And still with the 50/50 dyno-mix, cuz the cluster-pin is showing very little signs of wear.
My Conclusions;
>Straight Dextron shifts the fastest, and there is no warm up period required , ever. But you can expect a somewhat accelerated Cluster-pin wear.
>Straight 85/90 negates the pin-wear, but does require a warm up from ambient, and it never shifted as fast as Dextron. This can be mitigated by street slick-shifting .
>the 50/50 mix offers the best of both, and when slick-shifted, is DYNOMITE!
opinion
One of the all-time best-shifting period 4-speeds, from the Big-Three, was the Ford top-loaders. The gears were smallish, lightweight, and together with the internal shift rails, those transmissions were perfect for the small-block Ford engines of the day.
However, when I was a transmission builder, I rebuilt far more of those, compared to Muncies, and even fewer A833s, which are the tanks of the Passenger-car 4-speeds.
However, the A833s were never known for shifting prowess.
But I just gotta say, that, I think my Mopar 4-gears now shift like top-loaders. When I yank on the stick, the brass doesn't even have time to go to work! The slider just rams home, while the brass is just getting off the couch. But the brass does a fine job the rest of the time.
Long post I know
but with me, you get all-I got, usually the first time.
Back in about 2002 or so, I got in my head to run synthetic manual trans oil.
My goals were quicker shifts and reduced Cluster-pin wear. My A833 was running DextronII
Well, with the synthetic, I got a lot of gear clash, and the trans was shifting noticeably slower.
Well, I figured it was just a slippery oil. So I took the trans down, and deglazed the cones. Put the trans back up, and no change.
So I took the trans down again, and this time I cut some channels in the braking-cones, for the oil to be squeezed into, and flung off. I only did Second and Third. Then put the trans back up. No change.
Remember, prior to making these changes, it had been shifting pretty good. I just wanted to try synthetic, and so far it was not looking good.
So I reasoned that, with this slippery oil in there, those daymn heavy gears were just not slowing down fast enough. OK, maybe I need more clutch departure; so I cranked some in, No change.
and some more, with no change.
In desperation I took the box down again, and slick-shifted Second Gear. and put the box back up, better but not better enough.
So I took that box down again, and apart, and washed all that synthetic chit out. By now I was more than perturbed. I filled her back up with ATF, and tossed it back in. BTW, I was running the Alloy boxed overdrive with the wide ratios, which is what started all this monkey business. BadaBOOM!, I had a greased lightning 1-2 shift.
So I took the box down AGAIN, and slick-shifted Third gear.
Now
Running ATF, I had noticed the Cluster pin was not liking it. At some time in the past, I had cut a new groove for the Woodruff key, and flipped it 180*. One of the reasons that I wanted to run synthetic, was to reduce the pin-wear.
So at this time, I slipped a new pin in there, and I reasoned that with my new-found shift-speed, I could give some up, so ............... I replaced the fluid with a 50/50 mix of Dextron III, and 85/90 NLG-whatever, all dyno oils.
And that was how it stayed ......................... until
in a moment of excitement I rammed her into "fourth" and promptly exploded that tiny overdrive gear.
SOOOOOOO, in went the back-up trans which was the standard 2.66 box, slick-shifted of course. Until found another od box at a swapmeet not long afterward
Aaaaaaaaaaand, I did all the mods to it, same as the first one. Why you ask? Why didn't I just swap the od gear over, you ask?
Well as it turns out, Chrysler made TWO overdrive gearsets, and none of the gears are interchangeable between the boxes; NONE of them, just my luck. Well they say First gear swaps, but Hey, I just swapped everything out of the iron box into my alloy box.
and then I found another odbox for $50, and I just couldn't leave it there, so I took it home for a spare.
And wouldn't you know it, my lil 367 shredded that second gearset.
Now, as it happened, the third box had the same gears as the first set, so I transferred all my modded parts and ran it. but, installed a GVod behind it so I could split gears and cut the rpm drops in half.
Then I ran that also with the 50/50 mix.
Well, about this time, My 223 cam dropped lobes, so I got me the next bigger cam. and promptly lost bottom end; and I could never get it back. and Now, split-shifting all-the-time was getting old.
So I made a call to Passon Performance, looking for a Commando gearset, which he had, and while I had Jamie on the line, I also ordered one of his alloy boxes and a matching cover. My thought was that the Commando gearset would solve my far-apart 1-2 shift-split, problems... which it dis very nicely.
Then I slick-shifted Second gear only, IIRC, and assembled that with the GVod behind it, and now I had seven useable gears, but no longer progressive like the od-box was. Most of the time I shift it like it is a 5-speed.
And yes, that did the trick, and that Commando set-up is still in the car today
And still with the 50/50 dyno-mix, cuz the cluster-pin is showing very little signs of wear.
My Conclusions;
>Straight Dextron shifts the fastest, and there is no warm up period required , ever. But you can expect a somewhat accelerated Cluster-pin wear.
>Straight 85/90 negates the pin-wear, but does require a warm up from ambient, and it never shifted as fast as Dextron. This can be mitigated by street slick-shifting .
>the 50/50 mix offers the best of both, and when slick-shifted, is DYNOMITE!
opinion
One of the all-time best-shifting period 4-speeds, from the Big-Three, was the Ford top-loaders. The gears were smallish, lightweight, and together with the internal shift rails, those transmissions were perfect for the small-block Ford engines of the day.
However, when I was a transmission builder, I rebuilt far more of those, compared to Muncies, and even fewer A833s, which are the tanks of the Passenger-car 4-speeds.
However, the A833s were never known for shifting prowess.
But I just gotta say, that, I think my Mopar 4-gears now shift like top-loaders. When I yank on the stick, the brass doesn't even have time to go to work! The slider just rams home, while the brass is just getting off the couch. But the brass does a fine job the rest of the time.
Long post I know
but with me, you get all-I got, usually the first time.
Last edited:
67_Slimer
Real Hot Rods don't shift themselves.
I use that Stalube as well. I'm actually having trouble finding it. Do you know if they still make it?
Go to this page and click on the "Where To Buy" button. It's showing in stock at Grainger outlets in my area.
Sta-Lube® API/GL-4 Multi-Purpose Gear Oil 85W90, 1 Gal
GL-4 Hypoid Gear Oil has low pour points and high temp properties to provide lubrication over a wide temperature range. This versatile lubricant contains anti-rust and anti-wear EP additives to provide the corrosion protection in drives and hypoid gears. It is not corrosive to copper, bronze...
www.crcindustries.com
It's a small demand item, so it could be discontinued. Or possibly a batch blending wasn't scheduled soon enough to keep wholesalers and retailers from running out. You could contact CRC and ask them.
67_Slimer
Real Hot Rods don't shift themselves.
Thank you!! This was highly recommended my Brewers and I've been using it since. Just wondering why they recommend with the hypoid?
X2 I have had real good luck with the Red Line trans fluid.
GL-4 can be used as a hypoid gear lube, but in most cases it's probably better to use a GL-5. Long ago it was explained to me that GL-4 is a compromise in hypoid applications.
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