Fluids

[charlie]

Hey I'm just curious how often you all change your fluids you know oil diffs tranny I usually go once a season living in the north east there is some down time due to the winters I usually do few hundred miles a season just curious what you guys are all doing I do use synthetic fluids

[hfrick]

myself.I think with the miles you are making,once a year is perfect..unless I was driving in extreme cold I dont think I would bother with the synthetic,as at a couple hundred miles regular dino oil should never break down on you...however synthetic wont hurt...I also lube cables in the fall as any waterin there will freeze over winter here...the other thing I do every ride is I carry and spray chain wax on front and rear suspension ,hiem joints steering joints and shock pivot points...really keeps the squeeking down and coats parts from water etc...just my 3 cents...Hardy

[charlie]

Ya that's kinda what I thought and I always spray the home joints down and any pivot points with on blaster every ride and try to get the cables lubed well every few rides

[Kinarfi]

Last time I replaced the Hiem joints and other joints, I applied a heavy coat of grease to all and then wrapped some polyurethane foam around the joint and secured that with some cheap electrical tape to keep the grease in and the water, mud and dirt out. Seems to be working pretty good.

[Guest Lenny]

There is more to standard oil and synthetic oil then its breakdown. Oil has what is called film strength. Picture this example.Put a drop of water on a waxed surface. It will stay together as one drop. Take a wax blade, say a waxed windshield wiper and press it down on the center of the bubble of water. The water at first stays as one puddle with its center being pushed so that the water under the wiper is shallower. This shallower part becomes thinner and thinner as you push the wiper down and just before the wiper touches the waxed surface there is only a very thin film of water under the blade. In order for the blade to touch the waxed surface it has to press hard enough to overcome the film strength of the water at which time the bubble separates into two bubbles and the wiper is now in contact with the waxed surface. The stronger the film strength of the liquid the more pressure it takes to overcome this film strength and make contact with the lower surface.

Synthetic oil has a much higher film strength and holds it up to a much higher temperature. When something is as poorly built as the differentials in the Joyners, direct contact of matting surfaces is likely to happen at some point. With the better film strength of the synthetic oils, this contact will require more pressure to overcome the its film strength and allow contact. Once the surfaces contact, your in serious trouble and looking at earlier failure. In general, synthetic oils allows you to be harder on your equipment and on worn parts, it will require more ware before contact is allowed. That's why standard oil is advised for break-in of an engine. With synthetic, the rings cannot make good contact with the cylinder walls, which is required to seat the rings. It takes much longer to break-in an engine with synthetic oil.