Differential Oil... Who's tried other weights?

[Damnir]

Wondering if people could chime in with their experience changing differential oil weights. I am running the stock 20,000 cst in the kit, and like most others, I'm glancing at my arsenal of thicker oils and debating the switch.

It's not a hard job to switch, but it's messy and time consuming.

Please share your thoughts/advice/experience.

Thank you!! Looking forward to learning and sharing on this forum.

[chewie]

Hi once again didnt use any stock fluids...installed 30wt both front and rear

[Gradymanzx]

I personally went with 60k weight cause i had some left over, with how open it still feels i cant imagine the 20k supplied with the kit. It seems most people are going over 100k with the diff oil weight, with a lot of people saying 500k makes a world of difference. Personally i want to try the 500k.

[Interlock]

I am running 200k in the front and 500k in the rear. I haven't looked back. No more diffing out. The front pulls cleanly through corners with enough give at speed (when trying your best to not traction roll... no sway bar yet...), when at lower speed on tough terrain and you need a more locked feel. Just give it a little more power; the rear at 500k will give you a nice power-variable lockup to get over obstacles.

I regularly scale 60+ degree smooth and rocky embankments without issue at a controlled lower speed that i couldn't before the oil change.

On loose ground/fine gravel/mixed surface all four wheels slide evenly with no unsettled behavior at speed (compared to stock).

I cannot recommend this change enough. The difference is night and day.

[Damnir]

^^ That's the kind of response I like to read. A nice pros vs cons of making the swap.

[Yetirider]

100k up front, Bad Horsie Diff goo in back.

On 6s the changes with the HR swaybar smoothed things out plus put the wheels on the ground!

[Sneetches]

I agree with Interlock. Though I run 500k front/rear simply cause I didn't have a lighter weight for the front, it made all the difference in going over the really harsh stuff and any slower speed crawling I might try. Before with the stock oil, I couldn't hardly make it over a small pile of rocks that my Stampede could even get over easily. After the oil, it crawls OK and works much better on hill climbs. I'm not concerned with cornering on the truck, this thing to me is much better at straight running with small curves than large and sharp turns.

[Interlock]

I went with the 500k in the rear after reading one of Sneetches' earliest posts. After I saw his Youtube running videos, the change couldn't be made fast enough.

I considered the 500k for the front too, but I felt that with the extreme mixture of surfaces I am running on, a little more give at higher speeds was a good idea while retaining reasonable front-end lock at low speeds by not going any lower than 200k. Where he is bashing I would also be running the 500k back and front too, maybe even higher in the rear.

He really did some good work early on with being vocal in figuring out what needed to be swapped out to make this monster go well over the rough stuff.

If you are interested in seeing what the XL can do with an oil change or how it performs over some really rough ground, check out his running vids; they are worth the time.

[Tekyguy]

Where can I get 500k diff fluid in the USA? Thanks!

[Damnir]

Traxxas is the easiest to find.

TowerHobbies.com | Traxxas Differential Oil 500K Weight

[pro mod steve]

Here
Search for '500,000 diff oil' - AMain.com

[Horner]

I had 100k in my rear, but it was too loose for the slower stuff I want it to climb through. Tried to lock it up with some plasticine modeling clay, but I didn't get enough of the 100k oil out first. It's not locked but very firm, enough that it's hard to turn the diff without tires on. When I get the ambition to start looking at taking the front diff out it will probably just get 500k so it can maintain a little tighter turn radius.

[Tekyguy]

Thank you Damnir!

[Bbknucks]

I am running ofna diff lock lube in mine front and rear.

I only have a few runs on it before loosing a wheel nut but I was climbing up some pretty good size rocks and curbs.

Never ran the stock oil so can't compare.

Mark

[Dextroyer]

100k in the front and 500k in the rear. I think I got impatient with building the diffs as after 2 packs they seem to be a lot easier to turn opposite by hand than when I first built the truck. 500k fluid should not be called fluid. It is a very strange melty clear putty.