Oil for Columbia rear end

1stford

1stford

Senior Member
I have a Columbia rear end and have been doing some reading about the oil to put in it. Seems there are a lot of opinions on this subject of should rear end oil be GL4 or GL 5, but wanted to know what everyone else is using. I bought this Valvoline gear oil and it looks like it's a GL 5.

I did just order a GL4 from VP racing for the transmission as it seems GL4 is the only way to go for top loaders.


https://shop.valvolineglobal.com/pr...kgMVJDYIBR3k3xNwEAQYAiABEgKpHPD_BwE&Size=1+QT
 
1stford said:
I have a Columbia rear end and have been doing some reading about the oil to put in it. Seems there are a lot of opinions on this subject of should rear end oil be GL4 or GL 5, but wanted to know what everyone else is using. I bought this Valvoline gear oil and it looks like it's a GL 5.

I did just order a GL4 from VP racing for the transmission as it seems GL4 is the only way to go for top loaders.


You NEED the GL4. GL5 will attack the soft metals in the Columbia assembly.
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Useing a Colombia in my 34 Ford I prepared for a 500 mile trip. I went from 90 to 140 weight thinking greater protection. Didn't work well, after 50 miles it froze and big disappointment. After analyzing problem and repairs I am now using Valvoline 75-90.
It may also be important to note that I have this rear end in a 34 Cabriolet, 34 5w Coupe both 3:78 and 39 Lincoln Zephyr 4.44 ratios. On top of that I'm using Ford 9 inch axels with splined end gear on all cars.

John Connolly has helped a lot in this process !


Good Luck
 
Kube said:
1stford said:
You NEED the GL4. GL5 will attack the soft metals in the Columbia assembly.
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579937


579938


579939
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I have not been successful in locating a GL 4 85-140. Is there a specific product you all are using.
 
cdan34 said:
Useing a Colombia in my 34 Ford I prepared for a 500 mile trip. I went from 90 to 140 weight thinking greater protection. Didn't work well, after 50 miles it froze and big disappointment. After analyzing problem and repairs I am now using Valvoline 75-90.
It may also be important to note that I have this rear end in a 34 Cabriolet, 34 5w Coupe both 3:78 and 39 Lincoln Zephyr 4.44 ratios. On top of that I'm using Ford 9 inch axels with splined end gear on all cars.

John Connolly has helped a lot in this process !


Good Luck
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Thanks for the info. Do you know if that is a GL-4? When I talked with John and asked him he said 85-140 but did not state if it had to be a GL-4 or not.
 
1stford said:
Thanks for the info. Do you know if that is a GL-4? When I talked with John and asked him he said 85-140 but did not state if it had to be a GL-4 or not.
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Here ya go, Amazon:
Penn Grade 1, 77296, Classic Multi-Purpose GL-4 Gear Oil SAE 80W-90, 1 Quart (4 Pack)
 
If you have a Tractor Supply near by, they have oils and lubes for all sorts of older vehicles.
 
nelsb01 said:
If you have a Tractor Supply near by, they have oils and lubes for all sorts of older vehicles.
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Yes, typically I agree. However, for this, neither the local Tractor Supply, Farm & Fleet or John Deere could help.
 
the Lincoln/Columbia I have has hypoid gears so I use a GL1 hypoid oil in it sold by Penrite. My other columbia I use a GL1 85-140 oil, also sold by Penrite. I dunno if you Americans can get Penrite....
 
I think GL1 is mineral oil. Used in some big trucks trans, and recommended for willys jeeps. Good for soft metals, I buy it at napa
 
Post #7 and #11 have you covered. The stuff I use, post #7, is considerable cheaper.
Either are readily available via Amazon.
 
I'm circling back on this topic. I ordered the Penn Grade GL-4 80W-90 based on the recommendations in a couple replies, thanks for that. I had read that his is also what should be used in the 3 speed top loader. Is that correct, same oil for both trans and rear end with Columbia overdrive?

Thanks,
 
1stford said:
I'm circling back on this topic. I ordered the Penn Grade GL-4 80W-90 based on the recommendations in a couple replies, thanks for that. I had read that his is also what should be used in the 3 speed top loader. Is that correct, same oil for both trans and rear end with Columbia overdrive?

Thanks,
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Yes, the transmission also has brass parts which are not degraded with the GL-4 lube. I use the The GL-4 85-90 in my '39 transmission and the 140 weight in my Columbia. I did have GKL-4 140 in my transmission a few years back but found it to be too thick in the cool and cold weather.
 
Sta-Lube is available from NAPA and a few other sources. 85/90 GL4 is good. I still use AeroShell 100W which is SAE 50 ashless dispersant motor oil with no +plus additive. It has the same viscosity as SAE 90 gear lube due to the way they are graded. I still do enough aircraft work to have the stuff available to me.

Most gear boxes, rear axles, and tractors don't need high pressure additives at all. Hypoid axles only need moderate pressure additive. Back in the day, they used GL3 but that was replaced by GL4 a long time ago. GL5 is common for all hypoids now since they have no soft metal bearings anymore. A lot of modern transmissions went to using ATF even though they are manual transmissions. They always have a reason for doing that and it's usually the materials they use for synchronizers or certain wear surfaces. Brass is slowly affected by the acidic HP additives but a lot of old transmissions have some babbitt or phosphor bronze bushings/thrust bearings that are more affected by the acid.
 
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