Hello all! I’ve been a lurker of BITOG for at least a decade, though my recent membership says otherwise. A little background on me, I’ve owned 35+ vehicles over the last 16 years, but I’m working on making that a thing of the past and keep my vehicles long term. Even with my excessive amount of vehicle swapping, I’ve always prided myself in trying to do the best maintenance and best practices I could do for each. That being said, I ended up on the Amsoil bandwagon about 5 years ago both for their quality as well as the convenience of shipped to my door and their all-encompassing oil change kits, but I’ve more recently learned about their QC issues with oil filters due to the Champ Labs/First Brands fiasco, so this along with the mindset that I want to keep my current vehicles long term have made me start digging even deeper into what maintenance items I use. I’ve tried my best to search both on here as well as on YouTube, but my head has started spinning, so I figured it might not hurt to just start my own thread to hopefully get the answers I’m looking for…
Sorry about the long preamble…
I live in Alabama, so it’s hot/warm most of the year and I currently have a 2025 GMC 1500 with the 5.3/L84 with the DFM disabled with a Range device as well as an oil catch can (also have a daily driver 2013 Nissan Altima 2.5 that I’m not as worried about, but it gets 0w-20 Amsoil XL and filter). I purchased it as a dealer demo with ~5,000 miles and it had its first oil change at that time by the dealer. I have 3 free oil changes from the dealer, but with the L87 oil viscosity change coupled with my want to do what’s “best” (not to mention my disdain for others working on my vehicles and getting dirt and grease on interior surfaces, etc.), I’m considering forgoing those free oil changes and going with the products I choose to use.
Again, I typically would go with the AMSOIL Signature Series kit, but they only recommend the GM recommended 0w-20 and their filters are questionable at best currently. I’d be perfectly fine just ordering the oil from Amsoil and then going to the parts store to get the filter. If I go that route, should I go with SS 0w-40? What filter should I go with l? (I stick to ~5,000 OCI, but am happy to pay more for a better filter capable of exceeding that interval). Or is there an off the shelf oil that would better suit my needs? Sorry for the long post, I’m just trying to give as much background information as possible!
Sorry about the long preamble…
I live in Alabama, so it’s hot/warm most of the year and I currently have a 2025 GMC 1500 with the 5.3/L84 with the DFM disabled with a Range device as well as an oil catch can (also have a daily driver 2013 Nissan Altima 2.5 that I’m not as worried about, but it gets 0w-20 Amsoil XL and filter). I purchased it as a dealer demo with ~5,000 miles and it had its first oil change at that time by the dealer. I have 3 free oil changes from the dealer, but with the L87 oil viscosity change coupled with my want to do what’s “best” (not to mention my disdain for others working on my vehicles and getting dirt and grease on interior surfaces, etc.), I’m considering forgoing those free oil changes and going with the products I choose to use.
Again, I typically would go with the AMSOIL Signature Series kit, but they only recommend the GM recommended 0w-20 and their filters are questionable at best currently. I’d be perfectly fine just ordering the oil from Amsoil and then going to the parts store to get the filter. If I go that route, should I go with SS 0w-40? What filter should I go with l? (I stick to ~5,000 OCI, but am happy to pay more for a better filter capable of exceeding that interval). Or is there an off the shelf oil that would better suit my needs? Sorry for the long post, I’m just trying to give as much background information as possible!
