Bulk oil recommendation

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Looking for some opinions.I would like to buy a bulk oil in a drum,the amount of cars owned by family and friends is overwhelming me when it comes to buying oil.I am using 50-80 gallons a year.
This is a partial list of cars,none are used for long daily commute just around town so i guess severe service schedule would apply.

99 Ford Expedition 5.4 2V owned since new,98k with 3k OCI with dino,no oil usage and spotless inside,compression like new all 8.

2000 Poniac GP 3800 80K,bulk dino every 3K,last 4 yrs on GRP III valvoline 5K OCI super clean inside with no oil usage,compression good.

95 Toyota Tercel 92K,Mobil 1 0w-30 last 4yrs once a year OCI approx 5K,showed signs of neglect.2X ARX and mobil 1 seems to have cleaned it up nice,ARX improved compression to almost new.

2000 Toyota Solara 105K 3.0 V6,not sludged,was clean,ran Amsoil SSO for 1 yr OCI approx 10K on this one and see signs of varnish,switched to Mobil 1 for cost reasons and dropped to 6mo 5K OCI and 1 ARX run.All looks good now.

2005 Honda Oddesy Touring 3.5 V6 80K around town(soccer mom),bought new,brother ran 2000/SSO since first OC 10K OCI and its in trouble,lots of deposits and varnish.Running ARX with valvoline now,compression lower on all 6,2 are lower.

2006 Infiniti M35 3.5 V6 54K exactly same 10K OCI as Honda above.SSO w/deposits and varnish etc overall lower(not low) compression.

2007 Saturn Sky 2.4 L4 non turbo 6K.changed all factory fluids(oils) at 1K lots of particles came out,OC with Castrol edge 5w-30

2002 GMC Denali 6.0 V8 100K OCI unknown,looks clean inside compression good.

2000 Chevy Venture 3.4 V6,100k Spotty OCI(father doesn't believe in maintenance).Engine looking nasty,rear main leak,deposits,varnish etc.

1999 ford Ranger 3.0 V6 54K same as Venture just not as tired.

2000 Ford Explorer 4.0 V6 120K nasty,OCI unknown(sister like father)

2007 Nissan Altima 40K OCI way to long (sister)deposits forming etc,no maint at all.

1999 Caddy 4.6 60K my old car until last year 5K mobil 1 spotless now getting neglected.

Kit car Factory Five GTM with LS7 new build

2008 Mazda 3 OCI unknown (they just got it)

Kubota tractor with 3 cyl diesel

Probably 10 other cars and pick-up trucks

Various small engines in generators,snow blowers etc

I got my father and sisters to at least let me change the oil.Its in my best interest to do it instead of doing major repairs later.My brother is 100% into keeping his cars up to snuff.Funny his cars were running the supposed best oils(SSO)and are seeing more deposits than they should be.This is nothing against Amsoil or pro any other brand just an observation of what's going on over time.
The Mobil 1 seems to work really well based on cleanliness and compression test in the cars i used it in long term.

I was thinking about Rotella T 5w-40 in bulk but have some viscosity concerns about winter use.MA can get pretty cold in jan.

Any thoughts and opinions are really appreciated.My garage is looking like a Advance Auto shelf.We did try the Amsoil route briefly but the cost and seemingly less than stellar results have kind of left a bad taste.
Maybe shorter OCI would have had delivered better results but at the price seems to be counter productive.

Thanks in advance.
 
My local mechanic uses Trop Artic by the drum and loves it. I'm shure the price is great and you can't go wrong with any Conoco product. See what your local supplier can offer. My BOSCH mechanic uses Castrol RX 15w-40 and Syntec 5w-50 by the drum.
 
Quote:
Funny his cars were running the supposed best oils(SSO)and are seeing more deposits than they should be.This is nothing against Amsoil or pro any other brand just an observation of what's going on over time.


This is for any oil used in extended drain service:

Just because the oil is buffered and formulated to go the distance, doesn't mean that the service is ideal for "just like you did 3m/3k oil changes with a good dino". My mother used all the evolutions of M1 since 1981 until her passing in 2000 on the one year 25k which ever came first drain interval (filter changes at normal OCI (7500/6m). The engines were not spotless by any means.

Now if they were all doing 15k-18k+ ..that might disappoint me.

..but this tells it.

Quote:
This is a partial list of cars,none are used for long daily commute just around town so i guess severe service schedule would apply.



but to the question. Given the mixed fleet I'd probably get a 55 gallon drum of 5w-30 and just purchase any 40 grades or synths as needed.

Get with the Salesrep http://specializedlubricants.net/ He should be able to recommend the best compromise to serve most of your needs. You may end up with two 55 gallon drums ..or one 55 gallon drum and a few 5 gallon pails.
 
get a drum of RTS 5w40,that oil will work fine in the winter,and will cover all your bases too.

i too have thought about getting a drum of TDT and be done with it.
 
Storing bulk oil for long periods of times is not good due to additive separation. Small dealers (GM & ?) were advised not to order large quantities of oil in bulk if it were not used within a certain time frame ( I think I read one year but, not sure). I have found it not uncommon to find additive settling in quart containers when it remained in my garage for a year or so. I would not buy more than you will use within 9 months or so. Ed
 
Schaeffer's 9000 #9003 synthetic. 7 cases from my dealer averages $4.86 per quart of some excellent motor oil. You buy bulk you get free shipping. I haven't priced other Schaeffer products but I'm sure you will get a good value. This and SSO are the only oils that do not consume in my 07 Civic Si with speed shop mods.

Look at the Blackstone tests results.
 
Thanks a lot of good info to think about.

Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
Quote:
Funny his cars were running the supposed best oils(SSO)and are seeing more deposits than they should be.This is nothing against Amsoil or pro any other brand just an observation of what's going on over time.


This is for any oil used in extended drain service:

Just because the oil is buffered and formulated to go the distance, doesn't mean that the service is ideal for "just like you did 3m/3k oil changes with a good dino". My mother used all the evolutions of M1 since 1981 until her passing in 2000 on the one year 25k which ever came first drain interval (filter changes at normal OCI (7500/6m). The engines were not spotless by any means.

Now if they were all doing 15k-18k+ ..that might disappoint me.

..but this tells it.

Quote:
This is a partial list of cars,none are used for long daily commute just around town so i guess severe service schedule would apply.


but to the question. Given the mixed fleet I'd probably get a 55 gallon drum of 5w-30 and just purchase any 40 grades or synths as needed.

Get with the Salesrep http://specializedlubricants.net/ He should be able to recommend the best compromise to serve most of your needs. You may end up with two 55 gallon drums ..or one 55 gallon drum and a few 5 gallon pails.


I have a feeling any oil would have done the same thing under the conditions.He wasn't concerned about 10K OCI because in his mind it was a 25K oil.I guess this lulled him into a false sense of security.
I also didn't give it much thought until he brought the Honda down for a CEL and i happened to look down the filler hole,that when we looked further at the Infiniti and spotted a trend.

I will be looking at prices on the Schaeffer's and Shell products on monday.

Originally Posted By: Eddie
Storing bulk oil for long periods of times is not good due to additive separation. Small dealers (GM & ?) were advised not to order large quantities of oil in bulk if it were not used within a certain time frame ( I think I read one year but, not sure). I have found it not uncommon to find additive settling in quart containers when it remained in my garage for a year or so. I would not buy more than you will use within 9 months or so. Ed


I can see 55 gal being used easily within a year as i already am using this and a bit more.
A drum will be ideal for my use.Looking for sales and buying weekly gets old quick,when a good deal comes along you end up with a ton of 1qt or gallon bottles all over the place.
One drum in the corner will sure keep things neater.
 
Originally Posted By: Forest
BTY - I just remembered Schaeffer sells the large bucket as well. There is a dealer on BITOG.

Many combinations available. 12 qt. 6/1 gal. 5 gal. 30 gal. 55 gal. 275 gal. etc.
 
A part time instructor who teaches classes for me and also owns a Mercedes/BMW used car dealership uses Kendall bulk in his repair garage.

I would contact the local distributors in your area and compare the prices of all bottom shelf 5W-30's: Formula Shell, Superflo, Chevron, etc. Any of these will serve your fleet well in MA.
 
Tough question. Lots of different vehicles/maintenance schedules there.

Most of them seem to be on synthetic, so maybe a decent option is something like a drum of Amsoil XL 5W-30? It will go 7500-10k miles easily in most vehicles, and Amsoil dealers are a little more 'personal' in their business approach. The ones on this site are a great bunch.

IF you are looking at switching over to conventional for most changes, my personal choice would be a SOPUS (Shell) product. Like a poster said, Formula Shell would probably be well priced by the drum, and its a great oil.

As for grade, it looks like 5W-30 would cover most of your requirements. The vehicles that do call for 5W-20 (I think) are out of warranty, so 5W-30 would work fine in them.

Can you let us know what you go with? That would be interesting....
 
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