"...getting ready to go to grad school." That means you are smart (I assume) unless, perhaps, we are talking about advanced study in the "fuzzy studies" realm, e.g. education, etc.
So...., do you disbelieve the Toyota automotive engineers? They arguably have/had been engineering and manufacturing the most durable and reliable vehicles generally available in the USA for some years. Doesn't that seem to indicate that they are competent to advise you regarding the lubricants that will best meet the requirements of their product?
If you really want to do it right, you should use Toyota oil and Toyota filters and the change schedule recommended in the owners manual that the Toyota company should have provided to you with the purchase of your vehicle. You should use the schedule for severe service e.g. towing, hot and dusty, frequent short trips, lots of stop-and-go etc.
If I were you, I would use Purolator filters and WalMart 15-40 HD/fleet/diesel oil; but the Toyota products are probably a slight bit better. Not enough for me to justify spending the extra bucks though. Chevron, Shell, Texaco, Mobil and many more make good products. It doesn't get cold enough in Florida to justify the expense of synthetic motor oil in my opinion. If you read closely the words on the oil company websites, you will find that they don't explicitly allege that their synthetics have cost efective advantages over conventional oils except in severe conditions of cold, heat, and loading e.g. towing.
But I wouldn't necessarily take the opinion I've expressed here, because I might be one of the numerous pseudo-scientific persons or perhaps even a "crank" that frequently toss in their $0.02 on this forum. Good luck with your new pickup.
By the way, my brother purchased a 1989 Toyota pickup new and drove it for 13 years/150,000 miles. He is what I would describe as "hard on his cars". The car sat outside all these years in Fresno, CA. He worked at a sand and gravel plant. It was, shall we say, a bit dusty around there. The sun shines brightly there virtually every day from April through October. It was 104 F the other day. The paint is still glossy and bright. I doubt he ever applied any polish/wax. It does not ratttle or squeak. It tracks true and tires wear evenly. The engine runs great except for a little preignition rattle--the source of which has so far been elusive. The Air-con cools just fine even in a dark-colored vehicle on the sunny 100F+ days. The air-con has never been serviced or needed service since new. He changes oil at home whenever he gets around to it. Hope you have similar good service from yours.
My $0.02
So...., do you disbelieve the Toyota automotive engineers? They arguably have/had been engineering and manufacturing the most durable and reliable vehicles generally available in the USA for some years. Doesn't that seem to indicate that they are competent to advise you regarding the lubricants that will best meet the requirements of their product?
If you really want to do it right, you should use Toyota oil and Toyota filters and the change schedule recommended in the owners manual that the Toyota company should have provided to you with the purchase of your vehicle. You should use the schedule for severe service e.g. towing, hot and dusty, frequent short trips, lots of stop-and-go etc.
If I were you, I would use Purolator filters and WalMart 15-40 HD/fleet/diesel oil; but the Toyota products are probably a slight bit better. Not enough for me to justify spending the extra bucks though. Chevron, Shell, Texaco, Mobil and many more make good products. It doesn't get cold enough in Florida to justify the expense of synthetic motor oil in my opinion. If you read closely the words on the oil company websites, you will find that they don't explicitly allege that their synthetics have cost efective advantages over conventional oils except in severe conditions of cold, heat, and loading e.g. towing.
But I wouldn't necessarily take the opinion I've expressed here, because I might be one of the numerous pseudo-scientific persons or perhaps even a "crank" that frequently toss in their $0.02 on this forum. Good luck with your new pickup.
By the way, my brother purchased a 1989 Toyota pickup new and drove it for 13 years/150,000 miles. He is what I would describe as "hard on his cars". The car sat outside all these years in Fresno, CA. He worked at a sand and gravel plant. It was, shall we say, a bit dusty around there. The sun shines brightly there virtually every day from April through October. It was 104 F the other day. The paint is still glossy and bright. I doubt he ever applied any polish/wax. It does not ratttle or squeak. It tracks true and tires wear evenly. The engine runs great except for a little preignition rattle--the source of which has so far been elusive. The Air-con cools just fine even in a dark-colored vehicle on the sunny 100F+ days. The air-con has never been serviced or needed service since new. He changes oil at home whenever he gets around to it. Hope you have similar good service from yours.
My $0.02
