Red Line D6 and ZF 8 Speed

[IndyFan]

Red Line claims compatibility with the ZF 8 Speed. Any thoughts?

I know it is apples to oranges, but I have run their C+ fluid in place of ATF+4 in my 2018 Wrangler manual gear box and it smoothed out the shifting a little bit. I have been running it for nearly 80k miles with no issues, so it has given me great confidence in Red Line.

Has anyone run this in a ZF in a Jeep or Ram?

I am coming up on 60k miles on my Gladiator and am going to service the transmission. Warranty will be over at 60k. I´m just thinking about it as I creep up in the next couple months on this swap. I do plan on putting a PPE drain pan on it with a drain plug to make swaps easier in the future. It also happens to add 1 quart of capacity, although that isn´t really what I was after.

 

[RBT]

Personally I would not take the chance and would use the Mopar fluid and the factory filter, which I think is integrated into the pan as it is on my truck. A second cousin is a CJDR tech and has told me not to mess around when it comes time for mine - just use the Mopar fill% It is also unclear what you would achieve by adding additional capacity as this is a very well designed and built transmission. Seems like risk for little real return.

 

[kschachn]

You might find some useful information here. I used to pay extra for Red Line as well, there is a Pelican Racing store near my house that sells their products. These days I just go to Walmart and get Maxlife.

S

Thread 'ZF 8 speed fluid and filter'

Apr 25, 2017

Did my RAM's transmission service. New fluid from Brian at BND, New pan/integrated filter combo with new bolts from Mopar. FYI this fluid retails for around 40 bucks a quart! BND custom blends this stuff for about half that with superior additive pkg proven in years of dealing with Audis and such with ZF units in them.

Only took about 6 quarts, relatively easy (about 1 hour), had to drop some exhaust down a bit to clear the pan. Factory fluid was astonishingly clean and beautiful at 50k hard miles in less than 2 years. The pain for me was my primitive fluid transfer pump. Took a while...

• SteveSRT8
• Replies: 18
• Forum: Mechanical/Maintenance Forum

Thread 'ZF 8 Speed Fluid Poll'

Aug 6, 2021

I need some help deciding. Please tell me any good info.

• BMW Dom
• Replies: 43
• Forum: ATF, Differential, Trans, Brakes, P/S

S

Thread 'Lifeguard 8 and Audi 8hp55'

Jul 22, 2018

I just picked up a new to me 2013 Audi Q5 3.0T with 90k kms on it with the zf 8spd 8HP55?? At 100k km I'm planning on changing the trans fluid, finding lifeguard 8 for a decent price its turning out to be a bit of a task, does anyone have a link for decent priced fluid? Keep in mind I'm in Canada, even the dodge dealer when asking for 8spd fluid for a new ram is asking for all the money for this fluid.

Any tips to doing this job? I've had 3 other automatic Audis with the 5hp19 trans so I know the fill procedure.

• seanf
• Replies: 23
• Forum: ATF, Differential, Trans, Brakes, P/S

Thread 'Who makes a fluid for 8 speed Ram 1500?'

Apr 22, 2015

Looking to pick some extra fluids to keep in the garage. The manual says Mopar ZF 8&9 speed ATF.

Has anyone seen anything like this, or is it a dealer only fluid?

• MuzzleFlash40
• Replies: 138
• Forum: ATF, Differential, Trans, Brakes, P/S

Thread 'What makes lifeguard 8 special?'

Jul 8, 2021

What makes this fluid special? Has anyone used Pentosin in these, or even Maxlife?

I find it interesting that Valvoline says Maxlife will work in for Lifeguard 8 and other lifeguard fluids.

How can this be?

• BMW Dom
• Replies: 44
• Forum: ATF, Differential, Trans, Brakes, P/S

 

[panthermike]

If they claim compatibility, I think it would be fine. Many many people use Maxlife in the ZF's and I haven't heard of any issues there.