The Ford Barn

hotrodart · 05-10-2019, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrtexas

How about a chemical engineer that used to schedule production at a lube refinery? STP is not a lubricant. A lubricant is a branching chain paraffin. Enough said. IMHO what saves most of us from foolishly adding STP to engines is we don't drive them enough to cause severe damage by diluting the real lubricant.

"STP Oil Treatment product claims include protection against engine wear (hence, reduction of friction) and reduction of oil consumption. There are no controlled test results or relevant customer testimonials on the STP web site to document these product claims.

In 1978 STP Corporation and its then-parent company, First Brand Corporation, settled a legal action from the FTC over misrepresenting the role and benefits of motor oil additives in reducing wear inside engines. STP paid an $888,000 judgment, the third largest sum ever obtained by the FTC for a consumer protection violation."

https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hub/68152/f..._ball_0709.pdf

Can't argue with these facts. But.....maybe there is some good that STP does in conjunction with oil......one of my buddies was a Honda factory motor cycle racer.......the Honda engineers told him to add STP to the engine oil for every change. He realized another 1000 RPM over straight oil.....seems like it did some good for him and Honda.

Mart · 05-10-2019, 02:28 PM

I think the thread has maybe drifted as some seem to be talking about steering boxes. I don't think I've ever heard of corn head grease being recommended for a manual transmission.

Parts of the transmission require friction to work. The synchros. So in my mind it would be best to use something designed as a manual transmission lube.

You know, like gear oil.

There is always the desire to use a trick that they don't want you to know about. The internet is built on this sort of BS.

Just use the regular stuff. there is no secret snake oil.

Mart.

JSeery · 05-10-2019, 03:14 PM

Different synchro materials require specific lubricants to function properly, such as later T5s require ATF fluid. I would always go with the manufactures recommendations, in this case Ford recommends mild extreme pressure gear lube, such as GL-4.

glennpm · 05-10-2019, 03:51 PM

Yeah I thought it was about a steering box so my bad. Its been a bad day.

Pete · 05-10-2019, 04:56 PM

One of the favorite tests of people touting the advantages of various lubricants, oils and
slippery stuff is the hard bearing torque wrench stall test. Hard bearings are commonly known as ball bearings, roller bearings and GEAR TEETH.
You want to know what will almost always outperform anything you can put in the test cup??
ACETONE... It is almost impossible to stall the drive motor with acetone in the cup.

All of this talk about what lube is best for what application has been figured out a long time ago. Not all of the "improvments" have been tested with the original parameters.
Some stuff will reduce friction but eat the bearing material away in a short time.
Some stuff will reduce friction but evaporate in 15 seconds.
Some stuff will not be practical because of cost or difficulty in handling in an OEM situation.
Lots of compromises at the OEM level.

If you have some car part that works better for you with a strange substance for lubricant,
use it, but good luck trying to convert the rest of the world to use it.

05-10-2019, 02:28 PM	#22
Mart Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Solihull, England. Posts: 8,754	Re: STP/gear lub I think the thread has maybe drifted as some seem to be talking about steering boxes. I don't think I've ever heard of corn head grease being recommended for a manual transmission. Parts of the transmission require friction to work. The synchros. So in my mind it would be best to use something designed as a manual transmission lube. You know, like gear oil. There is always the desire to use a trick that they don't want you to know about. The internet is built on this sort of BS. Just use the regular stuff. there is no secret snake oil. Mart.

05-10-2019, 03:14 PM	#23
JSeery Member Emeritus Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Wichita KS Posts: 16,132	Re: STP/gear lub Different synchro materials require specific lubricants to function properly, such as later T5s require ATF fluid. I would always go with the manufactures recommendations, in this case Ford recommends mild extreme pressure gear lube, such as GL-4.

05-10-2019, 03:51 PM	#24
glennpm Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Wiscasset, Maine Posts: 1,981	Re: STP/gear lub Yeah I thought it was about a steering box so my bad. Its been a bad day.

05-10-2019, 04:56 PM	#25
Pete Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Wa. Posts: 5,409	Re: STP/gear lub One of the favorite tests of people touting the advantages of various lubricants, oils and slippery stuff is the hard bearing torque wrench stall test. Hard bearings are commonly known as ball bearings, roller bearings and GEAR TEETH. You want to know what will almost always outperform anything you can put in the test cup?? ACETONE... It is almost impossible to stall the drive motor with acetone in the cup. All of this talk about what lube is best for what application has been figured out a long time ago. Not all of the "improvments" have been tested with the original parameters. Some stuff will reduce friction but eat the bearing material away in a short time. Some stuff will reduce friction but evaporate in 15 seconds. Some stuff will not be practical because of cost or difficulty in handling in an OEM situation. Lots of compromises at the OEM level. If you have some car part that works better for you with a strange substance for lubricant, use it, but good luck trying to convert the rest of the world to use it.