FNG questions re: fluids and grease

[rmvivas]

Since I am not particularly mechanically inclined when it comes to motor vehicles I am trying to do as much reading as I can before playing with my M37.

I'm reading about the various Preventative Maintenance Checks & Services (PMCS) that need to be done and was wondering about the various fluids and greases.

What would the modern equivalent/recommended fluids and greases be compared to what the Technical Manuals (TM) say?

OE30, GA90, GAA, HB PL (med.) are all listed as items of use but since I don't work in Uncle Sam's 1950's vintage supply chain, I was wondering if the M37 community had found commercial modern equivalents that perform as well as their military ancestors.

 

[WarrenD]

In general, I have found that the following are the generally recommended fluids:
Engine oil: Shell Rotella 15-40
Front and rear diffs, Transfer case and transmission: CRC GL-4 grade 85-90 (GL-5 gear lubes are not friendly to yellow metal which is a component in the transmission syncros.)
Steering box: 85-90 gear lube (GL-4 again) or I've had good luck with cornhead grease once it's in there.
Antifreeze: The old standard Prestone (green)

 

[CGarbee]

I'm a big fan of Rotella in my diesels...but I just use a low buck 10-30 in the M37 varients I have that are still stock. I just change it every year...
GL5 is ok as long as it has the MT1 rating as well (safe for yellow metal). I find that I can still purchase 90wt GL1 at my local Agri-Supply for quite a bit less than the GL4 or GL5 and, once again, the current supplies are still much better than what was once available even with the same ratings...

I like the 'hi-tach' greases (agri/industrial) for use on the zerks (I think that I am using NLGI-2 but will have to look at one of the cases when I get home to be sure...). Currently, I have both Mobile and Castrol grease on the shelf, I think that the Castrol stuff is in the guns curently.

Other than the yellow metal issue with the gear oil, it's hard to go wrong with any of your lubes or fluids as long as you stay in ratings band (viscosity, etc) given on the lube charts.

You didn't ask, but I'll put a shameless plug for my website here (see the signature links) that has a bunch of M37 info on it (tires, sparkplugs, parts x-reference, electrical, wood, etc...), .

Enjoy your ride

 

[GUNNY 155]

All the previous info is spot on, especially for the gear lube. My personnal choice for engine oil is Valvoline 30wt or 10W30 racing oil. Has a high zinc content which is important when it comes to flat tappet engines. Going on my machine shop guys 411 since he builds a lot of engines for the muscle car restoration guys. Also the previous owner used the wrong oil in the engine so when I tore it down there was a lot of damage to the cam shaft and cylinder walls from scuffing.