i have an '01 with the NV5600. gonna be doin a tranny fluid change here pretty soon. does anyone know if it would hurt anything or have an effect on shifting if i ran a quart of Lucas HD oil stabilizer in with the synthetic fluid. i run that in all my engines and diffs and really like it but ive never tried it in this trans. says on the bottle that it mixes with synthetic oils. if not the Lucas, is there any additive that anyone has found benificial to the NV5600? i'm starting to get a very slight grind upshifting to 5th (reason for doing the fluid change) also I was planning on using Amsoil MTF. do i use the SAE 75w-90 or the SAE 5w-30? for any help!

 

For the NV5600 you will need MTF (5w-30). The MTG (75w-90) is for the NV4500.

Can't say on the Lucas. I did add 6oz of Maxilube to my transmission and it did make it easier to shift (less resistance).

MikeyB

 

http://dodgeram.org/tech/transmission/nv5600_spec.html

I understand that the 5600 needs to run an extra quart of lube to assure adequate lubrication.

 

Yes Lucas will be ok. I use it in my 5600 but I don't have any grinding w/ 300k on the trans. I run the extra qt plus the Lucas. Thats what the trans shop did when the swap was done.

 

When I changed mine I ran both driver's side wheels up on 8" ramps and got 2 additional quarts in and still had room for more.

 

Transmission rebuilders have been suggesting the extra quart for years now. Along with full synthetic which noticeably improves shifting.

My *opinion* is that the main shaft bearing failures this is meant to address have more to do with cooling than lubrication, though. Gears flail oil around pretty well (keep in mind ALL the gears are turning in a synchronized trans when it's spinning) but the bearings rely on the oil to keep temps under control, which requires immersion or flow.

 

Just run a quality oil and dump the lucas in the trash,

http://www.amsoil.com/storefront/mtf.aspx

Somebody had a link to Bob the Oil guy one time that had some video of the Lucas in a rear diff and it foamed real bad. Don't know how it would be in a transmission but gears and slinging oil and seeing what Bob showed me, Lucas would be the last thing going in my tranny. Check out his website, he does tests on all sorts of "snake oils" made to seperate you from your cash. I just changed oil in mine and bought the Amsoil, Engine, tranny, diff's all Amsoil.

 

I agree with the above statement by dodgeguy71. The Bob the oil guy site is pretty informative.

If you are getting grinding or hard shifting, things are wearing out. Its normal to wear out the blocker rings in a 5600, especially if you are an impatient shifter.

The later tailshaft casting had an oval relief in the bottom to allow fluid to flow to the rearmost gear/bearing in the housing, quality rebuilds should have two 1/2" holes drilled in this location if they were of the early casting. Unfortunately the only way to tell is to pull the tailshaft. You can usually count on the 2001 and later to be of the more modern casting with the hole.This was the reasoning behind the extra quart of fluid. Still an extra quart is good advice regardless, this trans runs hot!

The redline and amsoil synthetics are engineered directly for the nv5600 style trans and shouldn't need any additives to increase their effectiveness.

If you have the money to throw at it go for it, but I do not think you are really gaining any real performance from the extra snake oils.

 

The manual specs a specific lube, not sure of the number off hand. Dodge has it, Penzoil has one (GM also uses this spec). There may be some others, but make sure it meets the NV5600 spec. GL4 or 5 will give problems.
Stick with the factory specs, they are there for a reason.
Additives are a waste of money in oil & gear lube.