AmsOil Gear Lube vs Mercury Racing vs Torco

[FROGMAN524]

My Hallett has IMCO SCX uppers with XR Sportmaster lowers built by IMCO to SC spec. They have the largest prop shafts available. IMCO recommends Torco, Mercury Racing recommends Mercury Racing and I am wanting to try Amsoil. Anybody see a problem with the Amsoil marine gear lube? It's 1/3rd the price of the Mercury Racing 85W-90 as shown below and half the price of the Torco. Will change out every 20-25 hours regardless of use.

 

[River Dirt 2]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TTLNLYG?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

SCX upper SC lower

 

[HST4ME]

Rev x or redline shockproof.

 

[CLdrinker]

If the people who built the drive recommended something I would go with that.

 

[Ace in the Hole]

My Hallett has IMCO SCX uppers with XR Sportmaster lowers built by IMCO to SC spec. They have the largest prop shafts available. IMCO recommends Torco, Mercury Racing recommends Mercury Racing and I am wanting to try Amsoil. Anybody see a problem with the Amsoil marine gear lube? It's 1/3rd the price of the Mercury Racing 85W-90 as shown below and half the price of the Torco. Will change out every 20-25 hours regardless of use.

View attachment 1356523 View attachment 1356524 View attachment 1356525

I’ve used AMSoil once… It was the last time the smell was god awful and I never had tailpipe smoke in that vehicle until then. Switching back to factory recommended brand cause that SUV to be back to normal with no smoke. I don’t know about their gear oil but I was a one and done

 

[HST4ME]

If the people who built the drive recommended something I would go with that.

Ask people who fix the drives what to use.

 

[RichL]

If the people who built the drive recommended something I would go with that.

OP...If you experience a drive failure and aren't using the recommended gear oil, then what?

 

[Jonas Grumby]

Use the torco. IMCO did a lot of testing, and temps stayed the lowest with it.

 

[FROGMAN524]

OP...If you experience a drive failure and aren't using the recommended gear oil, then what?

I think warranty ended as soon as I left the shop with it.

 

[FROGMAN524]

Use the torco. IMCO did a lot of testing, and temps stayed the lowest with it.

That’s what I’ve been using. Guess I’ll keep using it.

 

[HALLETT BOY]

This is what I use in my SCX , Imco recommends it

 

[Boat 405]

This is what I use in my SCX , Imco recommends it View attachment 1356566

Same here. I change oil in my drive every 20 hrs. Always looks brand new

 

[DarkHorseRacing]

Agreed, the Torco RTF here as well. SCX upper and lower.

If you are questioning costs of drive lube, you should question whether you want to pay for a new drive instead with all the money you saved on ignoring the manufacturer's recommendation.

Drive and engine are pretty critical to happy boating.

 

[HALLETT BOY]

Same here. I change oil in my drive every 20 hrs. Always looks brand new

My first service was about 25hrs , fluid came out like new , next service was maybe 50hrs , still came out like new , smell and color .

 

[FROGMAN524]

Agreed, the Torco RTF here as well. SCX upper and lower.

If you are questioning costs of drive lube, you should question whether you want to pay for a new drive instead with all the money you saved on ignoring the manufacturer's recommendation.

Drive and engine are pretty critical to happy boating.

Adrian Barrett used Merc last time he serviced it. Before that I had been using Torco when doing it myself.

 

[FROGMAN524]

And this is the cheapest I’ve seen at or I. Last time I bought from them, when they were called supercharged Motorsports, in 2020, it was $300 for 5 gallons of Torco RTF.

 

[DarkHorseRacing]

Adrian Barrett used Merc last time he serviced it. Before that I had been using Torco when doing it myself.

View attachment 1356595

That’s odd then. You should ask him why.

 

[rivrrts429]

And this is the cheapest I’ve seen at or I. Last time I bought from them, when they were called supercharged Motorsports, in 2020, it was $300 for 5 gallons of Torco RTF.

View attachment 1356596

Oil is cheap when you really think about the consequences without it.

I was spending that every weekend of use with my blower motors.

 

[Desert Whaler]

??? . . .

Marine Gear Oil SAE 80W-90 M8 – Lucas Oil Products, Inc. – Keep That Engine Alive!

www.lucasoil.com

or synthetic . . .

Synthetic M8 Marine Gear Oil (75-90) [5-gal./18.93-Liter. Pail] 10664

Shop Lucas M8 Synthetic SAE 75W-90 Marine Gear Oil. Non-foaming, long-lasting lubricant for marine applications. Protects from rust and wear. Perfect for stern drives, gear boxes, and more.

www.evolubesupply.com

 

[FROGMAN524]

That’s odd then. You should ask him why.

I guess I could call him this week and ask.

 

[FROGMAN524]

update:

I spoke with a tech at BCM and he said that IMCO no longer recommends Torco, but Torco makes Imco a private label knock off of the mercury high-performance 85W-90 oil.

Next, I called and spoke to Fred at IMCO and he said that I could use whatever 85W-90 oil I want as long as I stick with it and flush out the old oil so the additives don’t mix. He also said the SCX runs so cool that it doesn’t really matter and that Bob Teague swears by Amsoil so that’s what I’m going to use.

 

[HST4ME]

Torco makes the oil for maocury, it's not a knock off.

Torco, Rev x, Alisyn, and redline are top of the heap , I had a bad go around with amsoil some years back and fuck that trunk slammer brand.

 

[tx-19]

update:

I spoke with a tech at BCM and he said that IMCO no longer recommends Torco, but Torco makes Imco a private label knock off of the mercury high-performance 85W-90 oil.

Next, I called and spoke to Fred at IMCO and he said that I could use whatever 85W-90 oil I want as long as I stick with it and flush out the old oil so the additives don’t mix. He also said the SCX runs so cool that it doesn’t really matter and that Bob Teague swears by Amsoil so that’s what I’m going to use.

I’ve been using amsoil for years ,I was also told to add some Lucas oil stabilizer to it to so it sticks to gears better.that’s what max machine told me to do

 

[HALLETT BOY]

Torco makes the oil for maocury, it's not a knock off.

Torco, Rev x, Alisyn, and redline are top of the heap , I had a bad go around with amsoil some years back and fuck that trunk slammer brand.

What does “ Trunk slammer brand “ mean ?

 

[Sharp Shooter]

Torco for the win.

 

[SJP]

I use Amsoil in everything but my merc racing products.

 

[OCMerrill]

I used Torco in my Sebring. I over-revved that drive with the engine I had in the boat back in 2005. That small block would sit at 6k all day long.
Never broke that one.

I use Lucas M8 in my Sterling. In that boat performance is like sitting on a couch.

 

[Chili Palmer]

What does “ Trunk slammer brand “ mean ?

It means a guy who sells shit out of his trunk - almost like the Fuller Brush man (if you were born after 1975 you probably wouldn’t get that reference).

 

[DarkHorseRacing]

I know nothing about Amsoil other than Bob Teague switched from promoting Red Line Oil to Amsoil, and now Gale Banks makes a big deal about Amsoil too.

Obviously there’s some financial kickback on the endorsements, but seriously, if that product was crap and negatively affected what they sell, they wouldn’t be saying to use it. Can’t be that bad.

Having said that though, I’d be more comfortable with Red Line than Amsoil as we raced it for years and eventually got sponsored by Red Line, and it never let us down, even when we lost an oil line. That’s more of just good history with RL than no history with Amsoil.

None of our Teague engines were “factory fill” with Amsoil. Barrett just uses Merc Racing Synth blend when doing the oil changes, and that was just what they used when I originally wanted something different.

 

[02HoWaRd26]

That’s odd then. You should ask him why.

AJ uses Mercury parts and fluid exclusively.

 

[Outdrive1]

Nobody does more R and D than Mercury. Not sure why you’d use anything else.

 

[FROGMAN524]

Nobody does more R and D than Mercury. Not sure why you’d use anything else.

3 times the money for no apparent reason. If someone could site a real reason and not conjecture, I’d appreciate it.

 

[PRIMO]

TORCO
MTF 1000 HP or LESS
RTF ABOVE 1000 HP

 

[Desert Whaler]

I'm a Valvoline Guy . . . .

 

[ToMorrow44]

I always ran Amsoil in my TCM XR drive behind an 825 and never had an issue so always stuck with it.

 

[ToMorrow44]

update:

I spoke with a tech at BCM and he said that IMCO no longer recommends Torco, but Torco makes Imco a private label knock off of the mercury high-performance 85W-90 oil.

Next, I called and spoke to Fred at IMCO and he said that I could use whatever 85W-90 oil I want as long as I stick with it and flush out the old oil so the additives don’t mix. He also said the SCX runs so cool that it doesn’t really matter and that Bob Teague swears by Amsoil so that’s what I’m going to use.

That’s good to know. I thought I heard that IMCO had some issues with the clutches in the SCX and that’s why they always used Torco RTF but I may be remembering that wrong.