What Alternatives to AC Diamond Drive Gear Oil???

joel97mustang · May 8, 2012

Hey guys looking for input on what alternatives I can use to Arctic Cat Diamond Drive gear oil for my 2011 M8

Here's the challenge it must be cheaper than AC or BDX $15 for 15 ounces and easily accessible to the Wetcoast (Seattle). The shipping from back east is almost as much as the oil.

ALSO What alternative can I use to FLUSH the ACT drive other than the AC Flush Fluid $6 for 6 ounces and $14 for shipping.

Any help would be awesome.

m8magicandmystery · May 8, 2012

heck..flush it with almost anything...atf...cheap lite oil...diesal...
for the lube i use castrol synthetic 75/90..

sledheadjake · May 8, 2012

Hydralic fliud 10w dirt cheap and can get anywhere

Vertical-Extreme · May 8, 2012

flush with diesel, and fill with amsoil chaincase / gear lube. it is a direct replacement for cat dd fluid

Spankey99 · May 9, 2012

Vertical-Extreme said:
flush with diesel, and fill with amsoil chaincase / gear lube. it is a direct replacement for cat dd fluid

Is it really? I was told not to from a member on here awhile back.

diggerdown · May 9, 2012

There is a very long list of lubes guys have used with success. Everything from marvel mystery oil, syn. atf, hydraulic oil, engine oil, to heavy weight gear oils. I ran syn. atf for 1000 miles and everything looked like new yet. I do usually run in pretty cold conditions. Your area does not get very cold so a heavier weight oil would work fine.

backcountryislife · May 9, 2012

I've heard a ton of options over the years, I use syncroshift I think it is, from BG... but it's not any cheaper than the BDX bottle unless you're JUST getting the bottle shipped.

I always order an extra bottle when I'm getting some other part from BDX, that way I'm not having to ship one to me at the last minute.

Vertical-Extreme · May 9, 2012

Spankey99 said:
Is it really? I was told not to from a member on here awhile back.

It is, if I have time I will dig up the info for ya

Coldfinger · May 9, 2012

Flush I'd use diesel.

Oil I'd be comfortable using Amsoil Chaincase, or, a GL4-5 rated 80wt gear oil.

I say GL4 because without that rating you may have additional risk of doing harm to "yellow" metals in there and there are gear oils rated GL4-GL5.
GL5 is not backward compatible with GL4.

Now, gear oil weight, I've read that an 80-90 gear oil is more like a 40 weight motor oil, so the 80 number shouldn't scare you too much.

Gear oil smells bad because it has additives for high pressure situations.

joel97mustang · May 9, 2012

DD Drive Fluid Alternative

Any thoughts on Royal Purple Syncromax 01512:face-icon-small-con

http://www.royalpurple.com/products/synchromax-manual-transmission-fluid/

I spoke with the Royal Purple Rep showed him the AMSOIL Synthetic Chaincase & Gear Oil, ARTIC CAT ACT Reverse gearcase fluid, and a picture of the DD Lite on BDX's website. He suggested that Royal Purple Syncromax would exceed my requirements for heavy snowmobile usage.

I found AMERICAN MUSCLE has a quart bottle (32 fl. ounces) for 13.99 plus free delivery.

http://www.americanmuscle.com/royal-purple-synchromax-manual-transmission-fluid.html

Looking to save every penny where I can to fill my gas tank at 4.65 a gallon

Thanks

makaio · May 9, 2012

joel97mustang said:
Looking to save every penny where I can to fill my gas tank at 4.65 a gallon

Amen!

MT Backcountry · May 9, 2012

Amsoil

I used 80/90W Amsoil gear lube, Full sythetic and have for about 5-6 years and no failures at all 3000 miles+.
:face-icon-small-coo

Vertical-Extreme · May 9, 2012

here is a link to the Amsoil product:
http://www.amsoil.com/storefront/tcc.aspx

Paul27 · May 9, 2012

I decided to use Amsoil Synthetic EP Chaincase Lube, TCCCN-CA, which is dealer priced at $75 for a case of six 16 oz bottles ($12.50 each), plus tax and shipping. Like the BDX lube, it seems overpriced. However, I purchased with little concern for price.

Did some research a while back, before deciding to use Amsoil. Some of the recommended lubes in the attachments include comments from other DD owners, not me.

I don't flush with anything, because it could contaminate the oil. If you have a bearing going bad, no flush in the world is going to remove the shrapnel. You have to tear down your DD and manually clean the nooks and crannies.

Good Luck!

sledtahoe · May 9, 2012

yes

sledheadjake said:
Hydralic fliud 10w dirt cheap and can get anywhere

If you want to save cash like he said. The tractors use it in transmissions so flush and fill about 12 bucks a gallon..

joel97mustang · May 10, 2012

Alternative Act Drive Gear Oil

Some nice alternative, thanks to everyone for the advice.

While looking for alternatives it turns out COUNTRY CAT sells a 1 gallon jug of ACT Drive Fluid - Part #5639-632 for 55.24 + 14.95 shipping Total 70.19

http://www.countrycat.net/pages/CustomCatalog/Product/33630

128 ounces divided by 15 ounces = 8.5 fluid changes

$70.19 divided by 8.5 = $8.25 for 1 ACT Drive Gear Change. SWEET!!:face-icon-small-hap

joel97mustang · May 10, 2012

Nice work Paul 27!

sledtahoe · May 11, 2012

same

joel97mustang said:
Some nice alternative, thanks to everyone for the advice.

While looking for alternatives it turns out COUNTRY CAT sells a 1 gallon jug of ACT Drive Fluid - Part #5639-632 for 55.24 + 14.95 shipping Total 70.19

http://www.countrycat.net/pages/CustomCatalog/Product/33630

128 ounces divided by 15 ounces = 8.5 fluid changes

$70.19 divided by 8.5 = $8.25 for 1 ACT Drive Gear Change. SWEET!!:face-icon-small-hap

There was someone that tested the act oil and it came back as hydralic 10w so if you want to spend the $$70 go ahead , but the stuff cost 12 bucks a gallon for napa hydro oil..

Paul27 · May 13, 2012

This is what BDX wrote 12/9/2007:

BD-Xtreme said:
The only 2 approved oils for the Diamond Drive are Arctic Cat and Black Diamond Xtreme. There are extra additives in the Cat and BDX oil for the high speed/pressure of the planetary. I am SURE there are other oils that will work fine, just not sure what they are. BDX

12/19/2007:

BD-Xtreme said:
The only approved oils (by AC) are the AC and BD oils. They have additives for the high pressure/speed of the planetary. Please do not ask what additive, as I do not know what they are, I am sure I can find out though. Again, I am not trying to sell anything just an FYI. I am sure there are oils that meet or exceed OEM specs, I am not sure which ones. Is it worth it though? $5.95 for a DD without reverse for an oil change, once a season or every 1500 miles? Or $12.95 with reverse? Mike, BDX

3/28/2008:

BD-Xtreme said:
I can speak for the Diamond Drive, change oil once per season at the end of the season or every 1500 miles. Mike, BDX

11/15/2008:

BD-Xtreme said:
There's been alot of discussion on the threads about what oil to use in the Diamond Drive gearbox's. I appreciate the responses that have been made but I would like to clarify the issue. We have tested many types (including hydraulic, ATF, different grade transmission oils) for 2 years during the testing phase of the gearbox from 2000 to 2002. The only oil that made it through the duration testing (5,000 miles) was the oil that Arctic Cat and Black Diamond sell. It was specifically blended to meet all the stringent requirements that this gearbox can encounter. I know that other oils will work for a period of time and may look better but the additives that are in the DD oil for the high load and RPM of the planet gears are a must if you want maximum life. The planetary gears can spin up to 40,000 RPM during high speeds. I know the oil is a bit spendy but for $6.00 a year it's very good insurance. Thanks for listening. My professional advise is to get the oil from Arctic Cat or Black Diamond and have fun riding! Ray

3/7/2009:

BD-Xtreme said:
Just an FYI;
04' - 06' Diamond Drive Non-Reverse 3oz
07' - 01/31/09 BDX Diamond Lite Drive 4oz
02/01/09 - UP BDX Diamond Lite Drive 5oz
07' - 08' Diamond Drive Mechanical Reverse 12oz
09' - UP Diamond Drive Engine Reverse 15oz
Definitly use Cat or BDX oil, took 2 years in development, pressures of the planitatry, anti-foaming etc. I am sure there are many other qualified oils out there, just do not know which ones. Mike, BDX

silverram323 · Dec 2, 2012

Use can use the oil in my signature.

What Alternatives to AC Diamond Drive Gear Oil???

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