Rotella T4 vs T6

[blee03]

T4 - Spring, Summer, Fall
T6 - Winter

T6 has been hard to come by around here.
I had to switch to Valvoline Premium Blue 5W-40 last winter, going to look for some T6 today

 

[ras5309]

Keep in mind that T6 is a synthetic (cracked from natural Gas of all things) and T4 is a semi synthetic (T6 base stocks plus conventional petro based oils).

T6 is full synthetic. T4 is conventional. T5 is semi synthetic.

I switched to Valvoline Blue full synthetic 5W40 in my truck & tractor and like it. I've always used Valvoline in all my other non-diesel apps & it's always been excellent. I feel like Shell kinda dumped on all us regular guys when they were only selling to fleets and we couldn't get it.

 

[blee03]

I feel like Shell kinda dumped on all us regular guys when they were only selling to fleets and we couldn't get it.

So that's that happened eh? I thought it was just a general shortage.
I was wondering why I couldn't find this anywhere last year...

 

[FERLING]

Doing my 250 hour service on my Branson. Went to O'Riley's to get some oil.
Rotella T6. 1 gal for $76
Rotella T4 1 gal for $22

I walked out with the T4. T6 can't be 3 times better.

T6 is made for people that stretch out their oil changes or put a lot of hours on equipment quickly. Most people that change once a year with less hours that oil change recommends will do just fine with T4.

 

[5030]

Never been an issue here T6. I buy it in 55 gallon drums, same deal with hydraulic fluid. Far as change intervals on either, I go by what my Blackstone oil analysis tells me. The larger quantity you buy the less it costs and I realize that a 55 gallon drum of lubricant is a pretty big investment but I use a lot. Buy my grease the same way, 150 pound open head drums.

No issues with disposal either. Have a Kleen Burn in the shop so all that gets recycled is the antifreeze.

 

[5030]

T6 is full synthetic. T4 is conventional. T5 is semi synthetic.

I switched to Valvoline Blue full synthetic 5W40 in my truck & tractor and like it. I've always used Valvoline in all my other non-diesel apps & it's always been excellent. I feel like Shell kinda dumped on all us regular guys when they were only selling to fleets and we couldn't get it.

Don't impact me at all. All I use is T6 anyway.

 

[Username Taken]

T6 is made for people that stretch out their oil changes or put a lot of hours on equipment quickly. Most people that change once a year with less hours that oil change recommends will do just fine with T4.

T4 is a good oil. A very good oil.

T6 is an order of magnitude better.

T4 is best suited for those who start their tractor/truck once a day and don't shut it off until the Sun goes down. T6 is for the rest of us.

Valvoline Premium Blue Extreme 5w-40 syn used to be factory fill from Ram in their Cummins. Years ago, seems guys running them in the Canadian Oil fields (where they're very popular) were having trouble starting brand new $75k trucks at 30 below zero and they weren't happy. So Ram made the switch.

I think they're all recommending 10W-30 dino now. So that must be their factory fill. It for darn sure isn't because it's better oil. It isn't. No way. They're just saving money because..... I guess because they can. I suspect somebody got them all together and said, "Let's screw the consumer. It's just so easy."

 

[ras5309]

Don't impact me at all. All I use is T6 anyway.

Me too, until I couldn't get it. Still not a certainty here. Might find some, might not.

 

[ras5309]

So that's that happened eh? I thought it was just a general shortage.
I was wondering why I couldn't find this anywhere last year...

I think it was partly (or completely) because of the shortage & supply chain issues. I got it from their website last year when it disappeared off the shelves. Said they were only doing bulk sales. I signed up for the email that would say "when it is available in my area again". Still waiting for it.

 

[TractorTYMe]

I use Rotella T6 5w40 year round in MT, I have had a substantial cache so the shortage of oil wasn't an issue unless it lasted years. I had enough for 5+ oil changes, works good for me since I use mine for snow removal in winter and it is cold. I use a block heater below 20F just to have less wear on engine on cold starts, replaced block heater once already and have one spare on hand.