who makes rural king's 15w40 oil? it's way cheaper than even walmart...

[MHarryE]

If you really think because a brand name supplier makes the oil for someone it has to be good I have a swamp I will sell you for a good price. That's not to say your cheap oil won't do the job - depends on how hard you operate, how all the parts on your machine fit, and a whole bunch of other items. If all oils that met a spec were the same you would not find a major like Exxon-Mobil making 10 differing oils all that met the same spec but have varying costs. I've stated on here before that there have been some items on machines where we debated whether or not to ship sealed for life vs letting the customer change because the "meets spec as shown on the label" oil some use in a change is do bad, and then the customer wants warranty because his neighboring contractor who services with the best has much better "luck", only it isn't luck. Cheap oil - yes I've used it in my older equipment that leaks bad, but once the leaks are fixed it gets quality fluids. All of our newer equipment gets top grade and we don't have failures. My nephew who is caught in a bind where he farms with junk uses the cheap stuff and is lucky to have half of his tractor fleet operational at any time. He needs a large fleet of old tractors because some are always down. Is it fluids or just everything worn out? No way to tell. Do tractor brands like JD, NH, and Kubota jack up their prices? Of course, because they do not produce their own product - there is a middle man. Does a brand like Rural King have the same middle man markup? No, because they are buying the cheapest oil that meets the specs and do nothing with the oil supplier to develop specialties. And yes, in my years, I have worked with our lube group with suppliers selecting specific oils that will do the job even yo the point of having developed special place offerings. The Fisk us in the owner.

 

[Soundguy]

If you really think because a brand name supplier makes the oil for someone it has to be good I have a swamp I will sell you for a good price. That's not to say your cheap oil won't do the job - depends on how hard you operate, how all the parts on your machine fit, and a whole bunch of other items. If all oils that met a spec were the same you would not find a major like Exxon-Mobil making 10 differing oils all that met the same spec but have varying costs. I've stated on here before that there have been some items on machines where we debated whether or not to ship sealed for life vs letting the customer change because the "meets spec as shown on the label" oil some use in a change is do bad, and then the customer wants warranty because his neighboring contractor who services with the best has much better "luck", only it isn't luck. Cheap oil - yes I've used it in my older equipment that leaks bad, but once the leaks are fixed it gets quality fluids. All of our newer equipment gets top grade and we don't have failures. My nephew who is caught in a bind where he farms with junk uses the cheap stuff and is lucky to have half of his tractor fleet operational at any time. He needs a large fleet of old tractors because some are always down. Is it fluids or just everything worn out? No way to tell. Do tractor brands like JD, NH, and Kubota jack up their prices? Of course, because they do not produce their own product - there is a middle man. Does a brand like Rural King have the same middle man markup? No, because they are buying the cheapest oil that meets the specs and do nothing with the oil supplier to develop specialties. And yes, in my years, I have worked with our lube group with suppliers selecting specific oils that will do the job even yo the point of having developed special place offerings. The Fisk us in the owner.

I think the numbers in the last post speak for themselves. 'quality' oil may be better called 'expensive' oil.

As for 'meets specs'.

If the equipment maker wants 'better' oil in their machine.. then they need o raise those 'specs' they print out.. then when they say "meets specs" it will be a higher bar to shoot at.

For some reason they don't though. HMM..

 

[WilliamBos]

YES! Because they are not sponsoring race cars and running ads in glossy magazines like the name brands are, and spending gobs of money in marketing nonsense to convince you to buy it! But let's take a look....

PQIA analysis of RK 15w40

Rural King SAE 15W-4 API CJ-4/SM Heavy Duty Diesel

PQIA analysis of Rotella T3 15w40

Petroleum Quality Institute of America

PQIA analysis of Delo 400 15w40

Petroleum Quality Institute of America

And PQIA analysis of Delvac 1300 15w40

Petroleum Quality Institute of America

Rural King 15w40 holds it's own quite nicely compared to these name brands. Check the numbers out for yourself.

I'd also guess they don't have any real skin in the game. Don't own refineries, doing drill, don't frack, no R&D.

 

[RickB]

I'd also guess they don't have any real skin in the game. Don't own refineries, doing drill, don't frack, no R&D.

And possibly using less expensive additive packages. A significant part of the cost of engine oil.

 

[Copperhead]

Compare the add packs on the different analysis I posted. Very similar. Is there a less expensive zinc, moly, phosphorus, calcium, etc that they are using? Hardly. Most add packs are made by two companies in America... Infineum and Lubrizol. Virtually every motor oil on the market uses add packs from those two companies. Slight variations in additive component amounts, but still basically the same stuff.

Shell makes the bulk of conventional Group II and Group II+ conventional base oil for the N.American market in their Port Arthur, TX mega refinery. Mobil does most of the Group IV PAO synthetic for the market, and Chevron developed and is the leading supplier of Group III synthetic base oils. Now Shell has jumped into the NG to liquid oil game in spades. They command that market. No matter the label on the jug, motor oil is a complex blend and there is no one company that makes everything that is in that jug. Warren oil, who blends RK oil, gets all of it's stuff from the same companies as anyone else. I have hauled to Warren before and seen first hand what they are getting. Warren is one of the largest motor oil blenders in the country.

Why waste a bunch of money in actually making and developing the components when you can get them from the original sources and blend them yourself at less cost than doing it all yourself? Even engine makers get engine components from others that specialize in components. For instance, Lear makes valves for Ford engines and gears for GM transmissions, and probably more. Neapco makes a significant portion of CV axles and joints for drive trains for all the American vehicle OEM's. I have hauled all these items to various engine, transmission, and assembly plants. Lear also makes seats for ford trucks. For a long time, John Deere was the primary supplier of engine blocks to Detroit Diesel. Hauled them also. Why would Ford waste time making a component when they can get it made to their specs by someone else cheaper? Same for motor oil components and just about anything you buy.

Even Amsoil is just a blender of stuff they get from others. Mobil supplies most of their PAO Group IV synthetic base oil. They get the lion's share of their add packs from the same two companies I mentioned. Maybe tweaked a little, but still the same stuff. Amsoil makes virtually nothing themselves. They buy it, blend it, and charge an arm and a leg for it.

I think folks would be surprised at the amount of recycled/re-refined base oil that is actually used throughout the marketplace. There are several companies who specialize in doing this and that base oil is used by a number of blenders, even in their supposed "new" motor oils.

 

[WilliamBos]

And possibly using less expensive additive packages. A significant part of the cost of engine oil.

You've spent some time wrenching in the dealer's. Over the years I'd bet you've seen the result of 'meets' spec vs 'exceeds'' spec. Some of these cheaper oils list outdated specs on the back of their bottles.

 

[buickanddeere]

Low ash oil that meets the anti wear specs. Otherwise engines and exhaust treatment systems will be bunged up with deposits.
Two Stoke diesels have always required low ash oil.

 

[RickB]

You've spent some time wrenching in the dealer's. Over the years I'd bet you've seen the result of 'meets' spec vs 'exceeds'' spec. Some of these cheaper oils list outdated specs on the back of their bottles.

I have, and within the last two weeks read an analysis of oil drained from my 2004 GMC 5.3L with a 1 year/2100 mile drain interval. Long story, but for the first time in its life it had auto parts store branded 5W-30 oil dumped in it in March 2015. No excess wear metals or contaminants, but the oil was significantly low on viscosity at essentially 1/3 of its mileage life. Needless to say it won't be getting cheap oil again.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I have, and within the last two weeks read an analysis of oil drained from my 2004 GMC 5.3L with a 1 year/2100 mile drain interval. Long story, but for the first time in its life it had auto parts store branded 5W-30 oil dumped in it in March 2015. No excess wear metals or contaminants, but the oil was significantly low on viscosity at essentially 1/3 of its mileage life. Needless to say it won't be getting cheap oil again.

Sounds like fuel dilution to me, not the oil.

Chris

 

[RickB]

Sounds like fuel dilution to me, not the oil.

Chris[/QUOTE

Fuel dilution was right at 1%.

It's a lube oil thread. One of the top three biggest wastes of bandwidth on the internet. Nobody convinces anyone of anything. And I don't know why I am involved. I really don't care what anyone else uses, and don't plan on changing my mind about what I use.