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Greetings everyone! Let me preface this with I was a die hard "T6 or bust" guy for years... ever since I got my company trucks in 2010. For the sake of this thread and discussion, it’s a 6 truck fleet of all 6.0 Powerstrokes (four are 2006, two are 2007) and those of you in here who know how picky they are with oils, you know this also makes it a great test bed for new products. Triax isn't necessarily new, but they were a new brand to me. As I’ve mentioned, I always just bought bulk Rotella T6 for all of the trucks (and even some of my little gas vehicles like my Hyundai accent - YES, I KNOW about the cats, etc.) and used it, changing oil religiously every 7500-7800 miles. I always also used the genuine OEM Motorcraft FL2016 filters. Now on to the good stuff… I stumbled upon triax by accidently misspelling one of my searches into amazon and bam – there it was. Who is this mysterious stranger offering a 5 gallon pail shipped to the door for under $120? Further research led me to their product data PDF and then I really began the side by side comparisons. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised to see how their TBN and additive package met or exceeded their industry peers. One thing was immediately clear: This 5w40 Fleet Supreme ESP has the Rotella T6 customer base in its crosshairs. I took the plunge. A few days later there was two glorious pails on my dock and in came one ’06 and one ’07 truck for an oil change. The oil came out of the pail a beautiful rich golden color and is MUCH more of a rich color than the T6 I was used to using (yes, I know that color doesn’t amount to a hill of beans). I assume the color differences is due to the enhanced additive package, particularly the high quantities of Molybdenum and/or Boron. The T6 was drained, and a Blackstone kit was filled from each truck. This is being done specifically so I can have a side by side comparison when I drain the Triax in a few months. The trucks were filled to the proper level with the Fleet Supreme and with a flick of the wrist both trucks sprang to life with their new blood. Both trucks were immediately running at a significantly lower volume… not the exhaust note, but a distinct reduction in rocker noise, injector spool valve clacking- overall lower engine bay volume. The REAL test of all of this is not this immediate change but how long it stays that way due to the murderous shearing of the high-pressure oil pumps in my beloved 6.0 powerstrokes.
After a few days of some <30F starts, I can say I do feel the trucks MAY be starting a hair “quicker” than with the previous lubricant. I would note it as “faster to get all cylinders igniting evenly” although this happens in a matter of seconds. For the record, the trucks are all maintained with OEM injectors which are all measured to be extremely close in operation on a cylinder contribution test with the intent of not blaming anything on the oil that is the fault of imbalanced injectors.
One thing I do want to bring up is that the oil does not have the API starburst and does not appear to be officially API approved. This however, is not going to deter me from putting it to the test and to get an analysis done so I can determine for myself how this oil stands up in our 6.0 trucks. This also doesn't mean this is a poor quality oil or anything else negative, it simply means they didn't spend money and time on the approval process. I'll let my experience, empirical evidence, and Blackstone be what determines if this is a quality lubricant. So far, I'm sticking with "excellent quality".
A note on the API approval directly from Triax in an email correspondence with me:
"The reason why we do not have some of our products API approved is because of the heavy modifications which went into them. Mostly the use of esters and moly / boron combination, plus a higher grade VI improver. API certifies only pre-approved formulations. It costs only 4000 USD per year to get an API approval for a run of the mill formulation, which can be bought from any additive manufacturer. If those formulations change in any way (they dont care if you make it better), you have to pay API to approve it (300,000 to 500,000 USD per fluid per grade). People really forget that API is a business like any other business and API performance standards are really not that great compared to some of the OEM specs, especially Volvo VDS-4.5 / 4, MAN 3575, etc.
99% of the API approved motor oils on the market are cookie cutter formulas bought from one of the 5 major additive manufactures and blended into the oil. Essentially, users buy the same oil under hundreds of brand names. These formulations are pre-approved by the additive maker and sold to all their blender customers.
We do not do this, never have and never will."
After a few days of some <30F starts, I can say I do feel the trucks MAY be starting a hair “quicker” than with the previous lubricant. I would note it as “faster to get all cylinders igniting evenly” although this happens in a matter of seconds. For the record, the trucks are all maintained with OEM injectors which are all measured to be extremely close in operation on a cylinder contribution test with the intent of not blaming anything on the oil that is the fault of imbalanced injectors.
One thing I do want to bring up is that the oil does not have the API starburst and does not appear to be officially API approved. This however, is not going to deter me from putting it to the test and to get an analysis done so I can determine for myself how this oil stands up in our 6.0 trucks. This also doesn't mean this is a poor quality oil or anything else negative, it simply means they didn't spend money and time on the approval process. I'll let my experience, empirical evidence, and Blackstone be what determines if this is a quality lubricant. So far, I'm sticking with "excellent quality".
A note on the API approval directly from Triax in an email correspondence with me:
"The reason why we do not have some of our products API approved is because of the heavy modifications which went into them. Mostly the use of esters and moly / boron combination, plus a higher grade VI improver. API certifies only pre-approved formulations. It costs only 4000 USD per year to get an API approval for a run of the mill formulation, which can be bought from any additive manufacturer. If those formulations change in any way (they dont care if you make it better), you have to pay API to approve it (300,000 to 500,000 USD per fluid per grade). People really forget that API is a business like any other business and API performance standards are really not that great compared to some of the OEM specs, especially Volvo VDS-4.5 / 4, MAN 3575, etc.
99% of the API approved motor oils on the market are cookie cutter formulas bought from one of the 5 major additive manufactures and blended into the oil. Essentially, users buy the same oil under hundreds of brand names. These formulations are pre-approved by the additive maker and sold to all their blender customers.
We do not do this, never have and never will."
