The ultimate gear oil

It's time to get rid of the break-in stuff. What is the hands down best gear oil to use? Which brand? Synthetic? Weight? GL-4? Gl-5? It's going to be in there a long time so I want to get it right. It's been discussed here before but I couldn't find a clear cut answer. Thanks for your help.

EP 80W-90 hypoid light gear oil, if you're just street driving your car under normal wear and tear conditions and not abusing your tranny.
It's good for manual transmissions, especially older ones with spotty maintenance histories like mine. There's a web site called the Reluctant Mechanic that I've gone to for reference for quite some time, and the site walks you through the process:

http://www.reluctantmechanic.com/step-by-step/change_gearbox_oil.php

I think you'll find the site to be as easy to read and follow as John Muir's excellent book, and the photos are very in touch with the probable condition of the cars in which their process steps are applied. You won't find many -- if any -- photos of new, shiny car parts, and every photo is of the referenced process being performed on an "average" Bug.
(The author makes a number of right- and left-side references based on the placement of the driver's seat, but Paul Silver is a Brit. He's got the whole right-hand-drive thing going on. This is an easy one, though; shouldn't be confusing.)

If you use oil complying with the latest spec it supersedes the previous ones. So go for GL-5.

Okay, but is there one manufacturer that produces THE highest quality EP 80W-90 hypoid gear oil?

Royal Purple 80-90 weight Gear Oil!

kawika55

It

Everyone has a favorite source, and mine is BP. I don't know where it stands on the industry scale, but it's easy to find 'round here.

At any rate spring up for the synthetic or at least synthetic blend. There's no debate on whether to use synthetics on the air cooled VW transaxles as there is on the air cooled VW engines.

SWEPCO 201 hands down.