TDR Issue 57 was mailed from the printer during the week of July 30 - August 3, 2007.  Your copy should arrive shortly.  What's in Issue 57?  Let's start with the following directive that was sent to the TDR Writers:

For Issue 57, the theme will be coffee table/internet engineering. You know the kind: You get the Jegs/Summit/JC Whitney catalog and spread ‘em out on the table. You chose the biggest and the best cam, intake manifold, headers, carb, pistons and cylinder heads. The orders for parts arrive, and on the way back from the mailbox you sing a little Frank Sinatra, ‘I did it my way.’ 

The next stop is assembly. You work through some minor problems and the components are forced together. The moment of truth: It cranks and runs! Congratulations. 

Yes, it runs, but it runs like a dog. Would it have been better to consult someone with experience? Do you really believe all the stuff you read on the internet? 

Coffee table/internet engineering. Do you have any stories to tell? This should be fun.

Now you know the directive. As usual some of the writers used the theme, some did it. You’ll find their articles on this subject scattered throughout the magazine.
 
In addition to the staff's assignment, you will find these articles of interest in Issue 57:

- 2008 TDR Calendar Contest (UPDATE:  the calendar will be printed as we have found advertiser sponsors to offset the cost of printing)

- Timbren Suspension System installation by Bill Stockard.

- Wheels, tires and suspension upgrades by Doug Leno.

- 5.9 HPCR engine performance upgrades, Part 5, by Doug Leno.

- 6.7 engine overview by Joe Donnelly.

- A revisit of the best repair techniques for fixing the dowel pin on 12-valve engines.

- Analysis of lube oil (we added 13 more oils to our previous comparison of 8) and conclusions about the CJ specification of oil by John Martin.

- An article on a Mega Cab Long Bed Conversion.

With the TDR at 172 pages, you should be busy reading and not sweating the hot August sun.

Robert Patton
TDR Editor

Cummins/Valvoline Premium Blue CJ Oil
Analysis Results

Just an hour or so after we posted the article, CI-4 Plus Lube Oil Availability Problem?, we received the results for the CJ version of the Cummins/Valvoline Premium Blue CJ Oil.

The oil analysis for the CJ version of the Premium Blue product is posted as entry 22 on our Oil Analysis Chart.  (Click here to download updated .pdf version of Oil Analysis Chart).  Since the CI-4 plus Premium Blue was our entry 1 oil, it is easy to compare the two products.

If you compare it to the other CJ oils in our test, it is similar to the other CJ oils with its lack of TBN, calcium, phosphorus and zinc.

We don't think I need to call John Martin. Put this oil into the CJ bin known as "Ho-Hum/least favorite."

TDR Issue 57 is scheduled to be distributed as normal during the first two weeks of August.

Issue 57 has a six page follow-up to the lube oil analysis project that we started in Issue 56. We added 13 new lube oil samples for author John Martin to evaluate. The conclusion is that the new CJ lube oils are a compromise as they do not have the same additive package as the previous CI/CI-4 plus oils.

This is a TDR first. We are going to give you a .pdf file of the Issue 57 article on lube oils.You may want to immediately go shpping to stockpile the CI/CI-4 plus lube oil.The proper maintenance of your truck and solid, reliable information exchange are what the TDR is all about.

For a downloadable .pdf copy of this article, click here.

Time is of the essence?

Perhaps so. Please read the following e-mail from TDR Member Bill Downs and my response:

E-mail:

I thought you might find this interesting.In view of the articles by John Martin concerning oil specifications, my understanding of the Issue 54 article that the API CI-4 or CI-4 plus was to be available until 2009.I have had no luck finding any CI-4 and when I sent an e-mail to Valvoline, the answer did not address my question.I also got the same answer by telephoneL basically that the only thing available is CJ-4, and it is "backward compatible and just as good."Perhaps you and John Martin have done too good of a job educating the TDR audience.Where do we find CI or CI-4 plus lube oils?

Bill Downs
TDR Member

Our Response:

Bill, good question.I already had my exercise for the day, so I didn't want to jump to conclusions.Rather, it was time to get into the truck and go shopping.

Before I turned the key, I telephoned my local Cummins distributor to have him check his stock of Cummins Valvoline Premium Blue, 15W40.He confirmed what I found on a gallon jug purchased last Friday at Auto Zone.Very discreetly, "CJ" markings preceeded the CI at the top of the API donut.Oddly, the CI-4 plus mark was prevalently displayed at the donut.The part number (VV70509) for the jug did not change.Is this the same lube oil that did so well in the Issue 56 and 57 tests?We will find out as a sample was sent to the lab on July 11, 2007.

So I went shopping.  The first stop was Wally-World (WalMart). On their shelves, I found:

CI Oils:

Walmart Super Tech Universal (15W40)
Shell Rotella T Synthetic (5W40)

CJ Oils:

Shell Rotella T Triple Protection (15W40)
Mobil Delvac 1300 (15W40)
Castrol Tection (15W40)
Chevron Delo 400 LE (15W40)

The next stop, Advance Auto. On their shelves, I found:

CJ Oils:

Cummins/Valvoline Premium Blue (15W40)
Shell Rotella T Triple Protection (15W40)
Castrol Tection (15W40)
Motorcraft Super Duty (15W40)

CI Oils:

Chevron Delo 400 (15W40)
Castrol GTS (quarts only) (15W40)
Pennzoil Long Life (quarts only) (15W40)

And finally, from the NAPA store, I found:

CJ Oils:

NAPA Universal Fleet (15W40)

CI Oils:

Cummins/Valvoline Premium Blue Synthetic (5W40)

Observations:

The Cummins/Valvoline packaging was not the only one that was discreet.There were no packaging differences in the Castrol, Motorcraft, Mobil, or NAPA products.I guess they thought we would not notice?

Yes, availability of the CI/CI-4 plus lube oils is diminishing.I was in search of 10 gallons and purchased my town's entire CI stock.What will I do after three more oil changes?

By way of the Issue 57 lube oil article, we've given you some insight on the differences between the CI and CJ oils.By way of the TDR's website, we've alerted you to a potential problem with oil availability. Stay tuned for further developments.