SLS . . . A Brief History
SLS is a company that deals with high quality lubricants, filters and related products. While as a company we are only 10 years old, the AMSOIL product line is one of the oldest and most respected names in the synthetic lubricants industry. My name is Jim Tully and for more than 37 years I have been driving and maintaining my own vehicles. I started this company almost by accident.
Like many people of my generation, I learned to maintain my own vehicles out of necessity, I couldn't afford nice new cars and trucks. When I got a new vehicle, it was usually one with just under 100,000 miles on the odometer. Whenever these vehicles needed basic service be it preventative maintenance such as grease, oil and filter or basic repairs such as starters, water or fuel pumps, exhaust systems etc., they went into my "shop" (its normal outdoor parking spot) and I did the work.
From the beginning I was told "2,000 mile or 3 month oil and filter changes are the best thing you can do for your vehicle." For over 25 years I stuck to that routine. Oil was almost always a brand name, usually purchased by the case when on sale. I tried all of the major brands from Gulf Sapphire for my first car (that got about 100 miles per quart if I took it easy) through Arco Graphite, Castrol, Kendall, Quaker State, Sears, Sunoco, and Texaco to name a few. I also tried the various "additives" that were carried by the automotive and department stores. I even tried things that weren't available in the stores at the time. With all of the oils and additives I tried, I never found any significant difference in performance or fuel economy.
In 1976 I read an article by someone who had been testing synthetic oil. The author lived in the Chicago area, parked his vehicle outside year round and had gotten unbelievable results with this "new" product. He spoke of driving about 25,000 miles per year and never doing an oil change. (He was changing filters regularly, adding makeup oil and doing oil analysis). After 4 years and 100,000 miles, the engine was torn down for examination, found to be exceptionally clean, and they couldn't find any significant wear. (My opinion at the time, "Yeah, right. If you believe that I've got a bridge to sell you! )
As time went by, the family grew, the cars got a little better and became more numerous, I kept reading articles about synthetic oil, and I kept doing oil and filter changes every 2,000 miles.
1991 - Wife and two out of three kids with cars plus my own truck. Underneath at least one vehicle every month doing oil and filter (plus all the other needed maintenance).
Enter, a Prodigy Bulletin Board discussion on the pros and cons of synthetic lubricants.
By this time I was starting to feel that there must be a better way. I requested more information from one of the AMSOIL Dealers who had answered questions on the board, read through the information, several times, and still couldn't bring myself to switch. Old habits die hard. It took 6 more months and another New England winter to convince me to try synthetics.
I began by changing the transmission and differential in my "83" C-10 pickup. The results were significant. The truck was noticeably quieter and seemed to want to just keep going. The closest example I can give is the difference I felt when I first went from bias ply tires to radials (for those of you old enough to remember). An oil and filter change the next day finished that vehicle. Up to this point, the best fuel economy I had been able to get out of the 4.1 liter straight 6 was about 14.5 mpg. With the AMSOIL synthetic, the mileage immediately jumped to between 15.5 and 16 mpg and maintained that 1 to 1.5 mpg difference for the next 4 years that I owned it. Most of my driving at that time was short distance, stop and go which is not the best for efficiency. On one of my few highway trips, holding the speed between 55 and 60, I got almost 21 mpg. (That was an out and back run of 75 miles each way with about 5 hours between each leg. Truck was fueled at the beginning and at the end just to get an idea of what kind of mileage I was getting for that type of driving.)
Next was a complete change for my wife's 84 Olds Delta 88. She also noticed the difference in sound and improved mileage. The thing that eventually impressed her the most, the motor turned over like it was summer, even when the temperature was down in the 0ºF range.
Then it was my son's 88 Corolla. My daughter's car at the time had a leaking rear main seal so that one didn't get changed over.
Since then the kids have purchased newer vehicles, twice, and they have all been changed over to AMSOIL. In 96 when the kids bought a 93 and a 94, my wife and I "traded up" to their older 88 and 90 and in 99, I sold the 88 and went to a 97. That's 8 vehicles I have personally changed over to synthetic. Vehicle mileage at changeover has ranged from a low of 11,000 for the 94 to a high of 108,000 for the 84 Olds. Four of the vehicles had over 70,000 miles when changed.
Any problems changing higher mileage vehicles? The C-10 which had 72,000 at changeover, developed a leak at the valve cover gasket at about 80,000 miles. Gasket probably need replacement before the change and was being sealed by sludge and varnish buildup. The synthetic cleaned up the deposits and the gasket started leaking. The Olds had a slight valve cover leak at the time of the changeover. Since I didn't want to get into changing the gaskets at that time (getting lazy in my old age), I tightened the bolts in the covers to slow the leak. The leak stopped. When I sold the car in 96 with almost 145,000 miles on the odometer, it still wasn't leaking.
AMSOIL warrants their 5W-30, 10W-30 and 10W-40 motor oils for up to 25,000 miles or one year in non-turbo charged gasoline engine applications. That was one of the things I found hardest to accept, that an oil could stand up for that mileage and time. I won't get into the technical aspects of testing on this page but suffice it to say that over the last 8 years I have had numerous samples of oil analyzed (from small cars to heavy trucks) and the results show that AMSOIL is every bit as good as claimed. (AMSOIL now offers the XL-7500 oils which are warranted for 7,500 miles or 6 months, whichever comes first. These oils were introduced specifically for the lube shop owner who makes his or her living doing oil changes and for the consumer who just can't accept that an oil can remain serviceable for 25,000 miles.)
AMSOIL Lubricants last longer, increase fuel economy, reduce wear, and cost less to use in the long run. Couple that with their other benefits and I felt that it was a product I was interested in supporting. That's how SLS got started!
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