Here comes the debate: What's the best transmission fluid to use in a '64 F-85?
Just use the latest Dexron, which is Dexron III. For all intents and purposes, automatic transmission fluid is hydraulic fluid. For most uses, Dexron is the best hydraulic fluid. As an example, the boom, steering, and transmission hydraulics on all CASE construction equipment use Dexron. I would estimate nearly 100% of all U.S. Military hydraulic systems used on the land and sea are Dexron filled. Aircraft systems are a little different to withstand the cold of high altitude.
When I worked as a test engineer at Dart Truck Company in Kansas City, MO, in the last part of the '70's, I first learned about the extensive use of Dexron for hydraulic systems and power transmissions other than pure passenger car and truck. Later at Pitman Manufacturing in Grandview, MO, a maker of truck mounted cranes and manned aerial lifts, Dexron was the only hydraulic fluid used. At the UofA in Tucson as a R&D aerospace engineer, I discovered Dexron being the main choice in non-flying applications for the military and NASA. Dexron is a very unique and versatile hydraulic fluid.
If you had a very high performance car with a very modified automatic transmission, then the only fluid to use would be B&M Trick Shift, but Trick Shift will actually cause premature wear in a stock automatic transmission made in the last 15 years, due to the way the shift points are designed to operate. The Trick Shift will force instant hard shifts which the internal design will not like. Build the transmission to racing standards, then the problem is eliminated. Stock automatics prior to 1990 do not have that problem with Trick Shift.
Ford Type F has been used in GM automatics in the same way as B&M Trick Shift, but I would rather use the Trick Shift, due to other desirable properties and additives that Ford Type F doesn't have.
Milton Schick 1964 442 Cutlass [EMAIL PROTECTED]
