I've followed off and on the whole RP vs. Amsoil debate and as I've seen in many other threads here I'm not looking to "start another oil war"

My dealer is going to be changing my oil this Tuesday(free for life of my truck, one less thing I have to do). I'm probably going to give RP a whirl because I hear from someone I work with my local Walmart supposedly carries it and I don't have time to wait for Amsoil to be shipped to me.

I currently have 45K on my truck and am consuming a little oil. Which grade RP should I go with, stick with 5W-30? Temp range where I live is all over the map depending on the season, I don't tow and I do a mix of city and highway driving.

On filters, is it imperative to get a RP filter or just stick with the standard oil filter I get from the dealer?

Thanks

The RP 5W-30 will work just fine. I'd recommend the Purolator Pure-1 filter if you're going to buy one locally (great filtration for half the price of the Mobil 1 filter).

05 Was spec'd for 5W-20 not 5W-30 just FYI. However, that was not for any mechanical reason like 06+ with MDS. You can run 5W-30 and be fine if that is what you want to run. Same engine in 05 as 03 and 04.

RP is a good choice. Amsoil would be a good choice too. Heck, most any name brand synthetic is a good choice. I will tell you a really good one to consider if you have a PepBoys near you and that is Kendall GT1( made by Conoco ). It is EXCELLENT oil if cost and availability is important to you and you are not after extended drain intervals( I would run the Kendall to 7500 no sweat but not much longer ).

It is $4.99 a qt at PepBoys normal price and they are always offering deals on it. Most recent was 5qts with a house brand filter for $19.99. You can't beat that. Penzoil, Valvoline, Mobil 1, and Quaker State at Wal-Mart in bulk jugs are hard to beat price wise. From what I have seen RP sold at Wal-Mart is no bargain however.

I personally like RP and think you will be very happy with it. Just understand however if you are using oil now swapping to RP or Amsoil won't cure it and might even make it worse if all you have run to now is conventional oil. Once in a while you will find an engine that uses more of brand A oil than brand B oil but usually it is a sign of some internal issue( valve guides, piston rings, head gasket, valve cover gasket, rear main seal, etc... )and is not oil related. Just don't be disappointed if swapping to any brand of oil fails to stop oil usage. Swapping an engine that uses conventional oil over to synthetic oil "usually" results in an increase in consumption not a decrease. Just FYI. That is not set in stone but is what normally happens.

As to filters. If you want to run an extended drain interval( 10K or more )than go with the RP oil or Amsoil. You then want to look at an extended drain interval capable filter like RP's filter or Amsoil's EAO line. K&N and Mobil 1 filters are very good too although the RP and Amsoil filters are a little better. If you will change the oil by say 7500 miles you do not need to spend the extra for the RP filter, Amsoil filter, K&N, or Mobil 1 filters. It won't hurt anything running them but they are not needed.

The MOPAR filter will be fine for up to 7500 or use a quality aftermarket filter like Wix/Napa Gold, Purolator, Hastings, Bladwin, etc... Just avoid cheap filters like Fram regardless of your interval length.

Thanks for the info guys. I know that switching to synthetic may make the oil consumption a little worse not better but this consumption I've noticed is something new. I'll keep any eye on it and see what happens with the synthetic and adjust accordingly.

And thanks for correcting me on the oil grade, I wasn't positive that it was 5W-30. I'll go with the 5W-20.

Don't misunderstasnd you CAN run 5W-30 in your 05 and be fine. I was just pointing out it calls for 5W-20 in the manual. Nothing wrong at all with running the 5W-30 in your truck.

Well I ended up picking Mobil 1 at Walmart tonight since they did not have enough Royal Purple in stock to cover my oil change tomorrow. You guys were right, RP sure ain't a bargain at Walmart, $8.50 a freakin' quart. I know I've seen it and Amsoil cheaper than that online. Ended up paying about $34 for 7 quarts of Mobil 1 thanks to the 5 qt jug for $22.50. I'll see if they have Mobil 1 filters at my dealer, if not, I'll stick with the Mopar filter for now and when I switch over to either RP or Amsoil the next time around, I'll get the matching filter so I can stretch myself out to 7500-10K increments.