bulk oil buying

[Planter91C2]

did anyone ever buy motor oil in a 30 or 55 gal. drum? i was thinking about it because they sell the hand crank pump for 9.99 at harborfreight.

between two oil changes a year and topping up after leaking, i think one could use about six gallons a year.

is it a good idea? any drawbacks?



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Daryl 964 Targa

[dtw]

I for one can't afford the space a 55 gallon drum takes up. Have you seen 'em? They're huge.

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Dave
1972 911T (E motor) RSR replica project
http://members.nbci.com/dtwinters/garage/

[pwd72s]

I would guess what you're really asking is how long oil stored in a drum would remain as good as the oil bought at WAL-MART by the quart? I sure hope a petroleum engineer weighs in here. It's a damned good question.

[MarkY]

Just for grins, what does a 55 gallon drum of motor oil cost?

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1988 black on black Coupe
www.cheaterswayside.com/911/gallery.asp?sort=0&userid=339

[makaio]

I work for the state of California, and for all our fire engines we buy oil in the 55 gallon drums. In the county I work in we buy Unocal 76 15-40W and it's about $110-125 per 55 gallon drum. We go through 55 gallons pretty quick, since each fire engine holds about 5 gallons of oil.

One thing to remeber about having that much oil on hand, is if the barrel were spilled, you would have one hell of a mess.



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Matt Chamblin
78 911 SC

[RarlyL8]

You're talking about 9 years worth of oil!
Plan to have your car that long?
Could be a lot of condensation in the drum by the time you get a few years into it.

[911pcars]

Here's a suggestion. Instead of a 50 gallon drum, why not just buy several cases in quantity (50 gallons = 17 cases)? You could ask several of your friends to chip in. Get a price from the wholesaler and a commitment to sell to you. Shipping charges would preclude a group purchase on this forum, but your local friends might want to participate, especially for hard-to-get oil (e.g. Kendall, Mobil 1). They might even include delivery too.

Many years ago, I purchased 20-30 cases at a time from the Castrol wholesaler for my friends through the company my father worked for. They were sort of in the engine business (rebuilding industrial AC compressors) so it appeared like a legitimate industrial purchase. Don't know about Joe Public walking off the street though.

Sherwood Lee
http://members.rennlist.org/911pcars

[makaio]

If anybody buys a group order of Kendall, count me in. That stuff is harder to find where I live than gold.

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Matt Chamblin
78 911 SC

[tiorio]

I was searching for info. and came across this thread, thought I'd bump it and see if there was any new insight.

Both of my regular runners are fairly heavy on oil use, 10+ in the 930 and 8+ in the Land Cruiser. At every 3000 miles it tends to get pricey.

What are options for bulk oil buying, where and how, etc.

Thanks!

[Joeaksa]

Every so often WalMart has the 5 quart containers of Mobil 1 on sale and assume that they do the same with normal oil. You might try finding it in the larger containers instead of the quart/liter ones.

I have two cars that take 10+ quarts of oil every change and got tired of opening all the cans years ago...

Joe