burning oil

do you guys run 5w30 like recommended or 10w30?

10-30

Whats the benefit of running 10w-30 as opposed to 5w-30?

10-30 is a thicker oil, better suited for hot temperatures. 5-30 is a thinner oil used in cooler temperatures.
HowStuffWorks "Measuring Motor Oil Viscosity"

i gotta say, my 4.8L has 117k miles and it doesn't burn a drop that i can tell
and i check it every week religiously. the only problem i've had is one super noisy lifter

Well, I live in a rural town about 40 miles west of St. Louis, MO. Out temps at times range from below zero in the winter to low 100's in the summer. Change oil weight depending on season or just stick with 5w-30?

10W-30 will cover you for all those temperatures.
Photobucket | temperature Pictures, temperature Images, temperature Photos
Might want to bump it up to 10W-40. This summer I'm probably going to switch to 10-40.

I have always used 5W-30 Mobil 1 in my 5.3. Got 153,000mi on it with only minor problems. Some of the new Toyotas I work on spec 0W-20 for the climate here in NE Texas.
Alot of it has to do with the amount of bearing clearance and not just temperature. The less bearing clearance your engine has the thinner the oil must be to maintain the proper flow through the bearings for cooling and lubrication. The more bearing clearance your engine has the oil will have to be thicker in order to maintain the oil film that hydraulically protects the bearing surfaces from metal to metal contact under the pressure from the combustion process. To sum this little bit of knowledge up I would recommend running what ever was speced for your engine from the oem manufacture or the bearing manufacture on a rebuild.

Good point, I didn't even think about the clearances.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TXsilverado

you could try switching oils. when i went from mobil 1 to royal purple i noticed my motor drinks alot more rp than m1. went from 1 quart every 3k of mobil 1 to about a quart every 1k miles with the RP. these motors seem to gulp down the royal purple.

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I had the same thing in my Z28. Switched from Valvoline to RP and it drank well over a quart in 3000 "spirited" miles. I switched back right away, but it continued to use more oil than it had before I dumped the purple shit in my engine.