50 is probably too thick for pretty much anywhere in the continental u.s. In a street driven vehicle. In fact, anything over 40 is almost entirely relegated to purpose built race engines, and that is only because they frequently run with much higher oil temps and anything lighter is no longer viscous enough to create a wedge between bearing surfaces.

Also, keep in mind, that the higher the "cold" number is, the thicker the oil will be at startup. Thick oil does not flow, and is therefore not doing anything productive.

 

Alas I think my truck was originally from Georgia or somewhere with no snow. Don't believe there's a block heater. Thinking of getting an oil pan heater but since I live in an apartment, it will still be tough to rig up in the am!

 

It doesn't drop below 0°F for weeks at a time in NYC. It rarely gets into the negatives. There's absolutely no need for a block heater or pan heater.
I run conventional 14w40 Rotella in my trucks without any issues. 50-weigh oil would certainly be way too heavy.

 

 

" certain gas motor oils have much better wear protection and Zinc content is not correlated to wear protection. it also basically says that our fetish with Rotella is completely folklore.",
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This is true, for engines of more modern design, but the old school design PUSH ROD VALVE TRAIN by General Motors, 1961--1963, Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac later acquired by Rover, NEEDS zinc, as found in Rotella, or you get excess wear of valve train. If you think it is folklore, eventually you will see excess valve train wear.
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Lol, dude, no. The concepts still apply to modern engines. There's still a cam lobe running on a solid tappet in a modern overhead cam engine. No pressurised oil separating the cam from the tappets/spring buckets.

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