The effects of the lubricating properties of the base oil on the rheological properties of magnetorheological fluid (MRF) are studied. The results from three base oils with different lubricating performances show that an MRF with poor boundary lubricity has a higher yield stress and is more likely to exhibit shear thickening. The shear stresses and normal force in the MRF and the shear-thickening phenomenon mainly affect by the friction state between the ferromagnetic particles and the plates. The evolution mechanism of the MRF particle structure explain from the perspective of tribology using a normalization method based on the friction coefficient and the Stribeck curve.