well i bought this truck about 5 months ago. being used you are usually unsure about how the maintenance has been done by the previous owner/s...well i just decided to change it out for the extra peace of mind. i used the Royal Purple 75w-90 fluid, just FYI. pulled the front and rear covers and everything looked great. i was very pleased to find no shavings or chipped/broken gear teeth. for a 124K miles everything looked great and was actually able to clean the original gaskets up really good and reuse.

its nice not have to guess when the last time that fluid was changed. now I know exactly when it was done......

thought I would share.....!

 

It realy is an easy task. The hardest part is filling them up. My funnel always seems to slip out when I have about half a quart of fluid being poured down the funnel.

 

I just paid good money to have mine changed. They used one of those suction machines on it saying you are not supposed to pull the covers off. I would much rather do it myself. Any trick to not destroying the original gaskets? Also they acted like the fluid was a secret but if Royal Purple is good I will use it rather than pay top dollar for the Mopar stuff.

 

Changing the diff fluid is one of the easiest things to do on these trucks. Did the dealer tell you this? Just get under your truck, pull the bolts out and remove the pan(make sure to collect the old fluid in something). Let all the old stuff drain out, check the gears for scaring, or anyother signs of wear. Put the cover back on and tighten down the bolts(they can break easy if over torqued), I beleive 13 ft/lbs is the proper torque specs. Im sure some one else can chime in on the exact amount. Refil it and check for leaks, and thats it. Once you do this you will know that YOU worked on your truck and YOU did it right, not some yahoo taking $100+ from you to drain out fluid.

There are tons of companies who make final gear lube for these trucks. Redline, Amsoil, Royal Purple, ect. Browse around. 75-90 is the most common used, 75-110 is used for heavy hauling in hot conditions.

 

i would much rather pull the covers off, clean and inspect than put some vacuum on there suck out the oil and leave the old residue in there. that is absurd, but they are a dealer

 

I did mine the first weekend I got the truck...Ryal Purple, Amsoil, Redline...all great stuff, but I went with the cheaper Valvoline full syn. 80-140... Nice and quiet and while I'm sure I'm not getting that 2 extra HP from the top notch stuff, I didn't pay $10 a quart either.

 

the gasket material is MADE TO BE REUSED ...(mesh impregnated)

 

yea the gasket is reusable and probably would only be distroyed if you mess it up trying to pry/pop the diff. cover off.

i left 2 bolts in the cover so that I could control the amount of fluid coming out. I also took a magnet and placed in the self-contained plastic pan (one that you can take and pour it into a collection bin @ Orielly's). that way if there were any shavings it would catch them as they flowed into the pan through the little hold in the where it funnels down into the holding part of the bottom to keep it from making a mess. hard to describe but hopefully you can follow that. didnt find anything to be concerned about thank god!

btw, who said that it isnt good to take the covers off? I think it would be dumb not to, when you take it off you can inspect the gears. that might save you some cash down the line if you catch a problem before it messing the whole rearend up. just my thoughts

 

"Bark's" dealership. up a couple replies

 

i used chevron 75-90 syth and the dealer told me i had to add friction lube ?????? i was getting a slipping feelling on launch with wheels turned the said add friction lube it seem to work ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

It was a dealership in Vacaville CA (I was visiting folks). They seemed pretty decent but they did tell me not to pull the covers off. It wasnt the mechanic who did the work, it was the person in the office who did the papers (no grease on his shirt). Knew I should have done it myself. Also had the tranny and trans case done. Total=$430 bucks..They charge a fortune for fluids. Thanks to this site, it wont cost me near as much next time.

 

Ouch!!!!!!!

 

What dealership in Vacaville? I was down there once. I bought my truck at Folsom Lake Dodge in Sacramento(about 1/2 an hour from Vacaville).

If you realy want to save some extra coin in your pocket, do your tranny flush next time also. It is as easy as the diff's. Drop the pan, catch the fluid. Inspect everything and clean off the magnet(make sure you re-install it in the grove, I bolted mine up once and starting adding fluid then noticed the magnet was not in ). The gasket is re-useable if it is not ripped or anything. Add 7qts and call her a day.

Does anyone know how long transfer fluid is good for? Right after I bought my truck I took it in a week later and had it changed. I think I got charged like $80(ya ya I know, but I was green to things like that then). But I never found out/knew how long it is good for. I have 20k on it since it was changed.

 

Your owner's manual most likely will have that info. BTW, the owner's manual on my '04 says that if you tow seldom and only lightly, NO rear axle oil change is required.

Also, for whoever posted about friction additive, NONE is used with the AAM rear ends. That fact also is in your owner's manual.

BTW, I've been reading that lots of oil change facilities are switching to "suck it out" type service, even though everyone says pulling the drain plug with the oil warm and draining it is better. Why change? Liability. If they don't take the drain plug out, then they don't have to worry about putting it back in correctly.

 

Dang..Cant remember what the dealerships name was but do remember it was on Orange Drive along with a bunch of other dealerships. Only one in Vacaville. As I said before, thanks to you guys I will do it myself next time.
My manuel says transfer case fluid (my truck has a standard tranny so I dont know if its different) "check transfer case fluid level every 30,000 miles" It than doesnt say to actually change it untill 120,000 miles. I dont believe it. That is a lot of miles esp with what I do to it. Wish they would have given us a better manuel..seems like a lot of stuff is recommended for after the warranty ends.