Ok, after visiting the dealership last week, I have totally decided to start doing ALL the service on my truck at home (had yet another bad experience). The dealership that I was going to was horrible, but someone bought them out and I decided to give the new owners a try. Well, they failed. I always bring my own oil (Amsoil) and have it in the back seat. I always tell the service technician that oil is provided in the back seat. When I went this time, as I was leaving, I looked in my backseat and low and behold there was my oil. Not only did they not use my oil, but they charged me full price for the service. I am not even sure if they changed my oil, because they did not put a sticker on my windshield, which they always do because they want you to come back every 3000 miles. I called back and the guy who serviced my truck said he looked for it and could not find it. It is kind of hard to miss 12 quarts of oil in your back seat. He proceeded to tell me that he had my sticker in his hand and simply forgot to put it in my windshield. It is not like they were in a hurry, I left my truck with them all day. Needless to say, I am done with them.

On the front and rear diffs, I was told it is as easy as loosening the bolts, wiping down the gasket, and refilling with the correct weight oil. So I assume, when you loosen the bolts, all the fluid is going to come pouring out the bottom of the chunk? When I take the chunk off, is there any parts that I need to be aware of that are movable or that can become loose when taking the diff cover off? I will feel a lot better once I have done this for the first time.

 

Yes when you remove the cover leave the very top bolt on a bit and then pry the bottom out so all the fluid drains, however if it is just a rubber gasket, the cover won't hold itself on after the bolt are out. There is no moving parts that the cover affects, everything is held in place. You have it all right, just check the gears for any damage, any metal in the oil, etc. I never let the dealer touch my truck, my drain plug when i bought my truck was so tight I needed a flex bar, and my oil filter was so loose it almost fell off Dealers are ALL incompetent.

 

I couldn't agree with you more.

 

When you change the rear diff oil it's a good time to install the MagHytec cover, very cool and have magnetic drain plug and magnetic dip stick, they never leak. Use full syn oil in the diffs.

 

I really dislike paying someone to do a job and they don't do it right.
I've change out my diffs twice already. The first time was to change to Amsoil and the second was switch to 75w140. I didn't pull the cover either time. I have a suction gun. If you haven't seen on. It looks like a grease gun with a hose on the end instead of a hose and fitting. The hose is long enough to reach to the bottom of the pumpkin. Needless to say, after 20k miles, the oil looked the same as the day I put it in. My transmittion has a drain plug, so that makes draining it real easy. The fluid in it was the same way, like new.
I just finish installing the amsoil dual filter and bypass system for the engine. I'll send in a oil sample at 7500 and see what they say.

 

I would recomended removing your cover, when I did with my rear end one gear is slightly chipped and i'm going to open it again before warranty is gone to make sure it's not getting worse. Also if you don't take off the cover, you don't get out any metal shaving etc, and thus making changing the oil change almost worthless.

 

X2 on cover removal. You can get a glimpse of what everything looks like. Can catch problems that way. BTW when you refill the diffs, leave about 3/4" below the fill plug, it'll save ya from having a seal go out early, by allowing room for fluid expansion.

 

What is the capacity for the rear end. I looked in manual and can only find the recommended lube. Please let me know how much to buy.

Thanks,

Bill

 

3.5-3.75 for the rear.


Bill

 

Is that is 3.5-3.75 quarts or pints? I assume qts but you know what they say about assume.

Bill

 

Quarts... 7 qts is enough to do both front and rear. Has to be GL-5 rated full synthetic. Don't add any type of additives. rubber gasket is removable and reusable. Definately remove cover to drain and clean/inspect inside. I run Mobil 1 75w90 from wally world or auto store - about $10 per qt. Just don't overtighten the bolts when reinstalling the cover. You'll be amazed at how easy it is.