I'm at my 30,000 mile service point. Need to change my axle fluid.... and maybe trans. I will let dealer do the oil change. How do you recommend changing the diffs and trans? Should I try to pump out or take the covers off the axles and let drain? I need to do myself to save money. If I take covers off do I replace the seals?

Thanks for any advice.

 

For the diff all I've ever done is loosened up the cover enough for the oil to drain out. Then tighten it back up and dump the new oil in. No need to replace the seal unless you damage it.

I haven't done the transmission yet, but I plan to do it the same way as soon as I can find 3 more quarts of Synchromesh.

If you really want to save some money do the oil change yourself too. It's easy to do and much cheaper than the $59 or so that the dealership will charge you.

 

The manual on my 05 mentions adjusting the band (s) while changing the tranny fluid and filter

 

The center bottom bolt on the pto cover is the drain for the NV5600, either side dosen't matter. take it out and let fluid drain, replace bolt and refill through the large 17 MM hex plug. Use sychromesh type fluid.

The differentials are just as Hoss described. The seal is a reuseable type. Use synthetic fluid.

Changing engine oil is easier than transmission or axles.

 

Thank you for the information!

 

Someone on this site (I think) also recommended popping the fill bolt loose before draining the diff, just to be sure you'll be able to fill the thing back up. Seems like an easy precaution to take.

 

When you do the transfer case you'll want to do this. The fill plug is tougher to get out than the drain. Makes sense to do it for the tranny too, just to be on the safe side.

I did my tranny and transfer case last weekend. I said I'd make an instructional thread with pictures like HorseHauler did with the fuel filter change, however the pictures are huge and I don't know what happened to my photo editing software. Anyway, for the transmission, I was only able to get just over 4 quarts in. I ended up taking off the shift tower and dumping the last quart in through there. Next time I change tranny fluid, I'm going to dump all five quarts in that way. It was much easier than trying to squirt it in a pint at a time with a suction gun.

When I get the pictures up, I'll include some pics of how to remove the cup-holders, shift lever and shift tower.

 

When I get the pictures up, I'll include some pics of how to remove the cup-holders, shift lever and shift tower.[/QUOTE]

Not a bad idea as a first timer this is kind of a pain. I thought about that when I did mine but like always I was in a hurry.