I am just about to 60,000 miles and time to change diff case fluid again. During the last change I installed an aftermarket cover on the rear axle so that I could simply remove the drain plug instead of taking the cover off. I could not find a replacement cover for the front axle so I still have the OEM cover in place.

Is is OK to just loosen the cover bolts enough that the fluid drains and then tighten them back up or do you really have to take the cover completly off. The front cover as you know is harder to remove than the rear so I am trying to make it easier on myself.

 

Yes, thats fine.
I did that with my front diff also.

 

with 60,000 miles, i think it would be a good time to take a look at those gears...

 

Horse Hauler,
Have you looked at your front diff gears?

 

Unless you do alot of 4wheeling your front diff. usually gets very little wear. I wouldn't worry amout looking at the gears. Although, I like to wipe the bottom of the diff. out when I'm changing mine. You already have the bolts loose, why not just remove the cover. That's my theory.

 

I don't do any off road stuff but I do use four wheel drive in the winter. I know that once you get the bolts loose you are not that far from removing them but not removing them does make a difference in the effort required and the time taken in an otherwise busy day. If it's not really required then I don't want to do it. The rear diff cover has a drain plug so I figured using the drain plug isn't much diffent in getting the fluid out when compared to just getting the bolts in the front just loose enough to drain the fluid. I would never profess to be a gear head so I look to this forum for advise. I try to do all the basic maintenance and save the money.

 

As a matte of fact no i have not, some people might look at the confused smilie and realize something.

 

Do the diff covers have RTV around them? RTVs pretty much a one time deal and if you even loosen the cover you'll have to replace it. I dont even have 15K on mine yet so I havent needed to drain yet.

 

On the 3rd gens with the AAM Axles you don't need RTV. It already has a rubber reusable gasket on front and rear Diff Covers.

I have a rear Mag hytec cover, so last time I just drained and refilled with Mobil 1 75w90. On the front I loosen the bolts and let the fluid drain. Then I remove the cover and spray around in the diff with brake parts cleaner. Everything looked good........replaced cover and refilled with Mobil 1.

I am changing every 15K but that may be overkill.

Also, has anybody heard any word about Mag Hytec coming out with a front Diff Cover for AAM built 3rd gen axles?

 

Just changed mine at 55k. Looked fine. After wrestling with 3 different extentions, a universal, and a hand wrench, I stepped back and thought about it. I realized that if I jacked up the driver's side by the frame, it would move the top bolts away from the steering and sway bar. Did that (about 3-4") and it cleared the way to those bolts.
Also, I would recommend that you completely remove the cover for 2 reasons:
1: The before-mentioned inspection; 2: I had a little bit of crud trapped on top of the gasket fall down on to the ring gear.

 

Anyone recall how many ounces in the front , and the rear ? I had the exact amount it took last time wrote down , but I lost it . Need to figure out how many bottles to buy .

 

(7) quart bottles. The rear holds 3.8 qts and the front holds 2.43 qts.

 

Don't buy the Mopar Diff Fluid, unless you are the type of person who absolutely, positively, with out exception must use OEM stuff. Amsoil or Mobil 1 is less $$. (75w 90) The Mopar stuff was $23 and change per qt. The Mobil 1 was $9.