Well here we are on another threshold with my Ram. I'm a little over but had an unplanned emergency trip to Mississippi that fouled up all kinds of schedules. But things are setteling down now and I've got to get this done.

Firstly, I have 7qts of Royal Purple 75w90 in the garage, but I can't seem to find any gaskets for the two pans. When I talked to the dealer parts guy, he said that they didn't show any???? That their techs just use silicone to glue the surface back. Does this sound right?

I also want to confirm that this API GL-5 oil is the "right" stuff.

Its been a few years since I had a diff apart but the last time I did, there was a gasket in that one.

When you guys opened yours up, did you wash the inside with anything? Seems like I read that a guy flushed his with "brake cleaner" spray. I'm pretty hesitant to spray anything in there - don't want to take a chance of getting cleaner out to the bearings.

 

most manufactuers are using sil now from factory

 

Stargeezer,
My opinion is that you should not spray anything in the dif to clean it. I have had some bad experience with race cars before and brake cleaner in the gear-sets. Anyway, just clean it with some nice lint free cloths and it should be fine. I highly doubt that it will be all that dirty anyway. If I sprayed it with anything, I would use rubbing alcohol and not brake cleaner. Just get you a spary bottle that has a "Stream" setting and use that. Alot of Brake Cleaners have some pretty strong detergents that could harm the bearings/seals. Prior to closing it all up hit it really good with some compressed air from a compressor if you have one. That works really well for me.

 

I have always removed the covers when changing diff oils but the change interval on these trucks is silly. I went out and bought a 9.5qt vacuum oil remover. so far it's been great, I use it for brake fluid, P.S fluid and now differentials.

 

My truck is an 04 and the diff covers have reusable gaskets. I don't know about the newer trucks.

 

Yes they have gaskets, I pulled mine off a few months ago and put a Mag-Hytech cover on, there was a gasket.

 

Yes mine were reusable. the back axle oil was grey colored and sure had a funny odor to it. I wonder if they had put some additive in it?

The front axle was the worse of the two as far as the oil being dirty. but at least it smelled like gear lub.

 

The rear needs an additive for the anti-slip differential. I think it cost about $15 at the dealer.

 

Ever since 2003 Dodge has used AAM axles.....limited slip rears DO NOT use additive....synthetic GL-5 lube required, but no additive....

 

d6c is absolutely correct. The limited slip in our trucks uses a helical gear setup, NOT a clutch pack.

No limited slip additive required. The only thing the additive will do is lighten your wallet.