I thought I read out here that both dodge and chevy use the same rearends by American axle? Why does dodge require oil changes every 15,000 miles and the chevys are 100,000 miles.

Also, what all the gook in the dodge rearends?

Ron

 

Don't know about the gook or the milage change (15,000 vs 100,000) but a major 4X4 mag did an in-depth review and they said that the center sections were the same but for a unknown reason Chevy has them made with a smaller axle tube. The Dodge AAM is rated for higher load due to the bigger axle tubes.

 

I can't imagine going 100K on a pickup rear-end between changes.

 

Chevy wants them wore out so they can sell more parts/ trucks?
Like they can get you in the rear end????

 

If thats the case then why do the axles have differnt covers?

At leats thats is what i remember reading on these forums when people would try to use the gm mag hy tec covers on the dodge. something about the bolt holes not lining up?

 

i can get my friend to look into this one with part numbers etc, but i think that Chevy does use AAM, but a small ring gear then the Dodge.
i will look into that on the Chevy end of things.

 

the covers will interchange. with the mag hytec cover, the o-ring seal will not seal properly as the housing is slightly different cast, but the bolt pattern is the same [the cover can be modified to relocate the o-ring groove to seal, or use oem gasket]. we have a tone wheel inside attached to the carrier/ring gear and the gm does not. both use the 11.5" gear set

 

My company truck 1998 chevy 3500 gas engine, had 217k when i turned it in this april, i had the truck since it was new. Never had a differential oil change or a transmission service. The company my company leases the trucks from,G.E.Capitol said they don,t change these fluids as it doesn,t save any money. Belive it or not the truck still ran good, the only real problem i had with this truck was fuel pumps it used 6 in 217k.

 

I also ran a chevy 454 auto 1 ton for over 200,000 mi without a tranny or rear end oil change.

 

GM says that 90% of their trucks are still on the road......so I'm assuming the drivers rear ends are in better shape from walking home all the time.........

 

If the oil does not get contaminated (no combustion gases in the rear ends) no overheating and no water the oil will last indefinitely.

 

yeah the chevy gassers are a bit tough on fuel pumps, 100psi is a lot to push out of asmall pump, and if ya go cheap and go to napa you'll be doing it again soon, high psi is required to pop the injectors otherwise you are right where you left off with a poor/ non running truck.

 

Well GMPP(extended service contracts through G.M.)require MAINTANCE at least minimum as PER the owners manual to cover items.THEY say the trans,tranaxel,diff.failure rates are a FRACTION of ones not maintain at LEAST per the owners manual.

 

My Duramax friends told me that the Limited-Slip in the GM version of the AAM axle is different (better) than the one in the Dodge version. They went to a show where you could drive all the different trucks in off-road conditions and that the Chevy version was clearly better. The Dodge would get hung up and lose traction when the Chevy would lock-up & go. Do any of you guys know if this is true?

Regarding the Mag Hy-Tec covers AA 14-11.5a, they will fit both the GM & Dodge versions of the axle. The Dodge version has an additional bolt hole at the very bottom of the diff. MH recommends that you fill that hole with silicone because the o-ring in the cover is very close to that bottom hole and there is a possibility of leakage. The silicone recreates a solid surface for the o-ring to but up against.

Also, regarding the Mag Hy-tec cover, one of the Duramax owners just had his fluids (including axle fluids) changed and the service advisor told him to never use a larger capacity rear-end cover because the additional fluid will cause it to heat up and burn up the rear-end. He went on to say that they had seen a number of these in the dealership & that the stock amount of fluid & cover is all you need.

I've read on one of these websites about one member that had a temp. guage hooked up to his MH cover and that his temps were 30-35 deg's. cooler with its use. Any of you guys have any thoughts about this?

Thanks.

Joe F.(Buffalo)

 

Thetimes I've read the Chevy sites I read the SAME comments about the Chevy diffs.That they WERE NOT AGGRESSIVE enough and disscussions on using park brake to get the other wheel to lock etc.Sounds like the SAME deal to me from what posts I've read here and TDR. I can't imagine MORE fliud causing MORE heat.Any body else care to chime in on that one.