Change your rear diff oil if you haven't yet and clean those lockers!

[Maligator]

Today I got started doing some of my PMs on the wagon. Did engine oil first then started my first rear diff change(factory fill still in it). Everything is pretty straight forward on the work, take out fill plug, break loose all the diff cover bolts and let drain. While I was in there I had quite a bit of build up of shavings on my locker magnets. Initially I of course panicked and took to the bookface for answers. My mind was put at ease that this is normal especially for initial changes. Marcus Dethloff informed me that in the future change your rear diff oil within 1-2k miles of owning a new truck, that way you get all that break in nastiness out sooner than later. So don't be like me and wait 25k miles. I cleaned the magnets with a q-tip wiped everything out real well and put the gasket and torqued the cover back on(I did 25ftlbs) and filled with 75w-90 amsoil severe gear. Had about 3 quarts come out and 3.2 went back in to the "fill" line. Took it for a quick spin gonna double check the fill tmmrw.

Side note my lockers always fought me to lock. After I cleaned my rear it took maybe 45secs to engage the first time then would engage and disengage almost instantly. Still gotta put my locker bypass in next week. Gonna try and tackle the front diff and transfer case tmmrw. Next go around I'm probably gonna stick magnets in there to spare my locker magnets the crud.

Learned a little something today, take care of your rear diff and it'll take care of you[emoji106]


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[Maligator]

For comparison sake here is the front locker magnet. Clean as a whistle compared to the rear. Just
shows how much abuse the rear takes being in operation every time we drive. Definitely something I haven't considered as much as I should have

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[olyelr]

Wow, yea a big difference between the two.

Im at 35k miles now and still havnt touched the diffs. I feel terrible.

 

[madtrucker2016]

what about the front same treatment?

 

[Maligator]

what about the front same treatment?

Yup same, just drained, cleaned that little bit off the magnet, wiped down the inside with a lint free rag, cleaned the cover and gasket and slapped it back together. My front took about 2.7quarts to fill. I filled the front till it weeped out the fill hole since there was no fill line on the cover

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[IRSmart]

Wow, yea a big difference between the two.

Im at 35k miles now and still havnt touched the diffs. I feel terrible.

Same, I just clicked over 35 k myself. Looks like I should do this. Can’t hurt.

 

[olyelr]

So 6 quarts will do the front and rear?

 

[Maligator]

So 6 quarts will do the front and rear?

Everything I read prior to doing mine said the rear took around 4 quarts and front like 2.5. I bought 8 to be safe but 7 would probably do it and have some leftover. I ordered mine from amsoil so I ordered extra because nowhere close to me sells amsoil

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[olyelr]

Thanks for the info!

 

[Maligator]

No problem, gonna knock out the transfer case and transmission this week. I know there's really no need for me to mess with the trans yet but I got a slight leak going at the pan so I figured WTH. Got 2.5 gallons of trans fluid coming on Tues and picked up both filters from the dealer the other day.

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[S0CAL]

No problem, gonna knock out the transfer case and transmission this week. I know there's really no need for me to mess with the trans yet but I got a slight leak going at the pan so I figured WTH. Got 2.5 gallons of trans fluid coming on Tues and picked up both filters from the dealer the other day.

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Good stuff, Mailgator. How many miles and what year is your PW?


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[Maligator]

Good stuff, Mailgator. How many miles and what year is your PW?


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Thanks, its a 2017 with 25k

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[56PW17]

Yea I agree with OP on checking fluids. Lets not forget when my front diff had water in it for who knows how many miles.

 

[S0CAL]

View attachment 191267 View attachment 191268 Yea I agree with OP on checking fluids. Lets not forget when my front diff had water in it for who knows how many miles.

Oh man... how old was your rig and how many miles did you also have when you noticed?

 

[56PW17]

Oh man... how old was your rig and how many miles did you also have when you noticed?

It’s a 2017. I bought the truck with 21k miles on it in feb of 2018. This was around 45k miles i think.
I think first owner had a water situation as it was located in an area that is prone to flooding. Water was in there for a while that’s for sure.

 

[mtnrider]

That's crazy all that water in the diff! That thing had to be submerged over the vent tube (or there was an issue with the tube).

I changed my 2016 at 33K and mine was still real clean and looked good but always something to keep an eye on for sure. I'm about to turn 60K so should probably take a peek at it again.


.

 

[Travelin Ram]

I like to change my diff lube early too. While failures are rare, I have regeared a few trucks and it's surprising how much wear metal comes out after just a few hundred miles.

Can anyone tell me if the recent production axles (mine's a 2019 built in June) have reusable gaskets on the diff covers? If not I'll go shopping for some. Sealant is a pain if you do ever get water or something and have to do an unplanned drain and fill.

 

[G. Mcpherson]

All the Diff gaskets are reusable.

 

[S0CAL]

Man this is alarming. Guys thanks for the wakeup call. I have 11K miles on a 2018 I bought back in July of 2019. I better go do a fluid change, clean and inspection before too long.

 

[Maligator]

Oh man... how old was your rig and how many miles did you also have when you noticed?

Holy **** balls! Looks like wet concrete in there!

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