mtofell
Senior Member
- Joined
- Mar 18, 2014
- Posts
- 2,654
- Reaction score
- 2,304
- Ram Year
- 2014
- Engine
- Hemi 6.4
So, for reasons I'll never understand, Ram omitted a drain plug on my front and rear diffs (2014, 2500 Hemi). I watched a great Youtube last night of a guy doing the rear and it seems simple enough but a lot bolts to remove (and potentially break).
Just thinking outside the box here - would I be a totally ****** mechanic by just loosening a few bolts along the bottom and letting the fluid drain out, tightening them back up (the gasket is advertised as reusable) and filling it back up? Alternately, has anyone used one of those "top sider" pumps to pull fluid out the drain hole? I used one once for an oil change on a Mercedes and it was pretty slick, albeit slow. I guess this is how oil is changed on boats when they are in the water - buy sucking it out. Not sure if it would even be possible to get the "sucking" hose past the gears to the bottom of the differentials?
I'm sure I could work through removing the cover but it sure is a tougher job than it needs to be. WTF is wrong with just putting a drain in the thing anyway? I mean, I could technically just use a bucket to empty the water out of my kitchen sink every evening but someone had a bright idea to put a drain at the bottom..... seems to work out pretty well.
Just thinking outside the box here - would I be a totally ****** mechanic by just loosening a few bolts along the bottom and letting the fluid drain out, tightening them back up (the gasket is advertised as reusable) and filling it back up? Alternately, has anyone used one of those "top sider" pumps to pull fluid out the drain hole? I used one once for an oil change on a Mercedes and it was pretty slick, albeit slow. I guess this is how oil is changed on boats when they are in the water - buy sucking it out. Not sure if it would even be possible to get the "sucking" hose past the gears to the bottom of the differentials?
I'm sure I could work through removing the cover but it sure is a tougher job than it needs to be. WTF is wrong with just putting a drain in the thing anyway? I mean, I could technically just use a bucket to empty the water out of my kitchen sink every evening but someone had a bright idea to put a drain at the bottom..... seems to work out pretty well.