BAJA MAN

I believe the rear end oil is scheduled for 15K. Should front differential on 4X4 also be changed at 15K?

Is front diff oils also synthetic?

Is dealer oil of very good quality???

Still haven't met the 500 miles of towing yet!!! I'll be heading down to Baja in December and will put approx. 700 miles of 12,000# of towing!!!

Do/Should I put the 500 miles of towing PRIOR to changing diff oils?

I'll have dealer perform ALL services until warranty runs out - Don't want ANY warranty issues/hassles with them!!

Thanks

bulabula

The owners manual doesn't discriminate between front and rear diffs - both sets of gears are turning all the time; change them both at the same time.

They come with syn oil from the factory. Obviously the dealer oil is of good quality - but there are many other aftermarket oils just as good or better - for a better price. But if you go with the dealer installed swill - you're golden.

Drive it/tow with it for 15k then have it changed out; if you've got the time and money available to change it early - go for it; many folks prefer to accelerate thier first oil change to eliminate any excess initial wear particles floating around in the oil.

If you stop in Rosarito in Baja - have a fishbowl margarita for me.

bluebull

If you have 15,000 miles on the truck, change the fluid.

The 500 miles of towing is for when the truck is new, DC does not want you to tow within the first 500 miles of being new to allow the axle metals to seat in properly.

PourinDiesel

Change it, you could do it yourself a hell of alot cheaper.

Badunit

I know what the owners manual says but changing the front differential lube as often as the rear is overkill in my opinion unless you are in 4wd a lot. The gears may be turning as much as the rear but there's much less force being applied to them - almost none in comparison, except in 4wd. I changed mine at the same time I did my rear the first time but I skipped it the next time.

Siberian

I doubt that. My oil was all foam when I changed it at 16,000. In my transmission, differentials, and my transfer case.

white Lightning

That just may mean that the tech was an idiot and overfilled everything.....no matter what tiype of oil you use if it is too full it will get foamy.............

Nate-03 D

So which brand of oil do the majority or people use when they change there tranny? My truck is comming to that period and I don't know if I should use Synthetic or not.

Festus

In my '98, everything in the crank case, radiator, transmission, transfer case, and differentials is all Amsoil. No, I'm not a dealer, just very impressed with the results I've obtained.

Buffalo

Baja Man,

I am looking at my owners manual for my '03 Dodge 3500. In the Maintaining Your Vehicle section of the manual under the Chassis section, it says:

"Front and Rear Axle Fluid 2500/3500." "GL-5 SAE 75W-90 Synthetic. Limited-Slip AAM Rear Axles DO NOT REQUIRE a limited slip additive."

It does NOT say to use "Mopar Part Number ???", ONLY. However, it does for the Manual Transmissions, Auto's., Transfer Cases, etc.

The Mopar fluids are made for them by Texaco. I was unable to find out, exactly, which Texaco fluid it was. They want you to believe it's a special formulation, designed & built just for Mopar. It probably isn't. Probably just an "off the shelf" product. Texaco will not tell you because they are trying to protect their relationship with Mopar. Can't really blame them.

The Mopar stuff will probably cost you $21.00/Qt. I was able to get it at just one dealership, here in Phoenix, for $15.70/qt. The counter guy gave me a break. I have, also, heard that some dealers are now becoming more competative in their pricing.

Since DC does not appear to "insist" on using "their" Mopar gear oil, on my last differential changes, I chose to go with RedLine 75W-90. I was able to find it, locally, for $7.00/qt. From what I understand, it's a very-high quality product that is most probably better than the Mopar stuff.

If you are the least bit "mechanical", you may want to try to do this yourself. I'm not "mechanical", at all. Just CHEAP!!! I learned to do it & it's not that hard at all. You will probably pay a lot at the dealer for this service. You may want to call the service dept. & find out just how much they will charge you & then decide if it's worth the cost to have them do it. I have heard horror stories about enormous charges for some services ( well over $100.00, for changing out a fuel filter, for example. It's really pretty easy.)

I would recommend doing the first gear oil change at 15,000 miles & preferably earlier. You will get the break-in wear materials out of the diffs. The oil looked gray in color ( which is the assembly lube, I believe). I extended the second change out a little more & the fluid looked much better. I believe the first change is more critical.

Good Luck, in your decisions.

Joe F.(Buffalo)

bluebull

You don't state if you have an auto or manual.

Irregardless of which transmission you have in an 03 and newer you need to use synthetic for warranty purposes and longivity.

Auto = ATF+4
Manual = synchromesh type fluid.

DF5152

the newer truck have a live front axle, always spinning, so change that too.

BAJA MAN

just checked...........$125 per differential!!!!


I'll go dealer because I just don't have the time right now - playing with my new travel trailer!!!!

Oh well, can't complain about a few hundred bucks when you have a $37,00 truck!!

Diff's $250
engine oil $70

Saturday's cost...$320 + Tax!!!!!!

StrokeThisCTD

i did 30k on the diffs and the oil still looked great, and the diffs still looked great.

BAJA MAN

Was that the first 30K or a 30K interval?