nymegacab

My Megacab (1500 Hemi) just crossed the 18,000 mark so I went to the dealership to check the prices for the service (i have Chrysler extended contract so I thought about servicing the truck at the Dodge dealership at least for the big mile-marks for piece of mind).

They quoted me over $ 500:
Standard oil change, filter, check here and there, rotate tires = $ 125
and then
The trivetrain service: change the syntetics in the front, rear axle and transfer case = $ 388 WHOAH ????

It's a Megacab so I have the solid axles as 2500/3500, but at this point I'll go with the standard service and change the fluids at one of the Lube places for probably half the price.

What your experience guys ?

Thanks

Festus

You can do it yourself for a little over $100 and some quality time with your truck. Just document it - nowhere is it stated it has to be done by a dealer.

RamWheelsBy4

Well you can save quite a bit of money by supplying fluids to them where possible. Front/Rear gear lub Dodge = $21+ quart, Royal Purple = $9.25 as an example. My service department will let me supply all parts and just charge labor, still is documented dealer service for no hassle warranty documentation.

Just a thought.

TexasCTD

Ditto!!

I just did some of this stuff last weekend. Changed out/replaced the fluid in my diffs, transmission, transmission filter, and transfer case. Next weekend is oil/filter, fuel filters, and drain/refill coolant.

It's really not that difficult to do. I am no mechanic and haven't done the maintenance on my own vehicles until I got this truck. You just have to get in there and do it and become used to it.

You have to remember....(no offense to any particular dealer here) that your truck is a hunk of iron for them to make money on. They don't care about it like you do. If they leave your drain plug loose and you lose all your motor oil.....oh well. In some of the worst cases they will charge for work they never did. You can do this stuff yourself and have the satisfaction of doing it and PEACE OF MIND.

Festus

Yep!! I took mine in way early to get the factory oil changed out at 2300 km. I asked hem to show me the grease fitting on the drive shaft. "There's a what, where?" was the response. Then I showed 'them' the sticker under the hood - "we don't have even a fitting for that" was the next response. I climbed in the pit with the tech as well to see if we both could find it. He couldn't and I only have a slight idea at this point.

So, to make that long story short, for those that take their trucks in for a lube a filter, do you now think they actually grease your truck?

I'll do it myself thanks.

rustyshakelford

i change my diffs every 10k miles and just use gl-5 rated lube. not synthetic and it costs me $30 total

brett

Pooter

Every 10k?

You tow real heavy?

rustyshakelford

not to bad, but since im not using the synthetic, i figure its not going to hurt anything. besides its cheap and easy. my rear diff gets dunked alot going to the lake all the time backing my boat into the water if its a crummy ramp and if water finds its way into it, id rather know sooner rather than later

brett

Pooter

Ah, true, never thought about the ole boat ramps and water

I rarely go, and havent really towed in a while, im going every 30k~ on mine...

Joe T

Those prices are rediculous..

rockdonon

"i change my diffs every 10k miles and just use gl-5 rated lube. not synthetic and it costs me $30 total"

I thought GL-5 was all synthetic.

rustyshakelford

pourindiesel turned me onto the oil that i use know and he told me it wasnt synthetic. its almost to cheap to be synthetic at $23 for 2 gallons. i dont know what it is, other than gl-5 becuase it says it on the front of the jug but so far it seems to be working great

brett

DECEPTiON21

Where's the best place to find all these Maintenance how-to's? I just have no idea where to start. I would like to know how to change my diff fluids, tranny fluid, grease points... all the good stuff.

CTD Folsom

Gonna be changin my motor oil and filter fairly soon, in about the next 2k miles or so. Does everybody change theirs every 7500 miles like it says in the owners manual or sooner? I was a big fan of mobile 1 when I had my Subie Sti but I was wondering if there was any recommendations on a certain brand of motor oil and filter now that I have a Cummins. Is royal purple really worth the extra $$ or even mobil 1 for that matter? Can someone recommend a good website oils, lubes, etc.?

TexasCTD

Wow! I thought I was overdoing it changing out every 20k!

But I do run Mobil 1 75w90 synthetic GL-5. Since your fluid isn't Syn and it's so inexpensive I can see why you do it that often.