Changing diff lube yourself is easy - EKinMN, have you changed the front diff, trans, and transfer case fluid yet, also PS fluid?

EKinMN, have you changed the front diff, trans, and transfer case fluid yet, also PS fluid?

I have done front and rear diff's. I have not done the others yet.
Front differential is very easy. Just drain, wipe the gunk off the magnet, and refill with 75w90 synthetic.

Nice job. Did yours reek to high hell like the ones I hav changed?

I'm about to do all the fluids in mine before winter, it just sucks that the manual calls for two different weight fluids for my front and rear diffs

Mine smelled a little, but remember, there was only about 10k on the truck when I did it. So I did not expect it to be bad. On a 50k mileage truck or more, it would be pretty stinky, I am sure....

EKinMN wrote:I have a thing about changing all the fluids early, especially with as much towing I do, and the fact that I wanted to get Amsoil in everything. 10,000 miles may be a bit soon, but I believe in getting fresh fluids in the vehicle after break in. I did the oil at 1,000 miles; differentials at 10,000 miles; and will do transmission shortly. From there on, I follow a normal interval.

Just read a tech bulletin on Amsoil's site Differntial Break-In TSB which recommends changing the differential oil in the first 5K-15K miles to get the initial wear particles out. I tow a good sized trailer too so this is definitely on my list now. I was planning on doing it around 10K like EK but I may do it as early as 5K or when the weather gets comfortable enough to do it in the spring.

That was me, too, but spring came late last year, so I waited until it was warm enough in the garage to do it.

Rashiki wrote:Nice job. Did yours reek to high hell like the ones I hav changed?

I'm about to do all the fluids in mine before winter, it just sucks that the manual calls for two different weight fluids for my front and rear diffs

I changed out my fluids at 115,000, and it smelled really bad. I was surprised when I smelled the new fluid- it smells exactly the same as the old stuff.


I'm pretty certain both the front and rear diffs get 75W-90 synthetic... check out AMSOIL.com- they've got a really nice system with all the specific lubes for your specific truck.

Gear lubes smell especially EP (Extreme Pressure) GL5 spec'd because of additives used in gear lubes; zinc, phosphorus and sulfur are the main ones that are used.

Sulfur Based EP-Additives

We offer sulfur based EP (Extreme Pressure)additives from DIC Corp., Japan. These are widely used in Automobile Industry for Gear Oils, Engine Oils, Greases. They also have important applications in Industrial lubricants for Gear oils, Greases, Slideway oils and Metal working fluids in Deformation process, Cutting & Grinding. These are sulfurized Fats, Olifins, Fatty acids and Esters.

I'm getting ready to change the fluid in my deff. Rather than buying a pump, this sounds like a perfect opportunity to make a special tool. With a brass hose barb fitting and some polyeuathane tubing we can make a nice gravity feed system. Let you know the results soon.

Thanks for the write up EK! Did both diffs today. One thing that was different on my 07 NBS was rear diff cover gasket. It was some sort of pressed paper material, not rubber/ metal . I wish I had some rtv silicone handy, cause it seemed pretty thin. I guess they updated for later year models. Anyway, I'll keep an eye on it. Also, to have more work room up front, I jacked up front driver side. When fill/drain bolts were out, I jacked up front passenger side to help it drain quicker. Then again driver side to put the drain bolt back in and fill with fluid. Took jack out to level the truck and let some overfill fluid drain through fill hole.