Changing diff lube yourself is easy - Follow-up on my aboave post: I was able to fill the diff up with some polyeurathane tubing (about 3-4 feet and a funnel). ...

Follow-up on my aboave post:

I was able to fill the diff up with some polyeurathane tubing (about 3-4 feet and a funnel). This was cumbersome but I was able to fill up the diff with very little mess..

I'd thought I show you guys what I use to fill the differentials and transfer case on my truck. I made this a few months ago out of an old pressure cooker. (Probably could have sold it on eBay for $100!!) The metal coffee can is my reservoir for the gear lube or whatever I'm filling. That way I don't have to clean out the whole thing when I'm done. The green cap is the Schrader valve, I use my compressor turned down to about 20-22 psi and use a tire chuck to fill it. I watch the gauge on the top, and stop at the correct pressure. The black valve controls the flow of lube. I can get over two quarts of gear oil or the entire coffee can dispensed on one air charge. Just my .02!

Smart. It's like the container I bought when I got my lift that I drain my oil into. To empty it I just hook air to it and transfer the fluid to a jug and take it to the parts house for disposal.

^^^ LOL, that is some trick pressure cooker should have sold it on ebay

Good ideas above, but I did not have ANY mess by just using mobil 1 regular cone shaped gear lube bottles to fill both front and rear diffs. I did have to squeeze the sh@t outta them tho.

Would this be the same for a 97?

Yes, it should be the same.

I just did my truck yesterday. an 05, fill hole is towards the front. sucked, the gasket turned out to be paper i don't think the fluid was ever changed. took me an hour of scraping to get the paper off. i wish there was a drain hole on it like there is on my car. oh well, its done.

2003Z71 wrote:I'd thought I show you guys what I use to fill the differentials and transfer case on my truck. I made this a few months ago out of an old pressure cooker. (Probably could have sold it on eBay for $100!!) The metal coffee can is my reservoir for the gear lube or whatever I'm filling. That way I don't have to clean out the whole thing when I'm done. The green cap is the Schrader valve, I use my compressor turned down to about 20-22 psi and use a tire chuck to fill it. I watch the gauge on the top, and stop at the correct pressure. The black valve controls the flow of lube. I can get over two quarts of gear oil or the entire coffee can dispensed on one air charge. Just my .02!

Great idea

I'm going to be doing both diffs on my truck this weekend if I don't freeze to death in the garage. Thanks for the write-up, it's good to know I had the right idea of how to do this.

EDIT: A friend keeps telling me I can't use synthetic oil in my rear diff because I have the Z71 package with the G80 locker in it. Any truth in this? I want to use Castrol Syntech (because I can get it locally and can afford it right now)

Keegan Kael wrote:I'm going to be doing both diffs on my truck this weekend if I don't freeze to death in the garage. Thanks for the write-up, it's good to know I had the right idea of how to do this.

EDIT: A friend keeps telling me I can't use synthetic oil in my rear diff because I have the Z71 package with the G80 locker in it. Any truth in this? I want to use Castrol Syntech (because I can get it locally and can afford it right now)

Syntech is very good it already comes with the limited slip additive. Just make sure your fluid is warm either drive it in 4x4 for awhile or heat it up. It will allow you to get all the stuff out if your sucking it out.

Your friend doesn't know what he is talking about.