[dRewville]

Im looking at changing out diff fluid as I believe I've had some form of a leak (pic below)

I've also kept eye on cover lately and it looks like the material is peeling away.

After USING THE SEARCH option, I've noticed really how easy it is to change the fluid...my desire to do it myself went UP when the dealer told me to change the fluid it would be $130.... EACH for the Front...and $130 for the rear.

Then told me the cover itself would be another $140-170.

I've read enough where people said it should be 80-120 to do both (no cover included)
so i thought, I`ll do it myself and spend the money saved on a good quality cover.

I dont drag race the truck, barely off road involved.

OEM good to stay with? or does anyone recommend a good quality aftermarket. I'm not trying to get all fancy with this job but dont want to go cheap here either.

 

[judsonlimited]

You have a few options here obviously

If you tow a lot you might benefit from a Mag Hytec cover, those have magnetic plugs and cooling fins, those are about double the capacity as with a standard cover.
You could just have the current cover re-coated and save a bit also. The OEM cover isn't going to hinder anything really, it does the job.

Its easy to do yourself so I don't see why you'd need to have a shop do it.

 

[Tatsngats]

If you do a lot of towing, an aftermarket one with fins can aid in cooling. Other than that OEM should be just fine and less expensive.

 

[dRewville]

Gotcha. Now just gotta find out which one I have, in terms of 9.5 10.5 11.5 ...

 

[judsonlimited]

http://mag-hytec.com/store/index.php?ma ... ucts_id=34

 

[cptmcdowell]

If you don't off road, or tow, or drive for long periods of time excessively I would just replace the OEM one.. IMO

I'll probably upgrade mine in the next little bit, but that's just because i go offroading quite a bit

 

[ferraiolo1]

aftermarket looks really cool. But you could just sand yours down, repaint and it would last you as long as you own the truck

 

[Duraek]

Yea I would just sand it down and repaint.

 

[Gozzie]

Your spare tire hides most of it anyway since it's not so lifted. I would repaint and reuse.

 

[esox07]

+1 ^^^^^^

 

[sudden_impulse]

I'd either just clean it and leave it, or take a wire-wheel to it and use some Rustoleum on it. Paint it black, or go crazy and paint it a bright color.

 

[esox07]

Maybe a GM orange color for a little flair. Or just go black. I am not sure just how hot a rear end can get, but you might want to consider a heat resistant paint as well. One rated for 500 degrees should be fine.

 

[dRewville]

im not blorange -_-

 

[dRewville]

alright so here is a daytime picture. little more focused. hopefully you can full screen and zoom in but does it look anything extreme or new cover worthy?

 

[judsonlimited]

Wire wheel and recoat. Thats not bad.
You need a new seal for sure though, maybe a new plug to be on the safe side

 

[ferraiolo1]

It's not pretty. But can be saved. Would be worth cleaning off and painting your whole frame if you plan on keeping he truck

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[dRewville]

my mechanic said he would do it for 180 - front and rear. synthetic fluid. i may just leave it to him.

chevy dealer was $130 for rear, $130 for front, and $170 for new cover(if need)

 

[Tatsngats]

It only costs about $30-$40 for fluid and a couple hours of your time. They really are 2 of the easier things you can do on your truck. I figure if I do it myself it's like making $60-$70/hour. Pretty good wage.

 

[sudden_impulse]

When I did it, it was $11.49/quart at O'Reilly's, and the rear gasket was like $5 (paper). You'll need a gasket scraper for the rear, and a fluid pump is very handy ($8 or so, I've used it on both diffs and the TC now).

ETA: I used the house brand synthetic 75W-90 in both axles, and it took over 4 quarts. Your amount will probably be different, but all in all it was like $75 to do it all.

 

[esox07]

Just order the gasket on line and get 5 or 6 quarts of 75w90 and do it yourself.
https://www.amazon.com/Mobil-104361-75W ... line+75w90