Differential Fluid Change - Cool Surprise

[jlm6985]

Okay... after reading about the infamous "driveline clunk" and going through my maintenance documents and seeing that the Toyota dealers I've taken it to through the years never attempted it, I did my own Diff. Fluid change. At 75,000 miles, regular maintenance holds that it should have been done at least twice (every 30,000). The old oil was DIRRRRRTY! However, something odd I found was that the drain plug appeared solid where the fill plug appeared hollowed out. I wiped them both down, checked the drain plug with a paper clip, and sure enough, there is a magnet embedded in the drain plug to collect any metal particulates that might occur (picture below).

Maybe this is old news, or common to many cars, but I had no idea. Refilled with Valvoline DuraBlend Synthetic 80W-90. Also, big thanks to Joel on the Toyota120.com board for this guide.