Front and Rear Diff fluid change

It's always been my understanding that in an open diff (or a Torsen or a locker) it doesn't matter if it has the LS additives or not. It's only clutch-type LSDs that require the additive to keep them from chattering.

My notes show 7.5qt for all three units. I can't remember off the top of my head which uses how much individually.
 

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-Lonestar- said:
I Went ahead and got 8 of these so I hope it was the right one. I’ll be doing it in a few days so I have time to exchange it if I got the wrong oil

https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p...ant-ls-75w-90-1-quart-104361-98w573/7070039-P
Click to expand...

that is what I used when I had 3K miles on the T4R.. reason the rear diff was oil changed due to being very dark had some black specs in the oil/fluid

when I did the oil changes this January 10K miles , the drive train fluids all looked very good. so the rear diff does get burned up on break in when new @3Kmiles..

all the other fluids looked like new.. as was mentioned on this post ..

LS has no effect on a open diff..NO clutches so not an issue..
 
75W-85 Is what manual calls for. I tried 75W-90 Royal Purple and wasn't pleased with the way it worked so I switched to Redline 75w-85 in both diffs, and OEM 75W in transfer case. Now it drives as smooth as silk:

s-l300.jpg
s-l300.jpg
 
transfer case and diff oil change

This is a great thread, full of helpful posts.

It may be obvious to most, but the reason the rear diff is dark grey to black early on is that the truck drives in 2 wheel drive, rear drive all the time. In 4 wheel drive it's also driving the truck. The front diff and transfer case only drive in 4 lo and 4 hi.
 
I just finished up both diffs and transfer case but torqued down all the fill plugs with new gaskets before taking it for a drive. I’m hoping levels will be good since I let it flow out of the full plugs and waited for it to stop. I don’t want to have to open all the full plugs up again and buy new gaskets. Unless someone tells me they had to put more after they drove it for a little bit.
 
Finding the gear oils

-Lonestar- said:
I just finished up both diffs and transfer case but torqued down all the fill plugs with new gaskets before taking it for a drive. I’m hoping levels will be good since I let it flow out of the full plugs and waited for it to stop. I don’t want to have to open all the full plugs up again and buy new gaskets. Unless someone tells me they had to put more after they drove it for a little bit.
Click to expand...

Someone posted a good idea for this here somewhere. They suggested leaving the old gasket on the fill cap until you drive it a few bocks and then check the levels again. Add gear oil as needed. Once you're sure the levels are up to the fill hole then put the new metal gaskets on and tighten them down to spec torque.

The gear oils are hard to find locally. I tried to find the right gear oils in auto parts stores here yesterday. The only thing I found were quart bottles of Mobil 1 75W-90 gear oil in quart bottles for around $12 each. I found the new canister style oil filter to fit the Baxter Performance inverted remote oil filter adapter, the Mobil 1, M1-209. I didn't find any 75W for the transfer case, in store or on Amazon, except for the Toyota brand which appears to be made by Exxon Mobil.

I read the Mobil website on gear oils and looked for the local distributor. I found two distributors, both in the Long Beach area, 40 miles from here and hard to reach with LA traffic.

So I'm ordering everything on line from Amazon: 1 Liter of the Toyota 75W transfer case gear oil (~$32) and the 2 gallons of Mobil 1 LT 75W-90 Delvac Synthetic gear oil for the differentials.

I'll gather all the oils and parts and then let my local neighborhood mechanic do the work. I need his invoice to keep my drive train warranty current, I need a place to dump the used oil and I need to patronize the shop where I'll go for repairs I can't do or don't have time to do myself.

How do you guys verify your service maintenance for warranty if you do the work yourselves?

Juan's Automotive on Allen in Pasadena is a good shop. He really liked my ICON lift and he's been repairing my '95 Jeep GC for a few years already. I got a lot of street cred' with him for doing the install myself. :thumb3:
 
DesertCanyons said:
[a] reason the rear diff is dark grey to black early on is that the truck drives in 2 wheel drive, rear drive all the time. In 4 wheel drive it's also driving the truck. The front diff and transfer case only drive in 4 lo and 4 hi.
Click to expand...

I think there is another reason. I made sure to drive in 4WD before I changed my diff oil, and my front diff also had blackish oil (36,000 mi). I suspect operating the front diff got the solids in suspension.
 
DesertCanyons said:
How do you guys verify your service maintenance for warranty if you do the work yourselves?
Click to expand...

All I do is keep receipts of all parts purchased including fluids. When maintenance performed I document on the receipt and in the maintenance book what was performed, the date, mileage and sign. This should meet the minimum requirements to meet the magnuson moss warranty act. Although only OEM parts/fluids are not required for warranty purpose, I generally use only OEM stuff for maintenance and buy most my stuff through the dealer as the parts department has been pretty good to me.

You can do additional items just for peace of mind, although they are not required, at least as I understand the MMWA. Only used authorized dealers for parts and only use OEM parts/fluids so that parts quality can't be questioned. Take pictures/videos during maintenance for additional proof. Keep barcodes with part #'s from the product packaging. Not saying I do all of this, just things I've heard or thought of.
 
DesertCanyons said:
So I'm ordering everything on line from Amazon: 1 Liter of the Toyota 75W transfer case gear oil (~$32) and the 2 gallons of Mobil 1 LT 75W-90 Delvac Synthetic gear oil for the differentials.
Click to expand...

[MENTION=115572]DesertCanyons[/MENTION], just a heads up that i'm pretty sure you're buying the wrong stuff for your transfer case. i was wondering how you found it so cheap (on Amazon, of all places) and realized you must've mistakenly bought this, which is not the OE 75W gear oil for the transfer case — its OE 75W-85 for the diffs.

the Toyota part # for the OE t-case fluid is 08885-81080
 
1000MPH said:
OEM fluid is stupid expensive and won't make your diff last any longer.
The spec on the rear TE diff is sorta wrong, it takes more than 3 qts to fill until it runs out.
Click to expand...
I just did mine and I used close to 3.3 qts. Granted might have had some spillage, but it was definitely over 3 qts to fill it up.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 
Yep, my did take more oil than manual said. Buy extra quart when doing this service.
 
Last edited:
Did the gear oil, working on engine oil

Since the skid plates are off right now, I changed all the gear oil yesterday. Front diff was pretty dark. Transfer case was fairly clean. Rear diff was dirty, as expected. I drove it about a mile in 4 wheel lo before draining the gear oil. I think that helps stir up the front diff and transfer case. It may explain why the front diff oil was so dark when lots of people say they get clean oil out of the front diff case.

I didn't get much oil on the garage floor because I had a bunch of scrap cardboard to put down. I haven't changed my oil in over 20 years. The front diff oil shot out past the oil pan I had on the floor. Good thing the cardboard was there.

I also spilled a lot of new oil trying to find the right way to fill the cases from below. I had a graduated funnel with an in-line check valve I tried to use up front ($6 at Pep Boys). I had a long piece of clear tubing so I had the funnel up over the shock mount and the low end into the diff fill opening. But darn, the hose came off of the funnel just as I got the valve opened. There went half a quart of oil ($). I did better with the transfer case but it was a PIA.

On the rear diff I finally used the pump I had that supposedly works in a one gallon jug. But not only was the pump too small to screw into the spout of the Mobil 1, 4 quart jugs, it couldn't pump from the half empty jug. So I used an intermediary cup and the pump, which was a lot of work lying under the car. Those pumps pump about a tablespoon with every pump. I guess that's good when you get near the top. And it's fine for the front diff and transfer case that hold 1.6 and 1 liter. But it was a lot of gear oil to pump for the rear diff. Next time I'm going to drop the spare and use a funnel and hose.

I have a lot to learn about changing gear oil. But I don't plan on taking it to the dealer ever again. So I better find a better way to fill the cases.

I changed the oil and filter today. I'm installing a Baxter Performance remote oil filter adapter so I can ditch the Toyota canister filter that requires removing the skid plates. I did a lot of prep work on the adapter mount and hoses before I started the oil change. The remote filter adapter is about 90% done. Just have to connect the hoses to the filter adapter base and bolt the assembly into the engine bay above the left wheel well.

Edit: The truck has about 27,500 miles on it now. Some off-roading about once a month but mostly urban driving (I gotta get out on the trails more often). The service manual is not very clear on when you should to the gear oil change. Depends on your driving and road conditions. I had all 3 skid plates off to do the oil filter adapter project so I decided now was a good time.
 
Last edited:
Wrong transfer case oil

sandcrawler said:
[MENTION=115572]DesertCanyons[/MENTION], just a heads up that i'm pretty sure you're buying the wrong stuff for your transfer case. i was wondering how you found it so cheap (on Amazon, of all places) and realized you must've mistakenly bought this, which is not the OE 75W gear oil for the transfer case — its OE 75W-85 for the diffs.

the Toyota part # for the OE t-case fluid is 08885-81080
Click to expand...

[MENTION=29376]sandcrawler[/MENTION]
You are so right. I just read your post. I checked the can and that's what I got. I put it in the transfer case already and drove it for 1/2 hour on Sunday. Should I change it out for the right stuff? Is it safe to drive for a while until I can get it? I have a trip planned for Mojave National Preserve this weekend. Maybe I need to go to Toyota tomorrow and get it from them for full price?
:lookout:
 
I did my Front and Rear diff's over the weekend at 30K miles on the truck. Didn't do the t-case yet as I ran out of time, maybe this coming weekend. Diffs were dirty as expected but easy enough to do using a pump to get the OEM fluid from the silly 1L cans into the diffs. Ended up having to order it on Amazon because my local dealer didn't stock it. Plan to keep it on a 30k change interval.
 
Yep. Most dealers don’t carry it and won’t order it. That tells me there’s 100’s of thousands of 4Rs, Tundras, FJs, etc that have done just fine without the liquid gold.
 
jbjones85 said:
I did my Front and Rear diff's over the weekend at 30K miles on the truck. Didn't do the t-case yet as I ran out of time, maybe this coming weekend. Diffs were dirty as expected but easy enough to do using a pump to get the OEM fluid from the silly 1L cans into the diffs. Ended up having to order it on Amazon because my local dealer didn't stock it. Plan to keep it on a 30k change interval.
Click to expand...

Both the front and rear were dirty at 30k?
 
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