How often should i change my diff fluid
- Thread starter Gecko123
- Start date
Register to hide this ad
aha2988
New member
usually the rule of thumb is every 15,000 if you do alot of towing or climb grades regularly.
I change mine out about every 20,000 miles
With just daily driving you could easily go 50,000 miles without worry's I've even heard of some guys say that the new synthetic fluids last 100,000 miles plus.. but I don't really buy into that.
make no mistake though highway mileage on a differential is right in there with towing as for added wear to a differential, as it's at highway speeds that your differential see's its higher temperatures. The temps the fluid endure determine the break down period.
Also keep in mind some of these trucks have traveled 150,000 miles and had no problems as there owners never knew to change the fluid. It really is a drivers preference.
I change mine out about every 20,000 miles
With just daily driving you could easily go 50,000 miles without worry's I've even heard of some guys say that the new synthetic fluids last 100,000 miles plus.. but I don't really buy into that.
make no mistake though highway mileage on a differential is right in there with towing as for added wear to a differential, as it's at highway speeds that your differential see's its higher temperatures. The temps the fluid endure determine the break down period.
Also keep in mind some of these trucks have traveled 150,000 miles and had no problems as there owners never knew to change the fluid. It really is a drivers preference.
Dexter Morgan
New member
Agree here...changing diff fluid at these ridiculous intervals under "normal" operating conditions is simply pissing money away. It's like still subscribing to the change your oil every 3,000 miles theory.
When I talked with Dave the tech guy at Redline and asked him the same question, he said to me that using their 75W-90 in the front and rear diifs and transfer case, it would be easy to do 50K miles in normal driving w/o breaking a sweat.
If I were to be heavy towing, I'd cut it in half or maybe just the rear diff at 15K.
With a high quality synthetic gear oil and normal driving, the mileage can last for a long time between changes.
:
If I were to be heavy towing, I'd cut it in half or maybe just the rear diff at 15K.
With a high quality synthetic gear oil and normal driving, the mileage can last for a long time between changes.
:
4RunnerFan
New member
I guess I'm one of those guys who pisses money away and follows the factory maintenance schedule. I tow a boat with my '08 V6 4wd, so I change the rear diff every 15k miles; the front diff and xfer case every 30k. I can tell you the gear oil coming out of the rear diff is pretty dirty. The oil in the other two isn't as bad. Oh yeah, there's an extended warranty on the vehicle, so since I do the work myself I take pics and keep receipts to prove the required maintance was done.
Synister
Member
I swapped all the factory diff fluids to Mobil 1 75w-90 at 30k and am coming up on 60k. I really loathe messing with the diff fluid, it's messy, smelly, and awkward, even with a lift. I think either at 60k or 65k I'm going to refill all 3 diffs with Shell Spirax 75w-90, which is rated for a 500,000 mile drain interval on heavy commercial axles. On a light SUV, I should never have to change it again.
aha2988
New member
my parents have a sequoia with almost 200k and its never been changed. oil have been done every 4 to 5k but thats it. still runs great
why are all this guys post's copy's of another post with unreadable picture files? and all of his posts are within 60 seconds for everything that's posted!?!?
bvc
New member
Syr4RinNC
New member
I tackled this this morning. I have an 08 SR5 4WD with 135 k on it. I do some rock crawling on the mountains here in NC from time to time.
To my knowledge, it has never been changed.
Everything on my car is rusted, so I thought this may be a little difficult/ bolts seized, but came off no issue.
The fluid that came out of the rear differential was just as clean as what I put in. There were a few metal specks on the magnet in the drain bolt, but i was surprised how clean it was.
The transfer case still looked very good, but was slightly darker.
Used about 3.5 in the rear and 1.5 in the transfer case. I deferred doing the front as everything was so clean and ill leave the headache of getting my skid plates off to another time.
So it may be worthwhile for just remove the fill bolt grab a few CCs to look at it before changing it all out.
I found this write up helpful. Trail Maintenance: Driveline fluids, how and when to change them - Trail4R.com - 5th Gen 4Runner Mods
To my knowledge, it has never been changed.
Everything on my car is rusted, so I thought this may be a little difficult/ bolts seized, but came off no issue.
The fluid that came out of the rear differential was just as clean as what I put in. There were a few metal specks on the magnet in the drain bolt, but i was surprised how clean it was.
The transfer case still looked very good, but was slightly darker.
Used about 3.5 in the rear and 1.5 in the transfer case. I deferred doing the front as everything was so clean and ill leave the headache of getting my skid plates off to another time.
So it may be worthwhile for just remove the fill bolt grab a few CCs to look at it before changing it all out.
I found this write up helpful. Trail Maintenance: Driveline fluids, how and when to change them - Trail4R.com - 5th Gen 4Runner Mods
Similar threads
