Now a bona fide DIYer

[Icychap]

I changed the fluids in my front and rear diffs and xfer case yesterday! A few things, though...

Getting hot, stinky gear oil splashed all over your arm is not fun.

Whacking your knee against a hot exhaust pipe 17 times is not fun.

Having to remove skid plates while on your back is not fun.

Having to add 2 qts of gear oil 2 oz at a time is not fun.

Know what is fun? Success! And a transfer case which switches to 4x4 noticeably quicker and smoother. Royal Purple rocks.

There was much cursing, some discomfort, lost skin, spent money, lots of wasted time... but a steep learning curve and the confidence to take on more! Wait a minute... why is this gasket sitting here... uh oh.

 

[PitbullRescuer]

Nice, congrats on getting the job done. Now wait until you tear into one for an LBJ/OTRE job or a TB/WP job. You'll have a whole new cursing vocabulary by then. LOL.

 

[LittleCaesar]

I have never used RP but others have said their diff fluids are quite good.

 

[ycl1688]

any thought filling grease to rear and front shaft with 4 wheel drive ?
having problems trying to get the grease fittings out. looks like one or two of the rear shaft front part grease fittings do not take in grease.

 

[masphx]

So you did the maintenance when the truck was 'hot'. Is it better to do it after the truck has been sitting over night or best when the fluids are hot (along with everything else)? I'm going to do the same maintenance in a little while here and would like to work on a cold truck if possible

 

[revenantdead]

Nice, congrats on getting the job done. Now wait until you tear into one for an LBJ/OTRE job or a TB/WP job. You'll have a whole new cursing vocabulary by then. LOL.

Perfectly accurate...

 

[CanadianTRD]

I would recommend investing in the tool at the bottom of this photo:

Also, one of these if you don't already:

Happy wrenching :thumb3:

 

[farmerjon]

I would recommend investing in the tool at the bottom of this photo:

Also, one of these if you don't already:

Happy wrenching :thumb3:

Call me stupid, but what is that cylinder? Hand air compressor for power tools?

 

[CanadianTRD]

The top tool is a manual fluid pump. It's used to fill "tough to access" components. IE Differentials, Transmissions, Transfer Cases. You can fill it a quart/liter at a time...rather than 2 oz.

The bottom is a multi-function tool used to check a variety of vacuum/positive pressure readings in your engine bay. It can also be used to "one man" vacuum or force bleed your brake/power steering/clutch systems.

Both are invaluable IMO

 

[highcountry]

I would recommend investing in the tool at the bottom of this photo:

Also, one of these if you don't already:

Happy wrenching :thumb3:

+1 use both all the time. Also a small hand pump works well also.

 

[Icychap]

The top tool is a manual fluid pump. It's used to fill "tough to access" components. IE Differentials, Transmissions, Transfer Cases. You can fill it a quart/liter at a time...rather than 2 oz.

Oh man could I have used one of those... where's the best place to get one?

 

[Icychap]

So you did the maintenance when the truck was 'hot'. Is it better to do it after the truck has been sitting over night or best when the fluids are hot (along with everything else)? I'm going to do the same maintenance in a little while here and would like to work on a cold truck if possible

From everything I read, it was advised to drain the gear fluids when warm. To do so, I drove around in 4x4 mode for about 15 minutes before getting to work. I assume this is to assist in making the built up gunk readily drainable with the old fluid.

 

[kball]

Oh man could I have used one of those... where's the best place to get one?

Search Amazon for suction gun.

 

[JohnsD90]

Some tips:

-Always have a spare vehicle to run to the store to get more parts and tools
-Always use Jackstands when jacking the car up
-Invest in a decent tool kit, Craftsmen works great, you don't want crap tools breaking in the middle of a job
-Wait till the car is cool if you are working near the exhaust or in general, but its best to drain the oil hot, but its not a huge deal.
-Airtools are not required by any means but are very helpful.
-I believe i saw you are from ny, so make sure you have an angle grinder or sawzall as the will be of help with the rusty crap on the underside of the vehicle.

Welcome to the shadetree club.

 

[chimpy]

And on diffs and tranfer cases, always remove the fill plug first.Nothing worse than removing the drain plug and all the lubricant then not being able to get the fill plug to break loose.And it is your only vehicle:ybrick:

 

[JohnsD90]

And on diffs and tranfer cases, always remove the fill plug first.Nothing worse than removing the drain plug and all the lubricant then not being able to get the fill plug to break loose.And it is your only vehicle:ybrick:

That goes for anything that has a fill and drain plug.

 

[Icychap]

Search Amazon for suction gun.

Thanks!

 

[Icychap]

Some tips:

-Always have a spare vehicle to run to the store to get more parts and tools
-Always use Jackstands when jacking the car up
-Invest in a decent tool kit, Craftsmen works great, you don't want crap tools breaking in the middle of a job
-Wait till the car is cool if you are working near the exhaust or in general, but its best to drain the oil hot, but its not a huge deal.
-Airtools are not required by any means but are very helpful.
-I believe i saw you are from ny, so make sure you have an angle grinder or sawzall as the will be of help with the rusty crap on the underside of the vehicle.

Welcome to the shadetree club.

Thanks! What's the shadetree club?

As for tools, I have mostly Husky. Friends have told me they're crap, but they served fine. Some awkwardness when I got under there and realized none of my sockets fit the 15/16 (24mm) plugs, and my friend's borrowed impact sockets needed 1/2" when my ratchet was only 3/8"... and I had to buy a decent hex wrench set AFTER I realized the drain and fill plugs on the front diff took different sizes (what a-hole planned that?)... live and learn. Lots of learning on this one. :sobbing:

I didn't use jack stands. Instead I built ramps out of 2x10x10s, 5 per side, bolted together with some honkin hex screws. I know I can't take the wheels off with that setup, but it gives plenty of clearance for working underneath and is safer. I think for anything that needs the wheels to come off I'll be going to a pro.

For rust, aerokroil worked amazingly well. That and a breaker bar.

Thanks for the tips!

 

[Icychap]

...I didn't use jack stands. Instead I built ramps out of 2x10x10s, 5 per side, bolted together with some honkin hex screws... For rust, aerokroil worked amazingly well. That and a breaker bar.

Here are my ramps, with me underneath spraying some aerokroil the day before.

 

[CanadianTRD]

Oh man could I have used one of those... where's the best place to get one?

We have a "car guy" store in our town called "Princess Auto". It's mostly full of cheap crap but a fair amount of it is usable, if you take care of it. Great for throwaway tools, no questions asked return policy (they know the products they are selling, they make their profits on the "non-returnables)

Anyways, that fluid gun is the type of tool I buy from a store like that...they really do have almost all the specialty tools you usually have to buy online. But in the USA, you can find ANYTHING online for cheaper than even our local stores, so I would go there! Amazon in the US has basically anything you could imagine, lucky you! :thumb3: Of course buying in-store is a lot easier to return than online so keep that in mind!