Every other vehicle Ive ever owned i did my own service on. Change the oil every 2900 miles. etc. Kept em flawless etc. I kind of wonder wether Dodges reccomended services for their vehicles are too often and just to help the dealers make money. Never in my life have I changed the diff lube every 12k miles. It was every 50k miles, and that was because I drove the beach frequently etc, but my vehicles were still always ok. The stuff they reccomend just seems too much to keep a vehicle in good running condition. If thats really the case, then I dont wanna own a dodge anymore if it needs servicing that much because thats sad. Makes me wonder wether its a ploy by dodge to help the dealers make more $$$ because its been a great truck for me soo far atleast. I guess my gripe is just the manuals reccomend service waaaaay too frequently than Ive ever seen for any other vehicle. Does anybody else change theiur diff lube every 12k miles etc. fill me in people.

 

Well, I'll just come in and chime in with my opinions, and some facts.

First off, coming from the 2005 service manual (and I would assume, the 2006 service manual as well), there is NO service intervail for front or rear axle fluids under regular use (Schedule A) what so ever. Under: abnomral driving, extensive engine idling, operation in dusty environments, towing, high speeds in high heat, etc. it has a change intervail of 15,000 miles.

My 1996 Dakota is the same thing. No intervail given for regular use. The only differance is the "Schedule B" intervail for my axles is every 12,000 miles.

I do all the maintenance on my own vehicles, and, from reading posts of others, and looking at the type and amount of driving I do, I have determined that I will change my axle and transfer case fluids every 20,000 miles, and do a transmission service (filter and flush) every 24,000 miles.

I would say, as long as its under warranty, just do the work every 12,000 miles (or whatever the owners manual says), and keep receipts and mark down mileage. After it's out of warranty, you can go to whatever mileage you feel good about.

 

I took my '02 Dakota in for diff fluid change at about 15k and it cost me over $200! No drain plug, have to change the gasket, special 70w90 oil? The service manager said nobody ever followed that schedule. So I put another 105k on it before I traded for my '05. Never any problems or noise from the rearend. You can go 5000 to 7500 miles on oil changes, but I still change mine at 3000 (every 4 weeks).

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Yup... $100 for A (single) differential service seems to be the going price. [:'(]
Of course, if you do it yourself, you can do it for about... oh... $22-ish with gasket and Mobil 1 75W-90 Synthetic fluid. [8D]

 

yep, thats the best way to do it. by yourself. the good thing is i have the town garage which every 6 months they have there town residents bring in any use oiled, paint etc. so thats a plus for me in doing all fluid change myself

 

According to the service manual, there is no such thing as a vehicle that would fall into the schedule A. At least not the way I read it. My dealer didn't even know the fluid was supposed to be changed every 15K. My 95 Dakota has 230K, my 98 Dakota has 260K, and my 2006 has 23K. I have never changed diff fluid in those, or anything else I have driven over the last 40 years.
I bought the lifetime warranty for my 2006, that may proove to cost more than the original price of the truck before too long.

 

the reason they want you to change the fluid so often is that the rear ends sometime just let loose. the little clips they use now are cheap and tend to break free from the housing. thats when the rear goes. by changing the fluid regularly dodge can keep inspecting the clips for wear. then replace when needed before it goes boom. i know one member on here that had this happen, my 97 had 165000 miles on it before i traded it in. not once did i have the diff, fluid change. but did the tranny every 30000 miles