So last Monday was a freaking nightmare. I'm a gal from Jersey who's used to playing with Jeeps. I take mine offroad, service my own diffs (frequently), change my own oil, do minor repairs & mods, paint, the usual Jeep stuff. Have only owned Jeeps (of the stationwagon flavor ) until I bought the D almost 3 years ago. I took possession with under 40k on the clock, so now with almost 60k, I decided to change the gear oil on the same day I was doing an oil change. Simple enough, right?

And so it began. 12:00noon, 91 degrees. Obviously I'm used to a solid front axle, so the IFS floored me. I couldn't figure out where to put the jack! Did you say "frame"? Never crossed my mind, I'm used to throwing it up under the axle tube ... only there was none. I finally (yeah, I know ), then literally about 10 times tried to jack the darn thing up ... and the body kept going up, up, UP ... while the rubber still sat on the ground. WTF? She creaked & groaned & I thought I'd break something. So I'd lower it & try a different spot. I called a friend who said I was too chicken, to just keep jacking until the wheel went up. It's 95 degrees out, been an hour & I'm ticked off, so I threw my shoulder into it & lo & behold - up she went! Now for the jack stands. Oh wait ... they're the big ones for the Jeep so I need to go even higher.

Finally I start removing bolts on the pumpkin ... only to find that there's no way I'm gonna be able to remove the 3 or 4 top bolts without being a contortionist. How do you guys do this stuff at home??? Thank goodness the diff was sealed tight; I threw the bolts back in - mad as heck - dropped the D, changed the engine oil, then turned the truck around to do the rear. I soaked the 8 y.o. rusted bolts in PB Blaster & they cooperated - except for that sucker dead center top with 2 nuts holding the bracket that keeps the brake line safe. 2 more hours later, filthy & stinky with gear oil I danced a crazy dance as I finally got it off without breaking it.

After chemically treating the rusty bolts, nut & diff cover, I painted the cover (black - leave the bling to the Jeep), replaced it and filled her up. Of course I forgot the additive! Had to pump oil out, then discovered the brand new tube of additive had leaked all over my leather bag .

I'm embarrassed to say how long it took me to (almost) service 2 diffs & change engine oil. Just think ... my next project was to service the drum brakes & rotate the tires.

Moral of the Story: Mobil1 Syn gear oil is $2 cheaper/qt at AutoZone than Advance Auto.

 

At least you weren't involved in two acciedents within two hours! LOL!

 

haha yea pretty funny. i did the same thing after i did the back and i've never had a sa truck. also sucks when you have to use 6 2x4's to reach the truck with my crappy jack.

 

Moral of the story: Don't admit to taking that long ever again.

The right tools make the job a lot easier and you don't need the limited slip additive if you use mobil 1 75-90 synthetic. It is already in the oil. I have done 2 services to my diffs and never had any issues. No excess metal shavings or abnormal wear on the gears.

 

Won't take that long again ... I know better than to tackle the front now & I ain't askeerd to raise the truck no mo'.

Y'know, about the Mobil 1, having never used that one before, I wondered about the "LS" designation on the label & I even asked the parts guy if it already had the additive in. As if he would know ...
Thanks for the info!

 

Holly ****,

I have been working on getting a chick to be an active member for years and I come by one by accident and you have been here the whole time! I need to reinspect my dumb **** brain again .....LOL


Anyway, sorry to hear about your day. As for your front diff question, I used to remove the skid plate and pump the fluid out then place a tube about 1/2 inch OD into the diff and get one long enough to bring up into the engine bay and place a funnel into the end. Then place the gear oil bottle cap up in a very hot water bath to heat it up to about 130 F then dry off the bottle(s) and pour the gear oil into the funnel and watch it fill the diff! It flows like water when it is hot!

As for inspection to the gears, you need to remove the tie rod arms or have specialty wrenches to be a contortionist......

 

Haha - don't feel too bad. It's not as if my name or my avatar are dead giveaways.

Well, contortionist I am not, nor will I ever be. That's why my Jeep has 5" lift. I can practically sit up under it . I've never pumped diff fluid out ... I always drain, clean, inspect & refill. I gotta see the gears. Naw, my mechanic can mess around with the front ... and I'll watch. I'm thru.

 

Well I agree with the inspection and doing it the right way by removing the cover. Just a different way get-r-done ya know.

 

The front cover is a PITA to get off, you have to ahh work patiently. I did mine years back and there wasnt much paste on the magnet and it looked good so now I just pump it out and refill when I do the diffs.

Where are the pictures of you covered in gear oil, we want proof LOL

What kind of Jeeps do you have, I have a 02 WJ in my fleet along with the 00 Durango amongst a few others.

 

I only have 1 Jeep right now, but I've owned 3 Cherokees and 1 ZJ. I like station wagons. We gals have way too much crap to haul around to get a short wheel base rig, LOL.


This is my Jeep at play ...