An interesting note. I just came from the Dodge dealership. Among many other things, I'm going to change the oil in both the front and rear diff's of my '01 4x4 this weekend. Based on my VIN number, I was told my truck does not have limited slip differential on the rear. I was surprised - I figured all modern rear-wheel drive cars these days had limited-slip.

I bought a couple of bottles of the lubricant anyway. I suppose it cannot hurt to add the lubricant regardless of whether the rear end is limited slip or not.

Also, the Mopar synthetic gear oil is $26 a quart! and it will take 5 quarts to cover both of my diff's.

Any recommendations on the RTV sealer? Any special words of advice on the diff oil change?

 

Only advice I can give is try Redline Synth in the diffs/ I used it in all my race cars with zero problems. Use Permagasket RTV, never had a leak.

 

You could use mobil 1 and i doubt that you would notice a difference between the mopar. Make sure you get the correct weight. I wouldnt add the friction modifier if you dont need it. To find out if you have limited slip or not just find some dirt or tar and do a burn out. If you leave one line its open, two lines then you have limited slip. You can change the oil 2 ways. one is to take the drain plug out and get a hose and suck the oil through the hose without removed the diff cover, or you can just take the cover off. I would take the cover off so you can get all the sludge out. you will need to buy a new seal and use any RTV, black is fine. When filling just fill till it starts comming out the fill plug. Its not a hard job.

 

Non LSD is the 8.25" rearend, LSD is 9.25". You most likely have non LSD given the VIN and dealer verifying.

Factory spec lube is GL5, or 80W90. You can buy Redline full synth for $9 bux a quart all day long. I guess Mopar puts magic fairy dust in theirs to make up the price.

 

haha thats what it is, i never could figure out the dealer pricing!

 

Lol! Not sure about Mopar, but coming from a Nissan world. The pricing they see on the screen is dealer cost and MSRP. Anything in between is called the squeeze factor, meaning how much can they squeeze yer boys before you scream. When driving Nissans, parts dude quotes price, I say no dealer across town gives me a Car Club discount of 20%. Works everytime. Anything dealer-service is rape. The only thing I buy from any dealer is something "factory" I can not source otherwise. I will use junkyards, forums, ebay and aftermarket first everytime Dealer is last resort always, especially for service items. I'll go and buy my own fairydust, thank you very much.

 

Lucas gear oil.

 

its all the same...

 

scuse me 80W90 is all the same not saying lucas is the same and syn and such..

 

Not sure where you got that tidbit, but it's wrong. You could get LSD in either, or not have it in either.