I want to change to oil in my front and rear axles. Normally you would take off the cover, clean things up, remove the fill plug, put the cover back on, then fill until the fluid starts to come out of the fill plug and push in the plug.

However, I noticed a TSB (0300306?) that indicates something about the filler hole being at the wrong level and if you use it you may overfill your axle. I can’t find the details and which vehicles it affects.

Anyone have more information on this?

 

Here's a link to all the fluid capacities.

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...apacities.html

I just changed my dif oils too, filled them according to these specs and if I stick my finger in I can feel the oil levels slightly below the hole.

 

Actually it’s the opposite if you have the older 8.25 axel the fill hole is about 1/4 an inch low so the best way to get that little extra in is fill it up with your Dakota parked on an angle so you can get a little more oil in the diff but at the hole is ok also.

You need to get a manual and read it yes read it that does help you know.

 

Thanks for the tips.

I do have a manual and it says 3.5 pints in the front and 4.4 pints in the rear. Since I don't have the text from the TSB I don’t know if there’s a problem with the fill holes or maybe the specs in the shop manual are wrong. If I can't see the TSB text it's probably best to assume the shop manual is correct.

 

I just realized the FSM calls for more oil in these axles than it calls for the Dana 44s in my Jeep. Do these axles really hold that much? I have an 8.25 in the rear and a 205 up front.

 

I filled the front and rear (8.25) according the specs in the FSM - 1 quart 24 ounces in the front, 2 quarts 6.4 ounces in the rear.

In the front the oil filled to just slightly above the hole and in the rear it filled just to the hole.

I used Valvoline SynPower 75W90. It meets Chrysler MS-8985 and GL-5 plus MT-1 and SAE J2360.