My dealer told me that I should have my front and rear differential fluid changed at 12,000 miles. He said that it was strongly recommended by Dodge. I didn't have it done because I thought it was a money making ploy on their part. What are your thoughts? If you are not using 4 wheel drive, is your front diffential even turning?

2004 Dodge Hemi Ram 1500 SLT Quad Cab 8 foot bed.

 

Yes if you have a 1500 its turning , But the maintenence schedual says 15,000 miles for Diff fluid changes

 

The 15,000 is if you are in Schedule B maintenance. If you are in Schedule A maintenance it isn't until after 100,000+ miles that you change the oil in either the front or rear differentials. I think it might be a waste to even change it before 50,000 miles.

 

There was a message supposedly put out by Dodge saying that you needed to change every 15,000 miles regardless. It is a very good idea to change it due to the sheer numbers of clutch retaining clips that have been coming out, causing the rearend to fail. I guess if you wanted to change it every 50,000 miles you could but that is an accident waiting to happen.

 

I just did my 45k change and the oil was so clean I almost put it back in, just a little fuzz on the magnet. I'll change it again at 60k because of the warranty but after that Iwon't everchange it again. It's definitely a do it yourself project if you have the time, there's a good thread on this forum givingstep by step instructions.

 

...sounds like ignorance to me. Oil breaks down after time, so I change it at the service interval. Besides, its cheap insurance over having to throw down money for a axle rebuild, and new gears... assuming the pumpkin isn't damaged if something were to grenade inside.

 

The rearends come with synthetic in them, so the breakdown takes alot longer than regular oil. I had a dakota before my ram and I changed it twice over the 230,000 mile life of the vehicle. If you have done some modifications to your system putting more stress on everything, then yes it might be a good idea to change more frequently. Me, I will wait...