Maintenance

[Bobs 98TJ]

Its time to change the front/rear axle fluids. I've never done this before so a little advise would be appreciated.

My SE has the Dana 30 front, 35 rear.

The drain plug on the front is easy enought to find but how do you fill it?

The rear looks like it has a rubber drain plug.

Pictures are good.

[lonegpr]

I found a simple on-off shut off spout at Auto Zone that will fit the plastic containers that gear lube comes in. Made reaching and pouring the lube into the diffs easy.

[DanB98TJ]

No pics, but here are a few tips:

When removing the cover, leave two of the upper bolts threaded in a little. That way the cover doesn't pop off completely and make a big(ger) mess.

To remove the silocone "gasket," use a putty knife or razor blade scraper to get the big stuff off. A Scotchbrite pad works great to get the smaller stuff off. Make sure the cover and axle gasket surfaces are clean, and avoid gouging them with the scraper.

There is a depression inside the bottom of the axle housing that collects debris. I use a couple paper towels to soak up the gear lube and then make sure there isn't anything important laying in the bottom....so far I haven't found anything.:)

Make sure there is no oil on the gasket surface, and run a 1/8" bead of silicone gasket material (I use Permatex red) along the mounting area of the cover. I normally smear it around with my finger to make sure there are no gaps and that the bolt holes have sufficent sealer around them.

The cover bolts don't have to be extremely tight, and they are easy to break. I just use a 3/8" drive ratchet and make sure they're snug. Once the cover is on and all bolts are tight, I normally let it sit for about 30 minutes before adding the oil to give the sealer a chance to set.

The easiest way I've found to add gear lube is to just buy a plunger-style pump that fits the bottle (around $5). There isn't much room to get a bottle tilted up to the hole, espeically in the rear, and the pump works great.

The rear D35 cover only has the rubber plug, and I'm not real comfortable with how well it seals, so I ran a light film of clear silicone around the flat part of the plug (where it fits against the outside face of the cover). Hopefully this will keep any water from getting inside.