Rear Differential Gear Oil Change

So I changed my rear diff fluid on my 2015 PreRunner 4CYL today. 67,000 miles. I don't ever tow anything but I always carry 600-800lbs of gear in the back.

The old gear oil looked like new. It was still a very golden color with very little debris on the magnet.

I used SuperTech

$29 75W-90 Synthetic Gear Lube - 1 Quart (Pack of 2)

75W-90 Synthetic GL5 as a replacement.

Just letting everyone know that you are probably okay at waiting until longer than 67K to replace this oil on this model based on how clean my oil looked, unless you are driving under severe conditions (like towing)

The manual just says to check it--not change it, but once you have it open why not go ahead and change it?

I just changed it because it was cheap and easy to do.

 

Pretty much the same story on mine the last time I changed it. I only did it because we recently moved and I towed a 16' trailer that was loaded pretty heavy, through the hills of southern Indiana. I was running it pretty hard on those two trips.

 

The thing is that I have found you can't generalize when it comes to mileage and changing this oil. I have changed the rear diff gear oil on several other vehicles over the years and found it to be really nasty and black with tons of crap stuck to the magnet at similar mileage.

 

I change all 3 of my gear lubes every 3 years regardless of mileage. As stated - it is easy and cheap insurance. I also use synthetic gearlube. Just an FYI - both times I have done it, the transfer and rear diff looked clean but the front diff looked darker.

 

I’d say for how easy it is to do, and the cheap cost of diff fluid, it’s a no brainer just to change it out every 30k. Been doing that with Supertech

$29 75w-90 Synthetic Gear Lube - 1 Quart (Pack of 2)

75w-90 for years with no ill results.

 

The problem is that gear oil does not get black from carbon like engine oil. It can look fine and be sheared to hell. Unless a gear or bearing is eating itself, or you overheated the oil, it will LOOK good after many miles. The differential in the gen 2 is not exactly over sized. If you want the thing to last, change it at 30,000. It's cheap and easy.

 

I'm about to do this tommorow. I have not done it for about 60,000 miles. I'm just hoping i didn't wait to long and everything goes smoothly.