Differential Oil Changes

[DVisser]

I have a 2008 6. 7 HPCR engine. The Owners Manual tells you to change the Front & Rear Differential Oil every other oil change or at 15,000 miles which I have done once. This seems to be quite frequent as I have never done this often in any other type of vehicle previously owned.

How often is appropriate? Don

 

[DZink24]

if you want to do it after 15,000 to get the metal filings out from the intitial wear off, good idea. but after that, unless you tow very often and heavy, 50,000 or more between would suffice. i'd say 99% of all trucks on the road have never had even an initial change done with no harm done.

 

[HBarlow]

I think that maintenance schedule is for the benefit of dealer service departments, not owners.

I installed a MagHytec differential cover on my '06 and changed the differential lube every 50k. I put 230k on it in less than two years hauling trailers almost daily and sold it. Never experienced any problems with that maintenance interval using ordinary synthetic diff lube from AutoZone.

I transferred the MagHytec cover to my '08 and am following the same service interval.

 

[FFeiller]

if you read the manual, the requirements for the C & C's is different from the pickups.

 

[BDaugherty]

I agree with DZink24. An initial change around 15K is a good idea. When a new gear set is breaking in, it will run much hotter than the same gear set under the same conditions normally would. As we all know the heat is what really shortens the life of the oil. Also mentioned was debris from break in and assembly. Changing the differential oil around 15K will get you started out right, but I really wouldn't continue to change it that often.

If you tow heavy often or drive in conditions where the oil could be contaminated, you will need a shorter drain interval on a "case by case" basis. If you tow occasionally and mostly just drive, a 50K mile interval would be fine.