Yes! Definitely harder getting back up when done. ( And every two minutes to get another tool…)
This was a lot brother, tell us how you really feel lol. No offense taken ever I know you're trying to help and teach in an eat your vegetables sort of way. I'm never one to dismiss someone who has legitimate points, experience, and is willing to share it. I will say this is the first vehicle I've owned with a differential drain plug. On every other vehicle I own I still pull the cover off once a year, I'm not unfamiliar with the process, or why inspection is a good idea. I don't change diff fluid every 5k though, I change it once a year or after water immersion which happens seldomly in the Jeep. The scheduled fluid change for the differentials in the owners manual is 2years/20k miles but I feel comfortable with once a year if I haven't done any water crossings. If I burn up a gearset because the factory didn't set the gears correctly and I follow the maintenance schedule I'll have them deal with it. Don't get me wrong, I'm up for a good mechanical fight on my own stuff when I'm motivated. My brother and I are entering our late fathers Edsel into Hagertys Great Race in '24 or '25. It's the most time I've spent with my brother in years and getting the car torn down and prepped for a couple thousand mile journey has been a blast. On a new car that is under warranty and has parts available for it, I'm just not going to stress how the diff fluids were changed, or even how the gears look. Like I said if it ends up going under warranty I have receipts for the gallons of Severe Gear I go through annually. And if it goes out of warranty I'm out a ring and pinion set and have the axle guy at work set them for me on lunch, no biggie. I try not to let anything upset me too much, life is too short.
I wondered about that as well. I first ran into this 1/8" below the fill hole cr@p on my 94 Dodge Ram. I thought it was strange since everything else that I've ever worked on has been 'fill to the bottom of the fill hole'. On my JK, the manual states "Lubricant should be at the bottom edge of the oil fill hole." Anyhow, on my JT, I just made sure it was on a level surface, filled to the bottom of the hole, and then let it sit until no oil was coming out of the hole at all. This was my second oil change using this method.
I think for some to read that it has to be below where the hole is engineered might scare some people from attempting this scientific challenge. How is someone supposed to get a tape measure in there to measure it right so I think people give up. I believe the transfer case says the same thing if I'm not mistaken.
Ok, I have to go out and read mine. I recall it sounded difficult.Transfer case is to bottom of fill hole:
Been awhile but I remember back in the day on other vehicles where one had to measure below the fill hole like of a diff or manual transmission fill, the trick was to find something bendable into a J-Hook like a pipe cleaner and hook into the hole and measure the distance from the bend to the fluid line on the device used. Most just used their calibrated pinky finger and made the call.
Thank you!
