New Gears Maintenance

[Badweather]

So I recently had Dana Spicer 5.13 gears put in by a shop that specializes in drive train work. I have around 400 miles on them and absolutely no noise or concerns. The owner and guy that installed them said that everything looked fantastic with the install and I did not need to come back after 500 miles to change out the differential fluid. I had always heard that you should change the fluid after 500 miles but of course that does not happen on a brand new vehicle. What do you all think?

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[AustyPosty]

I would change the fluid. The way I see it, Your regear was expensive, gear oil is not. Even if it doesn’t do anything, why not?

 

[Badweather]

Yeah that’s what I was thinking as well. May look to see if anyone makes a magnet plug for the OEM covers.

 

[TurboChris]

I just changed mine out about 2 weeks ago after my 500 miles. Took about 30 mins and that was moving slow. The soft bags they have now help a LOT. No more using a pump.

 

[Badweather]

Turbocris, did you just pump your differential or did you take the cover off

 

[Panthers65]

Turbocris, did you just pump your differential or did you take the cover off

Depending on your year, you might have an axle drain plug, or you might just have to crack the diff cover loose and drain the old oil. Then bolt it back up and put oil in until it overflows out of the fill hole.

 

[ZeeJay]

Drain it. Gear oil is cheap, gears aren’t. I’d pull the cover also then can see if any bits are on bottom of housing, further still jack it up and rotate ring gear, you have too much money tied up in that job not to because some dude said so, maybe a really nice and good dude that does killer work and likely is but just default to he is an idiot and assume a lube rack tech did it. If everything looks good get some wine and whisper softly in dudes ear and turn the lights off. Pattern on set up isn’t pattern under torque. For what’s it worth in the future change it in any new jeep like this you buy early assuming it’s a keeper. I did both boxes, t-case and engine at 1000 miles when I bought this truck.

 

[Blade1668]

A starting point is 5:13 gears will run hotter than stock gears, a low cost gear oil change and look at them with cover off is cheap piece of mind.

 

[TurboChris]

SUPER simple. I just loosened all the bolts and removed the bottom ones until I could "crack" it loose at the bottom and let it all drain into a pan for about 3 mins. Till it stopped. Then tightened em up in a criss cross pattern and refilled out of the bags.

Double checked over the next couple days to make sure I didn't have any drips.

Turbocris, did you just pump your differential or did you take the cover off

 

[jeepkevin]

Years ago I had a chance to visit the Dana assembly line as axles were built then shipped by rail car to mfg plants around the country. The process was jigs, fixtures, computers, resulting in 1 shot set up that literally took minutes.

I have been trained in gear set up for 30 years, done hundreds if not a thousand axles in my time. While I feel confident, I am no match for the equipment that Dana has.

As a rule, if a person sets your gears, do a fluid change and double check at 500. Our eyeballs are no match for the accuracy of their production facility.

Gears set up by a person will typically have a bit of wear to fit per say. This metal contamination is not good for bearings. Many cases the first 500 miles will finalize this wear and need to get the bad stuff out for long term reliability.

 

[Badweather]

I agree with all I will pull the covers and look everything over

 

[Hootbro]

Yeah that’s what I was thinking as well. May look to see if anyone makes a magnet plug for the OEM covers.

If you do not have the drain plug which they phased out in mid 2021, all the DANA OEM cover fill port plugs come with the magnetic plug in it's place. So you probably already have it.

 

[Badweather]

Rats already ordered two drain plugs for the differential covers with magnets

 

[CreepyJeepy]

I'm convinced the reason why we change oil at 500 miles is not for any metal, as the magnet plug will eventually deal with that....

Essentially when new gears go in if tolerances are not perfect, the gearset, and bearings will run a bit warmer while they settle in... Once oil gets to about 250 it breaks down which is an easy number to hit right after getting new gears especially if driving harder or going for a longer drive.

Changing the Oil makes sure that any heat degradation that did occur post swap out is corrected with fresh oil.

 

[Panthers65]

Dang old thread

I heard this the other day- How many hundreds of thousands of brand-new vehicles leave the dealership every year with <10 miles on those Diffs that don't come back until their first 3-5K oil change? And since most brands don't even start recommending diff service until 50K+ miles, you're probably got millions of vehicles running around out there that were set up from the factory and haven't seen the light of day since.

I'm not saying don't service them after 500 miles, do exactly what your installer recommends since they're the ones warrantying it if something happens, but...... there's way more vehicles on the road that aren't checked at 500 miles than vehicles that are.

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