# Rearend on a 2001 Silverado



## gebhardsdairy72 (Oct 20, 2014)

When does one change the fluid? And 
How does one go about doing it, do I need too rinse the rearend casing and what solvent do I use? How much rearend fluid needs too be in it after cleaning n all


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## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

Changing the gear oil in most light truck differentials requires removing the rear cover, and letting it drain for an hour or so, unless the current fluid is contaminated with water you should not need solvent. a Haynes service manual will give you the procedure and quantity.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

Does your rear-end have a stamped metal cover on it? 
If so, you just remove the bolts and use a putty knife to loosen the cover.


I guess I must be horrible... I never change rear end lube unless I am either:

1) Fixing/repairing it
or
2) Have been doing a lot of heavy pulling of trailer loads 1.2x in excess of the truck's weight. I often pull 7,000 lbs behind a 4,000 truck... many times at full throttle the whole way.


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

If you change it, make sure to add not only gear oil but the friction modifier, or there was a pre-mix available.


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## GaryS (Nov 15, 2011)

I've been driving 59 years and have never changed gear lube on any of my vehicles unless the rear end needed work, and the only one that ever needed work was on a forty-some year old car that I had only owned for a few months. And that was just a pinion bearing and seal.

If yours is a 4WD that is often immersed in water, that's a different story.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

cowboyhermit said:


> If you change it, make sure to add not only gear oil but the friction modifier, or there was a pre-mix available.


Yes, if it is a limited-slip rearend.

Some "better" lubes (Mobil 1?) have it in already.


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## Tweto (Nov 26, 2011)

I routinely add 90 weight gear lube to the axles but I've never changed the lube in an axle. Of the people that I've known that have had axle trouble I always ask, "when is the last time you checked the fluid level" and they all ways say "I'm supposed to check that". This leads me to believe that they let the fluid level run too low or just let it go dry. 

The only reason to change it is if the axle was under water .

Of all the vehicles I've owned in 45 years of driving, I have never had axle trouble. Even the cars that I drag raced with never had axle problems.


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## gebhardsdairy72 (Oct 20, 2014)

A friend said that rearend transfer case is suppose to have it's annual change of every 50,000 miles... That's Why I'm asking!! This truck is babied and never goes through high waters or doing any heavy Pulling... so what I'm gathering here is that it very Well means that I don't need too bother changing it.. Right


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## Viking (Mar 16, 2009)

All I've ever done in all of the years I've been driving is to check fluid levels in rearends. If you fourwheel through deep water then that could be a problem, especially if you don't have vent hoses that will keep water from entering the differential housing vents. If you've done this without having vent hoses that are above the water level you have gone through then you better drain the gear lube as there could be water in it. I had this happen on a 1978 Bronco we once owned, not long after I had driven though a deep creek, I changed the ring and pinion gears for lower ratios and the ones that were in the differentials were spotted with rust even though there was plenty of gear oil in them. It didn't damage the gears or the bearings but if I had left what water was in the housing it would have probably done some damage.


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

My '94 Dodge 2500 has 280,000 miles. It tows heavy equipment, hauls wood and plows snow. I'm on my third transmission but have never done anything with the rear end.


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## Navajo (Mar 4, 2013)

Got a 2001 Suburban...done plenty of towing...2000 to 3000+ pounds, hay bales etc.


Never changed the fluid....added a couple ounces a 2 years ago....other than that no problems.

Got 250,000+ miles on it...rest of the truck is going to fail before the rearend fails...


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## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

I will concur with the rest, I never get around to changing differential oil on a mostly road truck, our '97 Yukon has 440,000 km (271,000 miles) the dif oil has never been changed, if you have synthetic oil in it make sure to check the level at least once a year, syn seems to disappear easier, the main maintenance is to make sure the breather plug is open, off road truck are a different story however. If you really wanted you could get a suction gun and pull some of the old oil out and add fresh stuff, to freshen up the additives.


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

When I briefly owned a '95 Jeep Grand Cherokee K only changed the differential fluids while we were trouble shooting some bigger issues. Yeah, THAT jeep was shot to hell before I bought it and NEVER AGAIN. I don't mind old or used cars and trucks just not ones that will end up costing me thousands more than I could ever get back in use/wear or/and private sale.

Still enjoyed working on my '74 Ghia. Wish I still had her.


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

I never had the issues Tirediron had with losing synthetic (I can see how a minor leak could be worse) but that is one of the only reasons I would consider changing the oil other than during a repair. 80-90 or whatever could barely even be considered a liquid @-40:eyebulge: A synthetic or semi can make a substantial difference in those kinds of temps as long as it meets specs (good stuff should exceed conventional even at high temps).


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

UncleJoe said:


> My '94 Dodge 2500 has 280,000 miles. It tows heavy equipment, hauls wood and plows snow. I'm on my third transmission but have never done anything with the rear end.


A lot of guys had problems with the Dana 70 rear, but it was probably because they were pushing too much power. The carrier bearing on the side was getting ruined by being pushed away from the pinion gear (lots of torque).


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