Dana 44 Fluid Replacement

[BlackAura]

priorities

- Swaybar Discos or Currie Anti-Rock - luxury, easy to get out and unbolt for a few years like most people
- Metal Fenders (pretty sure I'll be getting the flat bushwackers like Kevin has) - luxury
- Nerf Bars / Rock Sliders (pretty sure I'll be contacting Brink for a set of his) - you have some on your rubi, but better ones down the line is a good idea
- Diff Covers - important
- Front Bumper - important for winch
- Rear Bumper / Tire Carrier - luxury unless you go above 33, otherwise can make stock carrier work
- Winch / Winch Plate - important
- Recovery Equipment (get them to throw some stuff in when I do a big order, hopefully) - $75 at princess auto for the basics (prob only things you would need)
- Hi-lift Jack - bottle jack or screw jack are better if you are stock height

Awesome, thanks Fiend, that helps a lot.  Makes me rethink quite a few things.  Guess I'll have to go pick up a hex bolt for the swaybar links.  Torx are such a pain.

if your gaskit is leaking then pull cover after draining fluid clean both surfaces and apply high heat sealant . replace cover let sit for a few minutes . then fill with fluid

That's the plan!  Except....I hate working with liquid gasket, hence why I was looking at the Lube Lockers :p

Hopefully it works the first time.

very easy
and get used to change fluid at least 2 - 3 times ayear if you plan on wheeling alot
might be a good idea to go with a thicker fluid as well  dont bother with
synthetic  to much money and youll be still replacing it often

Yeah, I was thinking of just picking up a bucket (20 litres) of the Super Tech 80W-90 gear oil from Walmart.   $38, and I figure I'll be changing it out frequently enough that I won't have to worry about using synthetic.  Will I have any problems with this stuff?

They also had Castrol Hypoy C 80W-90 on sale, but it said it "was good for normal or limited slip differentials", making me think that it has the additive which apparently isn't good for lockers, so I'm not sure if it's a good choice.

[apeman]

Seriously?  Open glove box...pull out book labelled "Rubicon Owners MANUAL"...read MANUAL...scratch head & Re-read MANUAL..(75-140 good for use in limited slip diffs)..purchase said oil..
Problem solved...

I dont mean to drag out a 2 page post on a half hour gear oil chnge...but if this task is somewhat difficult for you, how are the listed modifications going to take place?

[BlackAura]

Haha, the task itself is super easy....the topic kinda got sidetracked on to other things, like whether or not it's worth upgrading the covers, and if it should be a priority over other upgrades.

But I was reading (and lets be honest, I over-research / analyze things, but that's just who I am) that the limited slip additive can cause damage to the locking differentials (because they don't use a clutch and don't need the additive), so I just wanted to find out if that's true.  Searching again, I can't find the thread (it was on Jeepforum.com) anymore, so maybe it's not actually a problem.

I'll pick up the cheap stuff tonight or tomorrow to do the diffs on Friday.

[Rubi03 jef]

ease up on the guy .. its his first fluid change on his baby

we all been there weve all had questions . and thats why we have these forums . to get answers even if there easy to answer to the most of us

i still ask questions about stuff . its life im not a mechanic . i can do lost of stuff but still nice to have other peoples advice

good luck bud and dont be shy to ASK more questions

[apeman]

Trust me i am going easy, and trust me, others on the site are as well...i dont mind being blunt about it...some of use didnt buy cookie cutter wheelers with everything a builder would want, without a clue as to what its for or how to use it...if youot a Rubi, great, good for you...but i came with a manual, just like any one of my jeeps did. Figure out what you have,what it does and how to maintain it..diff covers are the least of your worries..try lifting the damn thing before you waste $300..want to not knock the diffs on so-called "Rocks" ?? Lift the thing and run 33's or 35's..the "rocks will eat a stock cover just like they will eat a cast ARB cover..You let me know what rock crawling monster trails you are running in mclean or waip, that are eating stock covers, and i will give you a new D44 diff guard...and some kleenex...cuz if you are worried about diff covers, wow ...god forbit you catch a treebranch on your paint or worse, get a ding on your rim..
That would ruin the show and shine for everyone!

[BlackYJ]

As Apemen said check your manual because I think rubi require synthetic 75w140 due to the lockers

[apeman]

Sorry Scott..im just getting tired of people not spending time under thier jeeps..stop by for pop sometime before "plowing season" ...

[BlackAura]

...but it came with a manual, just like any one of my jeeps did. Figure out what you have,what it does and how to maintain it...

Okay, while my Jeep is a 2003, the manual that came with it is for a 2004, which really should be the same (no major differences between the years).  They refer to the Locking Axles in the Rubicon as Tru-Lok.  They refer to the limited slip differential as Trac-Lok.  The manual isn't specifically for the Rubicon, but since they reference the lockers, I'm hoping it applies.

Under Recommended Fluids - Axle Differential (front-rear) it says:

Mopar Hypoid Gear Lubricant (SAE 80W-90) (API GL5) or equivalent.  For trailer towing, use a SAE 75W-140 Synthetic Gear Lubricant.  Models equipped with Trac-Lok require an additive.

So that's fine and dandy, I can go out and buy any API GL5 certified 80W-90 gear oil, but then I was reading that:
- the limited slip additive for Trak-Lok can actually damage the lockers (Tru-Lok) in a Rubicon (no citation, can't find the link), and I know some gear oils come with it pre-mixed (my car has front and rear limited slip differentials and the gear oil I'm using in it comes with the additives premixed)
- some people say the additive won't hurt anything, but don't specifically say this for Rubicons, so they could be talking about open D35s or the optional open D44s on some TJs.
- as well as towing, other "heavy use" situations should use the 75W-140 synthetic oil, i.e. offroading
- Stu Olson's Jeep Site says specifically to use 75W-140 for the Rubicons, like BlackYJ said.

So much information out there, and while some of it overlaps, some of it conflicts.

[BlackAura]

Just found another specific post:

2jhanna posted this on Jeepforum.com:

Axles:

Dana 30 - 1.25 quarts 80W-90
Dana 35 - 1.75 quarts 80W-90 or 75W-140 *
Dana 44 - 2 quarts 80W-90 or 75W-140 *
Rubicon Dana 44 (FRONT) - 1.375 quarts 75W-140 synthetic
Rubicon Dana 44 (REAR) - 2 quarts 75W-140 synthetic **

*4 oz of friction modifier is required with Trac-Lok limited slip differential.
**Friction modifier is NOT required with Tru-Lok locker/limited slip differential (factory Rubicon locker).

So I'm just going to pony up the cash and get the synthetic stuff.  My original thought (along with a lot of the posts I've read) was $40 for a 5 gallon bucket of 80W-90, which should do ~20 changes, so 10 complete front/rear changes.

Vs. $60 for 4 bottles of Redline Synthentic 75W140, which will do 1 complete change of the front and rear diffs.  But, better safe than sorry.



Edit:

As Apemen said check your manual because I think rubi require synthetic 75w140 due to the lockers

Thanks for the advice BlackYJ, I probably wouldn't have researched this much further had you not made this specific comment.

....if my boss saw how much I posted on CJA, he'd probably wonder how I get any work done.

[BlackAura]

Well, that was fun....I think I figured out why my front diff was leaking.

Didn't snap a "before" picture of the cover, but here's the diff itself:



The cover was really rusty at the bottom there as well.  Thankfully most of the rust in the picture was on the old RTV liquid gasket, so the main case wasn't too bad.



After some cleanup:




The cover, after cleanup, you can still see some pitted areas where there was rust:

[Knox]

are you planning on looking at cleaning up much of the other rust shown in the pictures? (your diff definitely looks better now) It's a task I've been thinking of personally for the past few weeks actually, but with a new born time keeps slipping away from me

[BlackAura]

are you planning on looking at cleaning up much of the other rust shown in the pictures? (your diff definitely looks better now) It's a task I've been thinking of personally for the past few weeks actually, but with a new born time keeps slipping away from me

As far as the external rust goes, no, I haven't really planned to remove much of it.  It's probably a good idea, but I have a feeling it'll just end up coming back again.....not sure if anyone else has attempted this either.  If anyone has, can you chime in?

[FiEND]

i just buy a couple cans of rust paint and paint every year b4 the show n shine

[Rubi03 jef]

i just buy a couple cans of rust paint and paint every year b4 the show n shine

i second that ..   

[Knox]

i just buy a couple cans of rust paint and paint every year b4 the show n shine

those are along the lines I was thinking, just didn't get around to it this year, I'd like to do it once a year though to keep everything under control