Differential oil change

[swampflyer]

I am putting the Dana Advantek covers on.

Can you elaborate as to why and why advantek?

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[CarbonSteel]

I am putting the Dana Advantek covers on.

Those are seriously beefy!!

 

[zouch]

just to add to the confusion, Eaton specifies NON-synthetic 80W90 if you're using the Truetrac gear-driven limited slip.

that's what i use front and rear since they like it for the E-locker i have in the front as well.

(i went with the Dana/Spicer nodular dif cover, since Dana should know how to make things fit their axles, they appear able to take a little contact and shed some heat, and Dana should know a thing or 2 about how to get the fluid to flow properly inside the cover).

 

[Javwohl]

I am putting the Dana Advantek covers on.

Just installed both these covers front and rear. Very sturdy covers. And they come with new hardware. I recommend just being careful when torque they down snapped one of the rear bolts.

I put m1 75w-140 in the rear and the rest of one bottle in the front with m1 75w-90

 

[Gmanjeeper]

Just installed both these covers front and rear. Very sturdy covers. And they come with new hardware. I recommend just being careful when torque they down snapped one of the rear bolts.

I put m1 75w-140 in the rear and the rest of one bottle in the front with m1 75w-90

It Was kind of between the ARB covers and the Dana Advantek. The ARB covers were hard to find as they were out of stock most places and I got a very good deal at Northridue on the Dana covers. Plus, as one person said, it made sense to put Dana covers on their axle. Question: I have not yet found my torque wrench. When I put the covers on is it ok to just hand tighten the bolts?

 

[Javwohl]

It Was kind of between the ARB covers and the Dana Advantek. The ARB covers were hard to find as they were out of stock most places and I got a very good deal at Northridue on the Dana covers. Plus, as one person said, it made sense to put Dana covers on their axle. Question: I have not yet found my torque wrench. When I put the covers on is it ok to just hand tighten the bolts?

That is what I did after I snapped the head off a bolt tighting to 30 ftlbs luckly I was able to just take the cover back off and use pliers to spin the bolt out. I used a ratcheting wrench to tighten everything as tight as I could get it.
No issues have over 800 miles on rear diff and about 200 on the front since replacing and some off roading with no leaks.

 

[bumpit]

It Was kind of between the ARB covers and the Dana Advantek. The ARB covers were hard to find as they were out of stock most places and I got a very good deal at Northridue on the Dana covers. Plus, as one person said, it made sense to put Dana covers on their axle. Question: I have not yet found my torque wrench. When I put the covers on is it ok to just hand tighten the bolts?

I never torque them. Just snug them up good but don't crank on them.

 

[Gmanjeeper]

I never torque them. Just snug them up good but don't crank on them.

Thanks.

 

[CarbonSteel]

It Was kind of between the ARB covers and the Dana Advantek. The ARB covers were hard to find as they were out of stock most places and I got a very good deal at Northridue on the Dana covers. Plus, as one person said, it made sense to put Dana covers on their axle. Question: I have not yet found my torque wrench. When I put the covers on is it ok to just hand tighten the bolts?

I have had mine on and off about 10 times now. I think that 30 ft-lb is too much despite Jeep stating that is the torque value. I have had a couple that felt like they were going to twist off (they have been replaced when I switched to Motobilt covers).

I have since reduced the torque to 25 ft-lb (Dana shows 25-33 on their specs) and that seems to work much better. I am running NextVenture skid plates so from my perspective it requires torquing the bolts so they are consistently tight. Otherwise, without skids, you can simply tighten them.

 

[grimmjeeper]

I always torque to spec as much as I can wherever I can. 25 ft-lb is my setting for diff covers.

It's probably not really critical for a diff cover. As long as they're all good and snug it should be ok.

And with something like a diff cover I do two rounds of tightening to make sure I didn't get a false positive on the first couple of bolts.

 

[Gmanjeeper]

I always torque to spec as much as I can wherever I can. 25 ft-lb is my setting for diff covers.

It's probably not really critical for a diff cover. As long as they're all good and snug it should be ok.

And with something like a diff cover I do two rounds of tightening to make sure I didn't get a false positive on the first couple of bolts.

Thanks for all the info!

 

[Gmanjeeper]

I have had mine on and off about 10 times now. I think that 30 ft-lb is too much despite Jeep stating that is the torque value. I have had a couple that felt like they were going to twist off (they have been replaced when I switched to Motobilt covers).

I have since reduced the torque to 25 ft-lb (Dana shows 25-33 on their specs) and that seems to work much better. I am running NextVenture skids plates so from my perspective it requires torquing the bolts so they are consistently tight. Otherwise, without skids, you can simply tighten them.

Okay, one more question. The Dana Advantek covers have an upper hole and a lower hole. I have received conflicting info as to which hole I should use after draining the ordinal oil and putt8ng the Dana Advantek on. I called Dana and the guy I talked to said, in essence, that, in my case their would still be oil in a reservoir (even after draining the factory oil) and as a result I should fill it until oil seeps out of the lower hole. He also said, in essence, that if an axle is filled for the very first time, the the upper hole should be the benchmark. Others have said to always use the upper hole. Others have just said to put in the proper amount as called for by Jeep, but I do not think I have an accurate way to measure. Any one know for sure which hole I should use in terms of getting the correct amount?

 

[grimmjeeper]

Okay, one more question. The Dana Advantek covers have an upper hole and a lower hole. I have received conflicting info as to which hole I should use after draining the ordinal oil and putt8ng the Dana Advantek on. I called Dana and the guy I talked to said, in essence, that, in my case their would still be oil in a reservoir (even after draining the factory oil) and as a result I should fill it until oil seeps out of the lower hole. He also said, in essence, that if an axle is filled for the very first time, the the upper hole should be the benchmark. Others have said to always use the upper hole. Others have just said to put in the proper amount as called for by Jeep, but I do not think I have an accurate way to measure. Any one know for sure which hole I should use in terms of getting the correct amount?

I open both holes. I put the fill tube in the upper and fill until it comes out the lower. Then close both.

 

[CarbonSteel]

Okay, one more question. The Dana Advantek covers have an upper hole and a lower hole. I have received conflicting info as to which hole I should use after draining the ordinal oil and putt8ng the Dana Advantek on. I called Dana and the guy I talked to said, in essence, that, in my case their would still be oil in a reservoir (even after draining the factory oil) and as a result I should fill it until oil seeps out of the lower hole. He also said, in essence, that if an axle is filled for the very first time, the the upper hole should be the benchmark. Others have said to always use the upper hole. Others have just said to put in the proper amount as called for by Jeep, but I do not think I have an accurate way to measure. Any one know for sure which hole I should use in terms of getting the correct amount?

Fill to the bottom hole which is the same level as the OEM cover. See my post here that shows the OEM cover level versus Dana Advantek and Motobilt:

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/differential-covers.106725/post-2218638

 

[Gmanjeeper]

Fill to the bottom hole which is the same level as the OEM cover. See my post here that shows the OEM cover level versus Dana Advantek and Motobilt:

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/differential-covers.106725/post-2218638

Thanks again

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