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Whiskey 13

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No fuzz on Magnet, oil not dark, no need to remove cover. I like the plug. I change oil often, much cheaper than gears. My 20 JLUR has it and I would not be happy without it but I would put a cover on it that had plug.
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Jtphoto

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When the new XR gets here it will definitely get new covers if there is no drain plugs in the housing.
 

WXman

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I guess I'll go against the grain here. I was actually ecstatic when I brought my JLU home and saw that the front and rear both had drain plugs! I remember all the years when Rams and Jeeps had no drain plugs and no fill plugs. Only a rubber stopper to hold the fluid in which would of course leak down the inspection cover.

A true drain and fill plug is awesome! I can still pop the cover during scheduled maintenance and clean the magnet and inspect the spiders, etc. But with the drain and fill plugs I can now also do drain-n-fill very quickly if I find myself in deeper water than expected.
 

chevymitchell

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Checked my XR this morning. The rumors are true. The front Rubi diff no longer has a drain plug. I wonder if this is a parts-related change, or a design-related change. In any event, I don’t like it.

A4DDFA47-9DBD-4F8C-87D6-73122BB1980E.jpeg
Fantastic. It's about time.

I've been welding these shut for some time.
 

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00 Trans Ram

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For those that don't have a torque wrench, I'd suggest either buy one or take it to the dealer or an indy shop and let them do it.

But again, if mine were like this I'd just change it out at maybe 100k miles and not worry about it before then. I have never seen front gear lube come out of my YJ, JK, or JL that looked even remotely spent. I remember changing the YJ's front fluid at close to 100k and it looked fine. The rear gets most of the work and wear. The front has a pretty easy life, even when used off road a lot.
Yeah, torque wrench is one of those "don't need to have it, but it's best if you do" tools. Except that they can provide a false sense of security if you don't use them properly.

For instance, with regular bolts, you need to make sure no lube, oil, water, etc. is on the threads, or you get an inaccurate reading. However, for stainless steel bolts, you (usually) need to put anti-seize on the threads to prevent galling. Torque values listed for things take all this into account.

Then there are those TTY (torque to yield) bolts. The ones where you torque to like 50ft/lb and then turn an additional 1/2 turn. Those are my favorite. Still can't figure out why they don't just say "torque to 75ft/lb". There has to be a reason - I just don't know it.
 

ducati2v

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Yup, noticed it wasn't on our 4xe Rub either.

My 4xe does has a drain plug. I took delivery May 5th but looks like others have more recent builds than this and have it too.

Personally, I like the drain plug. It gives you the option of a quick change or doing a full cover-off inspection.
 

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Checked my XR this morning. The rumors are true. The front Rubi diff no longer has a drain plug. I wonder if this is a parts-related change, or a design-related change. In any event, I don’t like it.

A4DDFA47-9DBD-4F8C-87D6-73122BB1980E.jpeg
You shouldn't like it... you should love it. I have an entire thread on how that little bolt (but on the rear axle of a Sahara) came out and got us new D44s. They should NEVER have put the bolt on the bottom of the diff on a vehicle designed to off road.
 

WXman

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I went out and checked my Overland JT and it does have drain plug. Built 5-27-21.

There are guys on the JT forum with Rubicons built this summer that do NOT have the drain plug.

So I wonder if this is a running change that happened at some specific day during the summer OR does it have anything to do with heavy duty vs. standard axles?
 

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Jeep has tried to please both sides of the debate with my 2020 Rubicon JL:
Drain plug as pictured in the front differential
No drain plug (cover popper) in the rear differential
 

CJ7 and 4 wheel drive

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I change mine annually given I wheel quite a bit. I'd argue if you do, and enter water -- you should change more frequently. At the same time, potting the sensors as preventive is a common thing owners should consider doing early on. In my case, my lockers were already starting to have issues engaging after 3k miles. Mine will get potted after break in at first oil change which I'll be doing at 3k.
What do you use for potting?
 

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Jeep has tried to please both sides of the debate with my 2020 Rubicon JL:
Drain plug as pictured in the front differential
No drain plug (cover popper) in the rear differential
Did you look on the side? The rear isn't on the bottom but rather the side toward the rear.
 

Heimkehr

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