2000 triton v10 e450 super duty rear differential fluid

ernie1 wrote:
I couldn't find a gasket made for this purpose. Make double sure that the silicone you use is specifically for use with differential fluid.

Lube Locker might have a reusable gasket for you.
https://www.lubelocker.com/product-category/parts/

Factory fluid is full synthetic, but I'm a big believer in doing an oil change after break-in, so even though they say lifetime, it's a good idea if its never been done. As J-D mentions, 75w-140 is the way to go.

Don't cheap out and put in conventional. Interval drops to 3,000 miles if you put conventional in the axle!

Like J-D said, draw it out with a suction device. No sense pulling the cover if it's not leaking. Unless what you take out looks milky from water contamination (driving through any lakes?), not getting every drop out is not important at all. Get out as much as you can and refill with fresh. Changing fluids regularly will make that rear end live longer than you. On the subject of fluids, flushing fresh brake fluid through the brake system can extend the life of the hydraulics significantly. Ford wants every 2 years, I've always done 3 year intervals and never had to replace a caliper or wheel cylinder since I started that regimen decades ago. It it's been a while, the fluid that comes out will look like root beer.

Living in Arizona we see more than our share of serious mountains and lots of very hot days. I usually run near my GVWR and often tow my motorcycle {bike and trailer weigh right at 1,000# mas y menos}.

When I bought our 2012 E-350 used with just 6,205 miles one of the first things I did was change out the oil, trans and differential replacing all three with full synthetic. At 48K miles all is well, runs smooth and cool. I change the oil and filter every 5K and do the trans and differential every 30K. That may be over killl but as noted oil is cheap.

When I switched out the trans fluid from dino to synthetic it dropped my fluid temps almost 10 per cent across the board {you "do" have a Scan gauge to monitor your trans fluid temps.... right?}.

:C

Now that I've given it more thought, using something to siphon it out would make life a lot easier.

It's not a difficult job just a bit time consuming. Make sure you remove all of the silicone that is used to seal the cover because silicone won't stick to old silicone. I couldn't find a gasket made for this purpose. Make double sure that the silicone you use is specifically for use with differential fluid. My cover started leaking after a couple years use and I always wondered if the wrong silicone was applied at the Ford factory. Didn't have to jack up the vehicle although it would've made things easier.

From a variety of sources, I believe the original lube might be dino oil and that has a very short change interval. If full synthetic as Drew states, permanently lubed unless contaminated or the chassis is under an ambulance.

The lube I came up with, after lots of investigation, 75W-140 Full Synthetic. I bought ours at Walmart under Supertech name, about $11 a quart bottle. Comparatively that's a very good price for those specs. Don't get the less expensive "blend" or the still cheaper dino oil. I want to say 5 quarts, which is about all a Walmart Supercenter stocks in that grade.

There's only a Fill/Level plug, no Drain Plug. For that reason, I decided NOT to pop the differential cover off to drain it, rather suction the lube out.

When we got home from a trip (so the lube was warm and agitated) I was ready with my "Oil Boy" which boaters use to suck the crankcase oil up and out of inboard engines through the dipstick.
Easier things to do than get that thing under there then pump it, but it wasn't really too bad.
Removed the Fill Plug, which is magnetized and noticed no shavings or chunks of steel stuck to it. Made sure it was full, sucked it till the Oil Boy couldn't get any more, kept re-positioning the suction tube to be sure. Then I emptied the OB and measured the amount to see if it matched the owner manual capacity. It did, so I figured it had to actually be empty, and put the new Supertech Full Syn in.
The bottles come with a squirty spout, which I cut off to the largest size I could and still fit a piece of hose that'd fit into the filler hole. I was able to get the bottles upside down and squeeze, not too bad to do, but if I was going to do it again I think I'd find a way to hold the bottles inverted and then punch a hole in the bottom. Let gravity do the squeezing and allow time for the clingage to drain out.
I worked on big cardboard scraps over my concrete pad. Job's a little messy, so an old plastic picnic table cloth, free Harbor Fright tarp, something like that would serve well. Just roll it up and throw it out.

So my next question is how hard is it to DIY or am I better off taking it to an actual service station ??
Do I need to jack the RV up or is this something that can be done with the coach on the pavement??

Check your chassis manual for the recommendation. On my '98 E-SuperDuty, which is what the E-450 was called then, the factory lubricant is synthetic and only needs replacement if the differential gets submerged in water, as I recall. Other differentials listed had different lubricants and service schedules.

classctioga73 wrote:
i have a 31' fleetwood class C on a 2000 triton v10 e450 super duty and i was told that i have to drain and replace the rear differential fluid. i have 50k miles on it and will be soon driving it almost 4000 miles while pulling a small tow vehicle. is it really necessary to replace the oil?

If it's somehow contaminated, Yes, however, as far the 50K reference, all I can find in my E450 manual, says to replace it at 50K specifically for a Class A Motorhome.