Front Diff and Transfer Case Oil Change Howto

Did the rear/transfer/front this past weekend. Had done the rear and transfer 30k ago, but this was the first time doing the front for me. Put the entire truck on stands which made doing the front MUCH easier (for a stock height Taco). Even with the extra room, didn't really have enough room to maneuver the breaker bar how I needed, so I ended up buying a DeWALT DCF923 impact wrench just to get the front drain plug out, which it did effortlessly. Excellent thread OP!

 

Toyota's gear oil is expensive. I just picked up 5 quarts of Redline 75W85 for $20/ea.

 

$20 a quart?

 

Why do some members have lines threw their names?

 

Black lines are people that are either on suspension or got kicked off of TW because of their behavior. Blue lines can mean the are Officers of the law or want to fully support the officers of the law.

 

From what I've researched, MT90 is GL-4 and highly recommended for the transfer case and manual transmission. Redline 75W90 is GL-5 and highly recommended for the front and rear differential. I'm changing all of my gear oils this weekend along with propeller shaft greasing.

 

Just did mine with amsoil severe gear 75w90. It feels good to know there's a quality oil in it.

This guide was invaluable, thank you. I have 130k and I don't know if this has been done before but I'm guessing so because I got everything out with a standard 18 in. breaker bar. Only advice I have to give is make damn sure that drain plug socket is all the way in, I halfway rounded mine at first.

 

Front diff drain plug was a bear! Finally used a 24" breaker bar and a short stem 10mm hex socket, half inch drive and it broke loose. Replaced both the filler and drain plugs with the Lexus 14mm hex head, New crush and copper gaskets, properly torqued and life is good!

 

Can someone please confirm if this will work for the transfer case in front diff?

 

The owners manual for my truck says

$29 75w-90 Synthetic Gear Lube - 1 Quart (Pack of 2)

75w-90 for the transfer case and 75w-85 for the differentials. I personally use 75w-90 for both differentials and the transfer case, never had an issue.

 

Thats what I use in my Tacoma every couple years and 225000 miles later still works great the best truck I have ever owned that's for sure

 

I used Amsoil this time . 75-90 Extreme ,
seems a reasonable price,
comes in collapsable bags, if you don't have a pump, very convenient.

 

Just did my fronts, Makita 1/2" impact gun would not budge them.
Used 2 hours soak of WD 40,
then I tried this , used a chisel, they loosened easily .
Hope it helps someone along the way, had the MAP torch ready,,,.
1st time trying the cold spray.
Replaced plugs with the Lexus model, 14mm hex head.

 

i just got my super clean 2015 tacoma trd OR with 87k miles...and was planning on doing the diffs and tcase. i have done it before on my 2004 4runner years ago. i am actually hesitating now though, because i test my transfer case switching into 4h, 4l, rear locker and it was instant, fastest switching into the systems i ever experienced. almost thinking of if it isnt broken dont fix it, for the tcase...anyone agree lol?

 

had the same year and model. I would still do all because thats how i am. But to answer your question, definitely do the rear. My guess is tcase is still pretty new looking, same with front diff

 

i like that, thanks
front diff a tough call, but she did come from az and warm states (not northern snow)
so i guess ill assume the front diff hasnt spun much...thanks again

 

I miss my 2015 OR, it was a good truck. Dont forget, it may be lowerish miles, but its old fluid. The back will be dark, and if it went fishing at all the rear's been dunked. The vent for it doesnt extend up unless it was modded. The vent is right on the diff itself and can fail i suppose.

 

thanks and good points. ill do the rear, i just couldnt improve the tcase transfer whatsoever, it was instantly changing and locking rear diff, something my 2004 t4r (now coworkers) didnt do. i doubt the 4x4 front end was used much from what i can tell, prob fine up front too, but maybe ill do front and rear diff... i extended diff breather on my t4r, into my tailight, and it worked well for many trips wheeling, under water. we do run a lot of deep water trails (no snorkel needed if you create a bow wake), but i looked into diff breather mod again recently for my new truck and theres a good amount of data now mentioning condensation forms in extending breathers and settles on the nipple, and is worse than just running it how toyota designed. just read a bunch about that the other night

so im choosing not to do that mod this time around

hello fellow masshole, im close to freetown forest wheeling

 

I would do them all. You're already under there and it's cheap insurance.

 

i probably will, few threads up as devils advocate, people cold chiseling off the hardware lol

as i mentioned too, the transfer case couldnt perform better, tough call on that honestly, the millisecond i switched to 4h and 4l it was engaged. actually made me say 'damn' out loud haha, my old t4r took much longer to engage