When should I change my diff oil?

I was just looking in the schedule in the maintenance guide and I done see "replace rear/front differential oil" anywhere between 0-120k miles for normal driving.

I've often heard 30k as a general rule of thumb but what does Toyota recommend?

 

I changed (flushed out) mine at 10k miles. I also changed the PCV at 20k and the OM doesn't say to ever changed it either, so there's that too.

Enjoy your truck

 

30k is when I did mine, front and rear. Didn't look bad. Probably could have went a little further, but it is easy and cheap enough to not have to worry about it. Going to wait a few more thousand to do transfer case as I'm going to the beach soon and will be in 4wd a bunch.

 

I’m still battling my drain plug on the front. That Allen is so dumb. Two days at the shop before they punted. Gonna try the dealer.

I’d do fluids early on a new truck just to get the program down and make sure bolts are torqued to proper spec. And swap the Allen’s to hex head on the front. Lots of good advice in various threads here.

 

I'd say 121k if you don't off-road a ton

 

is this like the Price is Right? I'll go with 1 mile Bob!

 

Get a hammer and tap on the plug, then unscrew it.

 

I waited till 48k and the fluid still had a good color to it with minimal build up on the magnet. Probably could have gone another 48k but at least I won’t have to worry about it for a while

 

Yes, I’ve had the instructions. It needs a lift and breaker bar and maybe something welded on at this point. I never got a good angle on it in my driveway.

 

^

I’ve seen people replace the drain plug with a fill plug to not mess with the Allen one.

 

I changed mine yesterday at 30,000. Easiest rear diff service I've ever done. I'm a Jeep guy (79 Cherokee, 90 Grand Wagoneer, 01 Wrangler TJ), so always dealt with Dana axles requiring removal of the diff cover, cleaning and re-applying RTV. Front wasn't bad either, but I had to remove all the skids. I have a heavy duty set of allen head and torx bits (damn you Jeep!) that fit a 1/2" drive breaker bar. Makes quick work of the front diff fill and drain plugs.

There was a lot of metal in my gear oil. No chunks, flakes, big pieces, but you could definitely tell it went through a brake-in period. Wish I did much sooner, but here we are.

My opinion is it should be done after 1-2K miles on a new truck. Then every 30K if you do anything (wheel, tow, etc.) but DD your truck. And use quality synthetic gear oil. I highly recommend Amsoil Severe Gear.

 

Yep, I have that too. It’s definitely the plan. I’m just stuck after doing a little bit of mangling despite going in reasonably well aware of the trickiness. Best to attack early I think. I got my truck used so I’m pretty sure the plug has been in place for 5 years.

 

Just drill and tap the center and add a fumoto valve lol

 

I changed mine @ 10k as it should be well broken in to be flushed. Also, if anything is to go wrong or defective, the stealer can't claim I screwed it up with non TOYOTA oil, as I prefer Mobil 1.

 

Did mine with full synthetic at 40K and everything looked a bit dark, but I don't know what color the factory fill was. The synthetic was clear so when I did it again, at 120K, I could see if there was any change. The rear diff was dark, but not terrible. I didn't feel bad about doing it. The front diff was much lighter and probably had another 20K+ left in it. The transfer case was virtually clear, just the slightest hint of color. (Which could have been caused by mixing with the remaining factory fill.).


LPT buy your oil in these bags. Made the change much easier because you can literally squeeze the oil in. I'd never seen them before and they are about a million times better than the old school bottles.

 

I've always done mine at 30k miles, but those differentials held less than a couple quarts, maybe the reason for longer change intervals on these tacoma's. At any rate i'll likely stick with 30k miles.

 

I almost rounded off my front diff drain plug. I had to buy a new one and re install to make sure I can get it out next time. Stupid Allen’s head.

 

These are the real LPT, they don't leak and can be used for other stuff, like power steering flush, trans etc.


Mityvac MVA6851 Fluid Extractor, Manual, 7-1/2 in. L White, Black

$35 Mityvac MVA6851 7oz Fluid Evacuator Extractor and Dispensing Syringe, Lightweight, Easy to Clean, 7-1/2" Flexible Tube, Non-drip Cap, for Master Cylinders, Transaxles, Power Steering and Coolant

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MPQ8RBG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_YTJZMXNMDKZA94R27T4D

 

I did the rear at 2k or 3k miles, and it was dark grey with nice metallic speckles.

I ended up using this stuff.

https://www.amsoil.com/p/severe-gear-75w-110-svt/

 

Front diff 14mm hex drain plug Lexus PN 90341-24016.
Front diff 14mm hex fill plug Lexus PN 90341-18060.

PN's courtesy of turbodb A Front Diff Drain (and Fill) Plug that Doesn’t Suck – ADVENTURETACO and jowett Front diff drain plug alternate OEM part | Page 5 | Tacoma World

Picked up both plus washers at my local Lexus dealer this morning for $35.