Is there any merit to changing your differental fluid immediately upon purchase?

Was sitting down with my coworkers, and as i have purchased a new Tacoma recently trucks was on the point of conversation. One suggested i change my diff fluid immediately as there are usually a bit of metal left that may come out which i am aware of. He also said he knows a tacoma service tech, and he stated that he had recommended people do that before as well. so my question is,

Is there any merit to changing your diff fluid immediately upon purchase?

I currently have about 500 miles on it, i feel like maybe after 1-2k i should look into putting new fluid in.

 

I'd just use standard published intervals unless you're towing or in a dirty environment. Just think, even the ones that are going to warranty it, don't even suggest it.
If I thought it was such a shoddy built POS, I wouldn't have bought it in the first place.

 

Nope, I wouldn’t change it before 5k.
The gear set needs to break in. Changing it immediately isn’t going to do much.

Sure you could change it sooner. And it won’t hurt anything.
But I feel it’s time and money wasted.

Personally, if you aren’t towing a lot. I wouldn’t worry about it until 15k.
Then every 30k.

 

I changed mine at 1,000; because new gear break-in...
There have been a few with this in their diff.

 

I have a 2021 and changed ALL my oils. Engine oil at 1,000 and the diffs, transfer and transmission all at 3,000. I was shocked to find the magnetic plug on the front diff coated with shavings. If you don’t mind the effort and cost I certainly believe in doing it.

 

If you are asking if you should do it- I think you should do it. Some people, probably very few, prefer to change their oils early. Others will stick to Toyota recommended OICs and there will be others who extend the miles beyond that. All of us will be fine regardless what we do so I think it all comes down to what makes you comfortable, including the cost.

If you intend to turn the truck over around 100k you could easily do 25k oil changes because the truck is built to last. However, if you intend to keep it longer, and possibly really long I’d consider shortening the intervals.

You will find feathers get ruffled about this question and what oil you should use, lol. Don’t quite know why because it isn’t their truck or money but they still will- buckle in. It really comes down to your personal comfort level because we are all wired a bit different. In the end, the truck will be fine if you don’t abuse it- and that’s probably difficult to do.

Enjoy your truck and welcome to TW. You WILL find there are a lot of smart people here that will be happy to help you figure everything out.

 

No there isn't or they would tell you to do it

 

In case you aren’t following these two already you might want to look them up.

https://youtu.be/ei5yC4IdDhs

https://youtu.be/-NrDqDclCE4

 

It wouldn't play too well with the 2-year 'free' service...Just sayin'.

 

Immediately? no. After about 5k? sure. Would I do it? nah. Did I end up doing it? Yeah, but only because I regeard.

 

move the diff breather

 

You will find many owners who don’t exercise the two year free whatever. Why might that be?

1. Not inconvenienced by having to go to the dealer.
2. Not having to have an 18 year old kid forget to tighten, reinstall, cross thread, over-tighten, and many more problems.
3. Some of us enjoy doing it ourselves and get peace of mind knowing we likely didn’t do it wrong.

 

Changed rear diff at 1k, then both diffs at 5k. I'm no engineer, but new gear oil at 5k is what I'd do.

 

Changed both at 44K, both plugs were clean..

 

Your coworker sounds like my buddy. He pretty much replaced all fluids at 5k, I just shook my head.

IMHO it’s completely unnecessary. I did my diffs at 18k miles, rear looked almost like new and the front was pretty dark looking.

FWIW, I never changed front diff fluid on my ranger. Sold it at 165k miles and it drove like new.

Most folks don’t even bother with diff fluid changes, I wouldn’t worry about it too much man. Just follow the recommended service intervals and your diffs will pretty much last forever.

 

If someone drained their diff oil and found shavings in then I would pay attention. If all you found is on the magnet, cool it did it’s job. I’m good with recommended intervals until I see solid evidence from a number of others finding shavings in the drained oil.

 

But that’s what the magnetic plug is for? It’s not like shavings are floating in the fluid.

My front and rear diff magnetic plugs were coated with fine shavings, didn’t bother me one bit.

 

Had my ranger for 7 years/165k miles and never changed the front diff fluid.

Not saying it’s the best idea, but still.

Truck drove amazing by the way.

 

You are absolutely correct. I just didn’t expect to find the amount I did at only 3,000 miles.

 

Toyota says it’s normal.