'06 Ram - LSD Fluid Replacement (R.P.)

[Reg# 43897]

Interested in any of your wisdom:

Just bought a hemi Ram with very little use on it. Has around 28,000 kms on the odo. Anyway, other than the dealer, there is precious little quality (read that "real") synthetic gear oil available locally. Actually, I doubt that the Mopar stuff is anything other than ridiculously priced Grp. lll oil. I checked my owners manual & it specifies that a synthetic 75w-90 or 80w-90 fluid be used in the front differential. The rear calls for a 140 weight. The rear is a 9.25" LSD. I found a place here that sells R.P. products that did not appear to be gouging & purchased the R.P. 75w-90. My questions are as follows. One, can I use the 90 weight oil that I bought? I expect that it will provide a decrease in rolling resistance. I do not foresee hauling much at all any time soon. Two, is a gasket available or am I cursed to using RTV? Three, what torque values to use to seal it up after the fact? I have two or three fl. ounces of LSD additive kicking around. The R.P. fluid bottle states that an additive is not required. Fourth question, should I use any additive? I have an unopened litre of Valvoline synthetic 75w-140 (Grp. lll I suspect?) kicking around. Lastly, should I use that mixed 50-50 with the R.P. 90 weight?

I await your thougts. And thanks!

John.

 

[JohnBrowning]

Yes you can use the 75W90 I belive that RP 75W90 willhandle the same Timken load as their 140W gear oil does. I had a Dakota with a 9.25 or 9 1/4 rear end and ran 75W90 in it with no problems. I do not rember what brand I ran though.

Yes you can get a gasket for it as well. Felpro makes a fiber gasket for it but you have to go back quite a few years to find it. Dodge has used the 9.25 rear end for a long long time. I might still have one out in the pole barn if I rember I will look for it tomorrow and let you know the part number. I got mine at Autozone.

 

[Reg# 43897]

Thank you John. Wasn't the rear end of a Dakota an 8 & a 1/4? At least that's what was in my old '92 Dakota anyways. The AZ part will be of no assistance to me here, but thanks for trying...

John.

 

[JohnBrowning]

No mine was 4x4 SLT+ Quad Cab 4.7V8 with the towing package Heavy Duty everything and wheel and tire package. I had a 9 1/4.I had to go to the Dr. today then trick or treating with my boys so I did not make it out to the pole barn today. I am guessing your 92 Dakota was a not a 4x4?? My Dakota was a 2001.

 

[Reg# 43897]

The Dak was a '92 4x4 with a 318. Had an 8 1/4 LSD rear end, which is the same rear end as our new Liberty CRD. It was as heavy as the Dakota was being built at the time, with tow package, cooling, suspension, etc.

I changed out the fluid in the Ram yesterday. I'm glad that I did - the fluid was the factory fill & while it didn't appear to have been beaten too badly, there was a fair bit of metal flake at the bottom around the magnet. Never did find a gasket - everybody around here seems to use RTV. So that's what I did too - hate working with that stuff. I can see somebody perhaps pumping out the old fluid from here on out but NOT the first time. No way to clean out the break-in metallic deposit at the bottom. I let the RTV set overnight without any oil in it & I will fill it a little later today. I'll tackle the front later.

John.