Mileage for first rear differential fluid change?

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When should I perform the first rear differential fluid change on my RAM?

For reference:
BMW recommends the first rear diff service on their M vehicles at 1200 miles.
Honda recommends the first rear diff fluid service on their iVTM-4 systems around 10K (usually at their 2nd oil change).

I am thinking 5K. Thoughts?
 
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Have done between 10k-20k and the magnets are loaded up …
At 17k … oil from the front differential on the Tahoe looked like aluminum paint.
 
If in doubt do it and sleep easy at night. Myself, I never did a differential oil change before 40k and never had a differential problem either. The magnetic fill plug only had a small amount of sludgy junk on it, no metal flakes.
 
Do it at the 5k use their oil, sleep like a baby. I did them at just over 10k on our new truck and I was amazed the old oil looked again like silver paint coming out. It supposedly normal and from the break in but Ive never seen that b4.....
 
I want to say I did the diffs and transfer case on my Silverado at 17,000 miles. Nothing really looked “bad”. Transfer case had some metal on it, which is normal for first fluid change with GM, other than that everything looked fine. Think I ended up changing everything again 30,000 miles later. I’m the type that loves to be proactive with maintenance and I tend to over maintain vehicles. I also exchanged the tranny fluid at that point, then did a pan drop and filter change around 47,000 miles. Now, coolant I won’t touch until 100,000 miles though.
 
I waited until 70,000 on my '05 Sport Trac's "lifetime" fluid. There wasn't much of it, and it was very thick and black. Having seen that, I bumped it back to 30,000 on the '15 Canyon. It was pretty polluted. Front diff looked like brand new oil, but I changed it anyway. It'll all get done again at 60,000.
 
I think I was around that 100,000km mark when did it on my 2011 1500. Gear set looked pristine.

Just wait and take your time. No rush.
 
I did the one in the Mustang at 5,000 miles. Mine has drain and fill plugs so I didn't take the cover off. This next time around I might pop the cover off and clean whatever I found out.

On the Silverado I ordered a B&M cover and LubeLocker gasket for the 9.5" diff in that. I am debating getting a Detroit Locker for it while I am in there. It already has 3.73 gears that I am happy with.
 
Y'all know about the low mileage Ranger I bought nearly a year ago. I finally broke 50K miles.
I was planning on diff fluid changes (have the gear oil and LSD treatment in hand) and pumpkin clean-out.
Now all this talk of "silver paint" has me freaked!

I'll let you know what I find.
 
As usual, I'll say it depends on your usage. If you're hauling or towing a lot, I'd change it out around 5k miles, maybe sooner. If you're just commuting/light usage, I'd go 10k miles or more before the first differential service. Pay close attention to the magnets and particles in the oil, base your next service on this condition and your actual usage vs the first interval.
 
I usually wait until 30k to drain diffs. Unless the OEM calls for an early change or the vehicle has been worked or raced.
 
I changed the factory fill in my 2017 3500HD Duramax at 21.5k miles. I was shooting for 20k but got busy and went a tad past it. I’ll probably do it again at about 50k, unless I get an itch to change it between now and then. I do tow heavy with this truck part of the time, gross weight with truck and trailer is over 30,000 lbs at times.
The truck has magnetic fill and drain plugs, I don’t intend to ever pull the cover except in the event of a leak. I aim to change it every 30k miles or so. Some might say that is too soon, but that’s less than $40 worth of gear oil every 3 years for me.
I changed the transfer case fluid at around 16k miles and the magnet was pretty full. It holds just under 2 quarts of Dexron VI ATF, so I might change it annually or roughly every 10k miles, at least until I start pulling the drain plug and liking what I see.

4380057F-1F8A-43BA-91F1-0634900B51A3.jpeg0DCE9DCC-4F0D-4DDC-9D3E-1A7DD3BD85F5.jpeg
 
I changed the factory fill in my 2017 3500HD Duramax at 21.5k miles. I was shooting for 20k but got busy and went a tad past it. I’ll probably do it again at about 50k, unless I get an itch to change it between now and then. I do tow heavy with this truck part of the time, gross weight with truck and trailer is over 30,000 lbs at times.
The truck has magnetic fill and drain plugs, I don’t intend to ever pull the cover except in the event of a leak. I aim to change it every 30k miles or so. Some might say that is too soon, but that’s less than $40 worth of gear oil every 3 years for me.
I changed the transfer case fluid at around 16k miles and the magnet was pretty full. It holds just under 2 quarts of Dexron VI ATF, so I might change it annually or roughly every 10k miles, at least until I start pulling the drain plug and liking what I see.

View attachment 25503View attachment 25505
If my fill/drain plug had all those shavings after 16k miles, I would be awake at night.
 
On a side note had pretty good luck with the mopar oem fluid on the trucks. A few of the heavy worked HD trucks amsoil worked better after some trials

the 1500 isn’t as hard on the fluids as the AAM units in the HD trucks but still not a bad idea to change every 20k or so
 
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