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When changing the Diff. fluid...

12ga diesel

12ga diesel

Jack of all, Master of none
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McHenry,IL
on my Ram, there is not a drain plug on the bottom of the differential like on the Chevys, so I have to take the cover on both the front and rear. My question is, do I need to replace any kind of gasket when I pull the cover off and drain the fluid and then put it back on? Also, if I want to go to a Mag HiTec Diff Cover, is there a need for that one as well?
 
I have the same issue on my '83 K20.

I pull the dif cover, scrape the old gasket remnants off, clean the gears with brake cleaner, and then use Permatex RTV sealant in place of a new gasket. Be sure that the RTV goes on the inner side of the bolt holes.
 
On some occasions the RTV has deteriorated after awhile for me. I'd see if there is a factory gasket and get a new one for it. As new as your truck is Dave, it might be RTV'd already. If so, that means they held the surface flatness on the cover when it was made. The older stamped sheet metal ones were anything but flat!
 
The mag-hytec cover uses a standard -280(IIRC) o-ring in a gland milled in the cover. No need for any other gasket or sealant. Plus the cover has a drain plug also.
 
I know that when I did my diff fluids...on my jeep (I think I did it on my 01 D2500), and I just did my rear diff on my 96 K2500, I used the RTV...and on the K2500 I don't think the diff cover had ever been taken off and it was a pain to scrape off (my g/f spent about an hr? scraping at it) - and finally (feeling sorry I made her do it) I took a fine sanding disc on my grinder and cleaned off both surfaces in less than 5 min. RTV'd - and was fine on the dodge & jeep - haven't had a chance to check the chevy yet. Checked it w/in 16 hrs and put in maybe a half a quart more into it?
 
saratoga said:
The mag-hytec cover uses a standard -280(IIRC) o-ring in a gland milled in the cover. No need for any other gasket or sealant. Plus the cover has a drain plug also.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the replys guys. I'm looking at the Mag-hytec because of the o-ring it has, so that would take care of doing anything with a gasket. Have the new fluid, now I'm thinkin of getting the mag-hytec because of it having the drain plug, much easier to service. Thinking of getting one for the front diff as well. Plus, it holds 8 quarts.
 
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