Submerged Axles on 2005 F350

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Rod Hanson - 26 May 2005 05:06 GMT

I Forded a stream or two during some trail crawling recently. A friend
mentioned that after submerging the axle, the gear oil must be
replaced...according to the manual. The axles were indeed in the water, but
water was not over the top of the vent tube. Time in the water to just over
the ends of the axles totaled less than two minutes.
Then I went to Ford for some gear oil.
Twenty-two dollars a quart!
And there is no drain plug on the differential.

Can anyone here shed some light here on:
Positive indications of contamination in synthetic oil
Best buy on new oil
Likelyhood of a true problem
Warranty issues if I switch to a non synthetic oil.

Thankyou

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The OTHER Kevin in San Diego - 26 May 2005 06:42 GMT

>I Forded a stream or two during some trail crawling recently. A friend
>mentioned that after submerging the axle, the gear oil must be
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> Likelyhood of a true problem
> Warranty issues if I switch to a non synthetic oil.

I've been in water above the centerline of the axles on my '02 F350
several times. Haven't had an issue thus far, but I've followed
Ford's maintenance schedule to the letter in my 67,000 miles. I
haven't purchased Ford brand oil tho. I don't recall the brand off
hand, (probably Mobil1 'cuz that's what I've used in the engine since
the 1st change) but it met all the Ford specs and had the proper
friction modifiers for the limited slip diff. I provided the oil to
my mech and let him change it out. (easier for him to deal with the
mess and he only zinged me $20 for both axles)

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Rod Hanson - 27 May 2005 02:14 GMT

On my 2005 F350 with the Ford 10.5" rear end, the synthetic gear oil
apparently never needs changing unless the axle has been 'submerged'. The
front diff falls under another schedule. It gets swapped at 150K miles
unless the axle has been 'submerged'.
If you do extreme duty or you have Dana's everything changes.

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SnoMan - 27 May 2005 17:35 GMT

>On my 2005 F350 with the Ford 10.5" rear end, the synthetic gear oil
>apparently never needs changing unless the axle has been
>’submerged’. The
>front diff falls under another schedule. It gets swapped at 150K miles
>unless the axle has been ’submerged’.
>If you do extreme duty or you have Dana’s everything changes.

SYN or not, 150k is to long for lube in a rear axle in a truck as it
picks up contaminants and wear particals and there is no filtering
system. Any lube gets dirty. On being under water, simple pull fill
plug on diff when warm after a trip and look for presence of foaming
in lube or a bit of milkyness to it. If it has theses then it has
water in it and should be changed. A much bigger concern in the front
axle hubs and bearing as they are not vented and when they are warm
and then fully submerged they can sometime pull some water in past
seals for a partail vacum formed for rapid cooling in water of hot
hub. If you run in water a lot you need to teardown and insept the
condition of fron hubs on a Ford or old truck that has a solid front
axle with lockout hubs too.

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351CJ - 27 May 2005 09:12 GMT

>I Forded a stream or two during some trail crawling recently. A friend
> mentioned that after submerging the axle, the gear oil must be
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
>
> Thankyou

Rod,

If ya wanna play, ya gotta pay! :-)
You have to change the gear lube in both of your axel assembles. Oil seals
are NOT water tight. With no drain plug you have to pull the cover (or if
you don't have a cover, pull both axels and the 3rd member).

Changing the gear oil is a whole lot easier and less expensive than
rebuilding or replacing your axel assembles. DO NOT switch to a non
synthetic oil, you are driving a $35,000+ truck why scrimp on $60 dollars
worth of synthetic oil???

Good Luck

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Rod Hanson - 28 May 2005 04:48 GMT

Thanks for the replies.
Now all I need is a ream of gaskets and two barrels of gear oil.
Why not switch to a non synthetic oil?
It seems like an alternative if it is replaced regularly

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SnoMan - 06 Jun 2005 18:32 GMT

>Thanks for the replies.
>Now all I need is a ream of gaskets and two barrels of gear oil.
>Why not switch to a non synthetic oil?
>It seems like an alternative if it is replaced regularly

This a waste of money (using syn) because syn gear oil gets dirty and
wet just as easy as dino oil and you can change axle oil 3 or 4 time
for the price of one syn change and frequent changes is what keeps
axles and gear cases alive in harsh environemnts, not they type of oil
you use. In a engine it is dbateable because it is filtered but in a
closed axle or gear case it need to be changed regularly if you want
long service life in harsh conditions.

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Steve - 07 Jun 2005 06:30 GMT

Napa sells "Right Stuff" gasket material. Like rtv, but not/ 15.00 a can
but well worth it. Most rear ends don't use any paper gaskets, just the
spread on type.

Signature

Stephen W. Hansen
ASE Certified Master Automobile Technician
ASE Undercar Specialist

> Thanks for the replies.
> Now all I need is a ream of gaskets and two barrels of gear oil.
> Why not switch to a non synthetic oil?
> It seems like an alternative if it is replaced regularly

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SnoMan - 07 Jun 2005 18:36 GMT

> DO NOT switch to a non
>synthetic oil, you are driving a ,000+ truck why scrimp on
>dollars
>worth of synthetic oil???

Wasted money as old dino gear oil (properly graded for use) will do
just fine and I have never lost or wore out a properly sized rear axle
using it. It is a myth that you need syn gear oil for your 35k + truck
to last. The rest of the truck will give up long beter the diff’s do
when you use dino oil in them. I have a 79 J20 jeep that has never had
syn oil in diffs and it has had a HARD life haul, plowing snow and
pulled stock and grain trailers and it diffs are still tight and
quiet. Plus like I said earlier, syn oil get dirty and full of water
just as easily as dino oil and it is a lot more economical and viable
to change the oil for 8 or 10 buck after running in water than 4 or 5x
more because it is these changes that will keep it alive not the use
of syn.

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