How To Differential Fluid Change – Jeep Wrangler JK (2007-2018)

How Often Should I Replace My Differential Fluid?
Jeep recommends changing the differential fluid every 40,000 miles or 4 years in your Jeep Wrangler JK. If you off road your jeep they recommend replacing the gear oil every 15,000 miles. This is especially important if you have submerged your axles.
What Is Needed?
Replacing the differential fluid in your JK is an easy task and only takes some basic hand tools. The tools and materials you will need are:
3/8″ Drive Ratchet
3/8″ Drive Short Extension
Drain Pan
Rags
Torque Wrench
Gear Oil
Teflon Tape

Capacities
Capacities differ between the different wrangler models.
Rubicon (Dana 44)
Front: 1.35 quarts (1.3 liters)
Rear: 2.375 quarts (2.25 liters)
Not Rubicon (Dana 30/35)
Front: 1.05 quarts (1.0 liters)
Rear: 1.75 quarts (1.7 liters)
In total I would get 4 quarts to replace the gear oil in a Rubicon and 3 quarts if you do not have a Rubicon.
What Type Of Oil Should I Use
Jeep recommends using 80W-90 in both the front and rear axles unless if you’re doing any towing, then they recommend using 75W-140 in the rear axle.
I run 75W-140 in both axles. From my research this may give you slightly less gas milage but won’t damage the axles in any way.

How To Guide
To start off you’re going to want to ensure your jeep is on level ground. This will ensure that we do not add too much or too little oil to the differential. We can now crawl underneath the vehicle and locate both the fill and drain plugs. I will be stating with the front axle but it does not matter the order you do this in.
Ensure you have a drain pan underneath the differential. Even though we will start with the fill plug, oil may still come out. Start by loosening the fill plug using the box end of your 3/8″ ratchet. This plug is the only way to add oil back into your axle so, by taking it off first, you can ensure that you’re able to put oil back into your differential once it is drained. Otherwise you run the risk of draining your oil and having a damaged fill plug. This would make it so you’re jeep cannot be driven until the axle is repaired. My fill plug was pretty tight so I used a 3/8″ breaker bar to help loosen it.

With the fill plug out we can now loosen the drain plug and drain the oil from the differential.

While the oil is draining, take this time to clean both the fill and drain plugs. The drain plug has a magnet on it to collect any metal floating around in your axle. Take a rag and wipe all this off and ensure the plug is clean. It is normal for this plug to have fine metal partials on it but, if you have any chunks you have a problem and this will need to be addressed.

With the plugs cleaned. Take some Teflon tape and wrap it around both plugs 2-3 times.

Once the oil is finished draining we can reinstall the drain plug. Reminder: the drain plug is the one with the magnet. The drain plug gets torqued down to 25 ft-lbs.

We will now fill the axle up with oil. The oil level is correct when the top of the oil is at the bottom of the fill hole. So, keep adding oil until it starts to come out of the hole.

Now that the axle is filled, we can reinstall the fill plug. Like the drain plug, this gets torqued down to 25 ft-lbs.

Replacing the gear oil in the rear axle is the exact same process as the front axle. Your Jeep is now ready to hit the road or trails!