Life Time Gear Oil

burrellsjeep

burrellsjeep

Breaking Stuff...
Joined
Nov 19, 2008
Location
Morganton NC
So I took my Tow rig / DD in for service yesterday, Standard stuff Oil, Trans Flush and Filter, and so on. Well I asked them to check the rear end oil (Ford Expedition 99'). They told me that they would.

Well he called me and informed me that the rear end oil was a life time oil and never need replacing unless its been submerged in water (Mine never has). I know the shop owner well and feel he is doing the correct thing. I have just never heard of such oil.

So has anyone ever heard of lift time gear oil??
 
Don't know about your model specifically, but a friend has an 05 F150 FX4, when he got it, he wanted to switch to all synthetic fluids as soon as it was broken in. After getting specs on what fluids it had from the factory so that he could purchase the synthetic equivalent, the rearend had a full synthetic fluid as factory fill. I don't know what "0lifetime" is supposed to mean, but a good full synthetic would last longer than the time 99% of people own their truck.

There is a good chance you could have a synthetic also.
 
I call horse hockey.

There are plenty vehicles that go their lives (200k +) without ever having the diff fluid changed. But.......

The more horsepower and weight on the vehicle justifies changing the diff fluid more often. Given it's an Expedition (already heavy + your occasional trailor and vehicle) and you're putting some power to the wheels to move that tank (even more when towing) I wouldn't take any chances.

I would probably change it every 50-100k (depending on driving habits) just to be on the safe side.
 
What the manufacturer means by "lifetime fluid" is the lifetime of the unit. Thus if you change the fluid you extend the lifetime of the unit. Change it like said above and odds are you won't have any problems ever. (Barring any unforeseen circumstances like leaks or impacts etc). Don't change it, and when the fluid wears out, shortly thereafter, the unit will wear out. My advice is to change it at regular intervals.
 
Lifetime meaning it will last until the government does another cash for clunkers program.

A "lifetime" oil is, in my opinion, a marketing and laziness ploy. If you need to change your engine oil so often, why would the diff never need changing. Both oils undergo cyclical stress and heat, just at different levels and rates.
 
I run the stuff that dad brings home from work. I think it is full synthetic CITGO 75W-90 gear oil. Anyway if its good enough to run in a road tractor pulling 80,000 pounds for over 750,000 miles than I think its just fine for my tow rig. Hell I put it in my Toyota tranny and t-case when I first got it and over six years later when I put my dual cases in it was still just as clean and new as it was from day one, and yes I used to dd it.

Tacoma747 did you take the time to clean all the old oil and sludge out before you filled it up or did you just drain it and refill it? That could have been why it was so dirty.
 
Tacoma747 said:
The rearend oil in my 99' F-250 was "lifetime" oil, but it sure looked pretty dirty when I drained it and put in fresh. Be ready to a hit to the wallet though, mine took about 3-4 qts of 75-140 full synthetic, about $17/quart...
Click to expand...

Quite often you can find good deals online. I've bought Redline synthetics for $10 per quart with free shipping on a minimum($50) order.
 
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