Does this make sense to anyone?
 

My owner’s guide says don’t change rear differential fluid unless there’s a leak or the axle has been submerged in water. It states it has synthetic oil that doesn’t need maintenance. This just doesn’t make sense to me for a pickup made to haul and tow. I’m going to change it anyway because I bought it used and don’t know what’s happened to it in the past. Is this odd to anyone else that Ford would recommend never to change that fluid? Metal against metal is the same whether in engine, transmission, etc. and those fluids must be changed, right?

If I read my manual correctly, it says don't service the transmission until 150,000 miles. Dealer says 60,000

I'm not sure what my manual says about transmission but 150k seems a little long, I'd go with the dealer. I'm wondering though about never changing the rear differential, just doesn't seem logical.

Almost all vehicles are recommending that now. In addition to my F-150 I have a Tacoma with 172,000 miles on it. The AT fluid and coolant has never been changed. Toyota does not recommend ever changing the AT fluid. There isn't even a dipstick to check it. The transfer case and both axles were not changed until about 5,000 miles ago and probably didn't need it then.

WOW, that just bothers me. I trust and know that the manufacturers know what they are doing, it just goes against years of what I've known. The technology must be great or they're expecting people to only keep a vehicle 250k. My dad drove a Ford pickup for over 40 years, put 2 new engines in it. I just can't grasp my mind around having a vehicle with 500k+ and not changing some of the fluids. I just need to let the idea soak in. Thanks for the info.

Consider that the original fluid will get you through the warranty period....

Yea, that may be the thinking of the manufacturers. Maybe I don't trust them as much as I thought. With all our technology today, we still only get less than 20 mpg on many trucks, I just don't buy that.

Yep. They refer to these fluids as "lifetime". To me, that means they can fail at anytime, which is their "lifetime".

I also think it states in the owners manual that these recommended fluid changes are for normal driving. If you tow or haul with the truck, it falls under a different catagory (heavy duty), and a different change interval is suggested.

In any event, I'd say its good to use old school maintenance on these items if you plan to hold onto the truck for a longer period of time. If you trade it in every 3 to 4 years, then it becomes someone else's concern.

On vehicles that have drain plugs ( easy to replace ) there is no good reason NOT to replace fluids. Why risk a multi thousand dollar machine on an inexpensive fluid change?

Minus the drain plug or if its more labor intensive its still worth the effort especially if you keep your vehicle.

It's always a battle between the bean counters, salesmen, and engineers.


Bean counters will say that most of their customers will change vehicles every few years, so why make something that will last longer than that? Hence your 3 year/36000 mile warranty.
Salesmen want to say that fluid changes and other maintenance items are "lifetime" so no need to change it. Makes for a great sales pitch.
Engineers will say change your fluids on a regular basis and use high quality products to ensure the best possible performance.


Get those guys together and you'll get a truck with no fluid changes required sold to a customer that will trade in the vehicle after 3 or 4 years.