Rear differential level on 2024 3500 L8T

[Another JR]

On 1/10/2026 at 10:40 AM, Chuck FB said:

 

I thought of it after my comment last night, was the Amsoil you used in the 1 quart bottles and if so did you have a bottle pump or one of those bottle hose adapters to then hold the bottle above and upside down to pour in the oil. I had bought some of those squeeze packs ( of course they end up costing more ) of the severe gear 75W-90 for when I do change the diff oil and the only reason I bought them was to see if I liked using them or if it was not worth the premium price. The problem with a squeeze pack is that there is no way of knowing how much is taken out or still in the pack unlike a bottle that is easy to see with the clear strip and markings that most bottles today have. It was the same situation years ago when plastic oil containers had no markings or if they did they didn't have a clear strip to visually see the level. 

 

Also another item and as per the video you linked, he went through the process of using new thread locker on the cover bolts and while it does seem odd that a diff cover should require thread locker, what was your thoughts on that and if you used some blue thread locker for example or just cleaned ( solvent ) the bolts if needed and left on the old thread locker residue as they were and reinstalled them. With 29 lb-ft of torque on the bolts, I have a hard time visualizing the bolts backing out, it can't be as critical as you doing jobs like installing a prop on an aircraft and having to wire fasten every bolt head or do GM diffs vibrate that much ? LOL. 

I think maybe you added your question about thread locker in an edit after I previously responded. I missed that question. 
 

There definitely was thread locker (a whitish material) on the bolts from the factory. I cleaned them and used a blue medium strength thread locker. I think it was Loctite Blue, but it might have been Permatex. 
 

 

[Chuck FB]

1 hour ago, Another JR said:

I think maybe you added your question about thread locker in an edit after I previously responded. I missed that question. 
 

There definitely was thread locker (a whitish material) on the bolts from the factory. I cleaned them and used a blue medium strength thread locker. I think it was Loctite Blue, but it might have been Permatex. 
 

 

 

Its very possible I may have slipped that question in as an after thought thinking you had not read the post yet. I have gotten the impression that they turn out pretty hard on the first go of taking out the cover bolts installed at the factory and I can only speculate myself that they use thread locker due to the gasket system. Yet still they are torqued to 29 lb ft on the rear cover if I recall correctly from a youtube video talking about the torque values and seems odd that they would have reason to back out. Its hard to say what strength loctite they used as thread locker tends to turn that white color as it powders up and can't always get a handle on what it was for color. 

 

I've used a wire wheel on a bench grinder to clean off bolts sometimes and that may not always be the right thing to do as even a wire wheel can slightly wear threads and also strips any anti corrosive layer that may still exist on the bolt. Do that and then I often will spray a bit of brake cleaner into blind holes and blow compressed air right after that to get rid of any oil that found its way into the holes as it will on the lower holes on a diff. Using the blue loctite should certainly do the trick though and my go to for typical things is 242. I rarely use the red loctite for the obvious reasons !.