Easy way to drain oil in 9 inch rear diff?

[stangdano]

Does anyone know of an easy way to drain the rear diff on a 9 inch rear? It doesn't have a drain plug and I'm not much in the mood to pull the axles and split the housing apart. Any help is appreciated.

[RCrawler]

THere is a tool available called a suction gun. Looks like a grease gun without the pump handle. You can stick the hose into the fill hole and suck out the old oil. You will not get all of it by doing it this way, but it will be close enough to make the new oil new.

Jason

[Bush_aholic]

I would pull the rear housing either way, I would much rather know I was able to take a glance at the gears and inspect for any unusual wear and have a fresh RTV seal. IMO

I might be missing something here, but you said pull the axles apart, can't you just pull the rear diff cover nothing else?

[1975StroppeBaja]

Originally Posted by Bush_aholic

I might be missing something here, but you said pull the axles apart, can't you just pull the rear diff cover nothing else?

Not on a 9" rear. Its a third member where the ring, pinion, carrier, etc all comes out of the housing as an assembly. Its not like a Dana 60 or Dana 44 or most other differentials.

[Bush_aholic]

That's good to know, I can see why he wouldn't want to take it apart just for an oil change.

[stangdano]

Thanks for all of the feedback, everyone!
I tried using a suction gun but didn't have any luck. There's really no clearance between the ring gear and the side of the housing to get the tube down to the bottom of the diff. I also tried using the old siphon method, but that seemed like it would take way too long, not to mention it didn't taste so good.
So I came up with an interesting way to get most of the oil out easily. I have the truck up on jack stands and I noticed that if I spin the driveshaft, a little oil was coming out. So I started it up and put it in reverse and let the truck idle the oil out. Probably not the best way, but without being able to get the suction gun in there and not feeling like getting another mouthful of oil, it seemed like a decent idea.
The only possible bad side is that I'm not sure that I got all of the oil out, but I'll try to siphon it again and see if any more comes out.
Again, thanks for the feedback.

[dodmort]

Well
i was told how foolish i was for doing this but..
i drilled a very small hole in the back bottom curve of the housing and put in a very small screw with a washer and put a little sealant on it.
in 1986
so far i have had not a problem one...
reason is that it gets submerged in water 55-60 times a year and i like to change fluid....a lot..

[Fordteamone]

I have had good luck on two different 9" with drilling and tapping a 1/8" pipe plug.