Submerged Axles on 2005 F350

I've been in water above the centerline of the axles on my '02 F350 several times. Haven't had an issue thus far, but I've followed Ford's maintenance schedule to the letter in my 67,000 miles. I haven't purchased Ford brand oil tho. I don't recall the brand off hand, (probably Mobil1 'cuz that's what I've used in the engine since the 1st change) but it met all the Ford specs and had the proper friction modifiers for the limited slip diff. I provided the oil to my mech and let him change it out. (easier for him to deal with the mess and he only zinged me $20 for both axles)

On my 2005 F350 with the Ford 10.5" rear end, the synthetic gear oil apparently never needs changing unless the axle has been 'submerged'. The front diff falls under another schedule. It gets swapped at 150K miles unless the axle has been 'submerged'. If you do extreme duty or you have Dana's everything changes.

Rod,

If ya wanna play, ya gotta pay! :-) You have to change the gear lube in both of your axel assembles. Oil seals are NOT water tight. With no drain plug you have to pull the cover (or if you don't have a cover, pull both axels and the 3rd member).

Changing the gear oil is a whole lot easier and less expensive than rebuilding or replacing your axel assembles. DO NOT switch to a non synthetic oil, you are driving a $35,000+ truck why scrimp on $60 dollars worth of synthetic oil???

Good Luck

Thanks for the replies. Now all I need is a ream of gaskets and two barrels of gear oil. Why not switch to a non synthetic oil? It seems like an alternative if it is replaced regularly

This a waste of money (using syn) because syn gear oil gets dirty and wet just as easy as dino oil and you can change axle oil 3 or 4 time for the price of one syn change and frequent changes is what keeps axles and gear cases alive in harsh environemnts, not they type of oil you use. In a engine it is dbateable because it is filtered but in a closed axle or gear case it need to be changed regularly if you want long service life in harsh conditions.

Napa sells "Right Stuff" gasket material. Like rtv, but not/ 15.00 a can but well worth it. Most rear ends don't use any paper gaskets, just the spread on type.