When I put the 3.25 gears and Auburn traction control in my 8" chunk I followed the drive and cool recommended procedure but no way did I do a fluid change. The maker of the gears"Motive Gear" did not have that specification.
 I don't remember the factory shop manual that I used to set up the gears, mentioning any break in procedure.
 After many thousands of miles there is no noise or issues.

Last edited by Rudi (3/02/2020 9:32 PM)

"Reading instructions is a sure sign of weakness."
6s6

Just like in a new engine there's a lot of junk generated by gear break in.  The difference is that engine oil is much thinner and a lot more of it runs out when you change it, plus there's a filter in the system actively removing trash from the oil.

It's really only a problem because you have to remove the third member to get access to the guts.  That means pulling the wheels, the brakes, the axles, etc.  A lot of work for sure.  On a Salisbury type rear you'd have to pull the cover to change the oil.  Anytime I do that I do clean everything off.

That said, I haven't done an 8 or 9" in a long time.  Not even sure I changed the fluid after break in on the ones I did.  No failures to report, but those vehicles don't see a lot of miles.  I'd at a minimum change the oil.  If Strange is offering a warranty, then I'd follow their instructions to the letter.  God forbid there's a problem and they deny your warranty claim because you didn't. 

I'm sure Ford did it each and every time, but on the other hand, life is to short to waste time like that.

Well...if it were me, I would not publish my questions as to the good sense of their break-in instructions.
I would publish how much I appreciated their attention to detail and concern over my having a satisfying experience with their product.  I would publish that while following their instructions will definitely take up some of my valuable time, I absolutely want to have a successful outcome so I will be following those instructions to the letter.

That's what I would post on a public forum.

BB 

i would remove if you see a lot of metal on the magnet plug.. if not.. SEND IT :D

Out of curiosity,...here we go..

Does that have a Torsen differential?

The last one I did, and it's been a while, was a 9" Detroit Locker. I installed the 3rd member, got everything put back together, drove to the end of the street, and stomped on it Of all the things I blew up in my car that rear end was not one of them!

Does the strange housing have a drain plug ?  I thought it was pretty lame that my Currie 9' housing didn't have one.  I probably should have installed one myself before installing.
 

1fststang wrote:

Does the strange housing have a drain plug ?  I thought it was pretty lame that my Currie 9' housing didn't have one.  I probably should have installed one myself before installing.
 

 
Yes, Strange has a drain plug in the housing (or at least mine does).  I figure that will make it easy to drain it, then flush it out a couple of times and then refill.

Bullet Bob wrote:

Well...if it were me, I would not publish my questions as to the good sense of their break-in instructions.
I would publish how much I appreciated their attention to detail and concern over my having a satisfying experience with their product.  I would publish that while following their instructions will definitely take up some of my valuable time, I absolutely want to have a successful outcome so I will be following those instructions to the letter.

That's what I would post on a public forum.

BB 

Bullet, obviously I will follow their instructions to the letter.  I was merely asking HOW MANY OF YOU would follow them if put in that situation!

I followed the basic same steps when I installed new gears in my 9.75 axle in my F150.  if you don't let the gears work hardened you can really shorten the life of them.