I have hit this thing with PB Blaster yesterday, and then today again with KROIL, and neither a breaker bar or an impact wrench are breaking this bolt free. I haven’t even tried to lower dean plug because I don’t want to be stuck with an empty differential. I also have trouble getting as much leverage as I would like because I don’t have a lift to get it high enough to hang on it with my body weight. And having spine/shoulder injuries along with several major organs removed means my strength is not quite what it was when I was young. Seriously about to grab the MAPP gas torch and heat this up after lunch. If that doesn’t work m might have to pay a shop labor to dean and fill with the oil I already bought. This sucks.

If you have a tip that I haven’t thought of, it would be much appreciated.

 

Try to give the face of the bolt a nice rap with a hammer and brass punch. That shock may loosen some things. If you have a metal file, you can true up the sides of the bolt to make sure they aren’t rounded and marred. If you take too much material off the bolt, you can hammer the next size smaller SAE.

 

After letting it sit another two hours it just took about ten seconds per plug with flame from a torch and they broke free with no extra effort.

The oil came out a nice, clear medium-brown. I’m surprised because my on bought this truck over for years ago and has literally driven out coast to coast, going to school in LA country and having internships in Chicago and NY City.

There was some silver crud on the bottom plug. It looks like anti-seize but I think it’s more likely just microscopic shavings because the to plug didn’t have much at all. Here’s the bottom plug.

 

The drain plug is magnetic and the pasty stuff you see used to be bearings or gear teeth. The amount shown in your pictures is totally normal and nothing to worry about. If you pull the drain plug and see actual metal chunks then you should probably worry.

 

Another trick is to grind the face/taper of the 6-point 24mm socket so it has a better purchase on the shallow drain/fill plugs so you don't round them off, and use an impact for removal if available.