Wrangler and Gladiator Axle, Transfer Case and Coolant Specs

Dune days and desert trail runs in Arizona, Nevada, Utah and California put the same parts under load: axles, transfer case, and the cooling system. If you are searching for the right differential fluid, transfer case fluid or coolant for a Wrangler or Gladiator, the answer in the factory owner's-manual data is more specific than a single grade, and it changes between the JK (through 2018) and the JL and JT generations.

In short: the transfer case takes ATF+4 in every Wrangler year from 2015 to 2027 and every Gladiator year from 2020 to 2027. Axles moved from SAE 80W‑90 on the JK to SAE 75W‑85 on the JL, with a heavier SAE 75W-140 listed for one rear axle. Coolant is an OAT formula, named as the 10-year/150,000‑mile type in nearly every year. Axle and transfer case capacities are not in the research data.

Axle fluid by generation and year

The "Axle differential" rows list a grade, an API rating and, for some axles, an additive requirement. Rows are grouped by the axle names the manual uses.

Notes on the wording. The M220 row for the Wrangler carries a friction-modifier note for Trac‑Lok limited-slip models in 2019-2025 (and the Wrangler 4xe rows for 2021-2024 are identical to the gas rows), but the 2026 and 2027 M220 rows omit that sentence. The Gladiator's M220 note is present in 2021-2023 and 2025, absent from the 2024 and 2026 rows, and carried by the single 2027 row. Absence in a row is a gap in the data, not a change of requirement, so check the 2026 Wrangler or 2026 Gladiator page against your own axle.

Also notice that the Gladiator stops listing an M200 row after 2020. The 2020 Gladiator is the only Gladiator year with both SAE 75W-140 and SAE 75W‑85 sales-code rows.

"Rubicon Dana 44 fluid": what the data does and does not say

Searches for Dana 44 or Rubicon axle fluid run into a naming gap. The fluid rows use Mopar axle names (Model 44, M200, M220) and sales codes, never trim names. The engineering spec sheets use Dana names, but the two sources are not linked to each other in the research data.

So for a Rubicon you can say what the sheet says about its hardware, and what the fluid table says about each axle code, but the data does not state that a Rubicon uses M200 or M220. Your VIN decode and the build sheet on your vehicle are the way to match them. The 2024 Wrangler page shows both sets of rows for one year, and the 2018 Wrangler page keeps the JK and JL entries separate.

Axle ratios are on the same sheets. For 2024 the Wrangler lists 3.45 and 4.10 (Rubicon, Willys), 4.56 on the Rubicon 392 and Xtreme 35 package, and 4.88 optional on the Rubicon 3.6L; the 2027 sheet lists 4.88 as optional on the Rubicon 3.6 liter with a manual transmission.

Transfer case: fluid and service

The Gladiator sheets list NV241 Command-Trac and NV241OR Rock‑Trac transfer cases in 2020, with the MP3022 Selec‑Trac added from 2021. The fluid rows do not distinguish between them; ATF+4 is listed for every Gladiator year. The 2021 Gladiator page is the one with both the diesel line and the gas severe-use line. Wrangler 2021-2023 shows the same diesel difference in the 2022 Wrangler and 2023 data.

Axle service intervals

The schedule treats axle fluid as an inspection item with a severe-use trigger, and desert and dune driving fit its "off-road" wording.

The gas rows alternate: inspect at one step, severe-use change at the next, so a hard-use vehicle has an axle service marker every 20,000 miles. The 6.4L row is a single combined line at 24,000‑mile intervals. Front and rear axles are named together in each row.

For the owner of a desert-driven Jeep, "off-road" is the clause that matters. The data does not define it or put a distance on it.

Coolant: type and capacity

Every Wrangler and Gladiator engine coolant row lists an OAT (Organic Additive Technology) antifreeze and standard MS.90032; nearly all name the 10-year/150,000‑mile formula, and the 2018 rows say only OAT. The schedule matches: "flush and replace the engine coolant at 10 years or 150,000 miles, whichever comes first," a line found in the Wrangler data for 2015-2027 and in the Gladiator for 2020-2027 (in several years it also names the intercooler, battery and power electronics coolant). From 2024, the Wrangler 6.4L schedule instead says to flush at 120 months if it has not been done at 150,000 miles.

Cooling system capacity, from the owner's-manual rows:

The hybrid rows add separate loops: 2.0L hybrid battery coolant at 5.6 qt and power electronics coolant at 5.7 qt in 2024-2026 (marked dealer service in 2024 and 2025), plus a 3.6L power pack unit (PPU) coolant row at 3.3 qt in 2022 and 2024-2027 (3.1 qt in 2023).

The engineering spec sheets give a lower "coolant capacity" for the same engines: the 2022 Wrangler sheet says 10 quarts for the 3.6L and 12.3 for the EcoDiesel, against 13.4 and 14.8 in that year's manual rows, and the 2024 sheet says 14 quarts for the 6.4L against 15.6. The data does not say why the figures differ or what each one measures, so the two should not be mixed; the manual's cooling system rows are the ones used in the table above.

What is missing

The research data lists no axle, differential or transfer case fluid quantity for the Wrangler or Gladiator, in either the capacities table or the spec sheets. The only fluid quantities listed for these two models are engine oil, cooling system, fuel tank and, on the diesels, the DEF tank; the cooling figures are in the table above. Do not use a number from another vehicle; check the VIN decoder and the model-year page.

How to check your own vehicle

Decode the VIN with the VIN decoder, then open the matching Wrangler or Gladiator year page, such as the 2019 Wrangler or the 2023 Gladiator. The spec explorer puts axle sheets and fluids side by side, and the towing page covers the trailer ratings that trigger several of the severe-use lines above.