How do you change the gear oil in your ford 9" axle?

I've heard all kinds of stuff from putting the axle up on jack stands and running it in reverse without the tires and the gear oil with pour out of the fill hole.
(OR)
drill a drain plug hole and thread it
(OR)
buy a special vaccuum to suck out the gear lube. I'm leaning towards this option. It is said to work to suck out the oil in your motor, tranny, etc. It isn't cheap at around $70, but looks good. I will have to check around locally before I spend the $14 to have it shipped. What do you guys think? Here is a link to the device:
http://www.griotsgarage.com/search.jsp?searchtext=Hand+Pump+Oil+

I'm installing a yoke guard and was wondering if I could drain my 9" when I unbolt this area to install the guard? Here is a link to it:
http://fourtreks.com/yoke_guard.html

I'm putting a early bronco 9" with 31 spline Moser shafts, 4.88 gears, and a spool into my bro's 91' Jeep Cherokee. I'm going with a full width 35 spline 9" with 35 spline shafts 5.43 gears, detroit, nodular etc in my 91' XJ. These axles are great, but the lack of a drain plug has me puzzled. What do you Ford guys do to drain your 9"??? :)

Troy

AutoZone sells a little pump. Its only like $15. I dont know how well it will pull gear oil. But I imagine if you drove around the block a few times it should heat it up enough to suck out.

Install a fill plug before you throw the axle in.

I tried snaking a suck tube into the fill hole on mine and just couldn't make whatever bends required to suck any apreciable amount out.

Pull the third , clean up the housing ,and weld in a drain plug bung.

I always pull the axles and the third member. You can use a suction pump but i prefer my method because you can really clean the housing out, getting all the goo that tends to build up out. Just changing the oil isnt good enough IMO.

I go through some deep water on the Fordyce trail on a regular basis in the summer and would want to check out to see I don't get water in there after every run. There must be an easier way to change out the oil and/or check if water got in. I don't want to drill the 9" at all. Can I just pull the axle shafts and the 3rd member, drain the fluid, bolt them back in, seal the 3rd member, and be o.k. Does the 3rd member just unbolt and then can be sealed and bolted back in? I've very uneasy about doing this. I'll try the suction method 1st I guess. Any other ideas on this. What do you Ford guys do after wheeling trips to check for water? You'd think that Ford would have put in drain and fill plugs, but I guess not. What does the factory service manual say?

hmm well since the 9" doesnt have a plug make one..... its the easyest thing to do. before i did that i used to take off the driveshaft and unbolt it but its too much of a pain .... the pump does work but its just a bother. gear fluid is thick and takes some work to get it out..
just my 2 cents

I had the wizards at Sunray add a drain plug when I comissioned them to shave and bashguard my 9". You can see here where it's located. It's recessed, and after being dragged over a few rocks, will still come out with no problem. I thought I had a picture of the bung that they welded in, but I guess not.

http://classicbroncos.com/photos/data/500/9121P3170012.JPG

I always just loosened the bolts on the third and pried it away from the housing. There's enough play that the oil will drain. Works great for a normal change.

This same question was covered within the last month or so. A couple people stated that they replaced the bottom stud with a bolt and just removed it to drain fluids.

im having a differential shop near me install a drain plug for 25 bucks

I always just loosened the bolts on the third and pried it away from the housing. There's enough play that the oil will drain. Works great for a normal change.

Yeah, but there's a small lip and that won't get all of the fluid out, especially if there's water in there.