Are differential covers worth the money or are they mainly just for looks?

 

Depends on what you buy. The OEM covers were designed to fling oil up and over the ring to reach the pinion and the axle bearings. That's why those covers are designed like that...to guide the oil. Those flat covers do not perform better than a stock cover. Banks did a video series on it and proved they actually cause the oil to get hotter. They (flat diff covers) also redirect the flow of oil differently than what the diffs need to keep the parts lubed and cool. IMHO, the flat covers are strictly for looks. But your money could be well spent somewhere else. I'm not saying you couldn't find a well performing cover like from Dynatrac, ARB or actually Ford themselves. You looking for a Dana 60 cover and/or Sterling 10.25/10.5?

If it were me, I'd go with a similarly designed cover.

https://www.northridge4x4.com/part/d...All%20Products

https://www.thoroughbreddiesel.com/d...rything%20Else

https://www.northridge4x4.com/part/d...All%20Products

https://www.northridge4x4.com/part/d...All%20Products


Here's for the Sterling 10.25/10.5s:


https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ford-F250-F...75.c100623.m-1

https://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS+Performa...6%20Drivetrain

https://www.4wd.com/p/g2-axle-gear-h...b-e6cbaa9f982b

https://www.quadratec.com/products/5...g%20ad%20group


I'm just throwing these out there for you to look at. There are many more... Banks sells their new diff covers but they are expensive. I still have the OEM cover on my rear axle. I prepped it and painted it when I changed my rear diff oil. JMO but when all these companies came out with the flat diff covers, I believe they thought that if they put in additional capacity, that everything would be okay. The OEMs who designed the axles and the covers that have the rings for a reason and have the exact amount of oil in the diff needed to provide lube, cooling and long life. But's that's just my POV. YMMV.

 

I haven't gone all the way through this lately, but it will show you and tell you about all that oil splashing around in there:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...the-cover.html

 

When I had my truck re-geared from 3:73 to 4:30, the dealership put the aluminum finned OEM diff cover on the rear.

 

Many aftermarket are looks more so than functionally better than the ones sold by Ford. If you are after looks go for aftermarket. If for function see hat Ford has to offer in a finned cover. Often the Ford cover is a lot cheaper.

 

As the other poster mentioned, watch the Banks videos. You will learn the engineering importance of oil flow. Well worth your time. They're on YouTube.

-- Dave

 

How would you test pro or con

if you use a heat meter and speculate one cover is hotter than the other and assume that meant the hotter cover was the poorer one you would be wrong....the hotter cover just means the heat is being more effectively pulled out of the metal and being transferred to the cover more efficiently.

so use your brain when you watch videos that make pro or con claims.

 

Hey fritz, Banks put temperature sensors in the rear diff when testing. That's how they came to their conclusions. It's not about heat in the diff, it's about the flow of the oil and it going where it's supposed to lube the gears and bearings. In that regard, a stock cover performs more efficiently than one of those flat, extra capacity diff covers.

 

I look at it like this, if the Ford engineers thought a fancy cover like Banks or others was needed, then it would have been installed during assembly. That is why some SD rears have finned covers and some don't. Also, The videos, such as Banks, have to be biased to their product so you will pay the big bucks to order from them. And the same goes for printed ads claiming gains or temps reductions.

How many trucks on the road that to Hot Shot Freight and run stock covers? I bet a ton of them. And do you hear anyone really saying they had a gear destroyed by the stock cover?

 

I agree with your sentiment, Larry. It is not needed. More power isn't needed. Aftermarket wheels and bigger tires aren't needed. I definitely don't need the 5 inch DPF back exhaust pipe either but I'm going to order one. For that, I'm going for looks as I know it will probably do nothing for performance but I like the way it looks. I'm also going to be removing my aftermarket 6.7 Powerstroke door badges. Why? Because I want to be different.

Now back to diff covers. It's the same with them. Guys want to be different. I respect that. A cheaper option for someone like the OP would be one of those finned covers that resembles a stock cover. Most would be doing it for looks. Those look like they would function about the same as a stock cover with the ring in the cover for the oil. But IMHO I would never put on a flat cover because it would hinder the performance of the oil inside.

As for Banks, sure he's biased towards his products. He took it further and did it better than any other diff cover manufacturer did except for maybe Spicer, Dynatrac and the other axle manufacturers. I have to respect what the guy did in researching how those flat diff covers performed. It's very apparent that all the companies that make those sure didn't.

It is now the most developed and tested, best performing diff cover out there. It has its own patent. But is it needed? Hell no. But people want it. So they buy it. Will I ever buy one? The only way I would get one is if I put a hard cover over the bed and put the spare under the cover. You really can't see the rear diff cover with the spare in its factory location. If I did buy it, would I buy it for the fact it keeps the oil cooler? Probably not. I would buy it because IMHO, especially in black, it looks cool as ****.

The fact of me buying my first diesel is because I wanted one. Not because I needed one. As to the Banks diff covers, it's amazing to me the amount of research and testing that they did to come up with a great looking cover that also performs better than a OEM diff cover without increasing its capacity Because more is NOT needed. Because if your going to go with an aftermarket cover, it might as DO what the factory one does, right?
Just my 2 cents.

 

In other words, save your money for a nice road trip instead of buying an expensive diff cover?....................

 

EXACTLY Larry. Buy one because you want one and don't need a trip. But if you WANT and NEED a road trip, save your money.

 

The Doreman is about $60 and identical to the Ford finned aluminum cover. Replaced my stamped steel cover when I changed the fluids.

 

I run the Solid Axle Industries nodular iron cover on both axles of my 96 f350 and the rear of my 85 bronco. It's cheaper than most all other covers and is stronger than most. It's also shaped like factory, so it keeps oil wherever it should be and fits behind factory steering components on the D60.

 

Is that painted gold? Almost looks like a Rustoleum Hammered paint. I just saw one here in my area and it looked like $h1t because of the salt used here in the Rust Belt. Plus I think they don't hold as much as the OEM cover...probably because they seem a little smaller than the OEM. Good price though.