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Looking to upgrade to a rear cover that has drain and fill ports to make oil changes quick and easy. Options have changed. All of a sudden thick, heavy, cast iron covers are all the rage. Nobody ever mentions heat dissipation with these, which makes me question my own orthodoxy of the need to keep the gears as cool as possible. Is it just a marketing gimmick, or is there something to the need for increased rigidity, and is that more important than lower temps?
Also, is there anything to these claims of "girdle support" or "bearing cap support" or is that just another gimmick?
One last thing - It would be nice to find a matching front/rear set, but with the low clearance at the front options are limited. I did find a set of the G2 pictured above, but the add says its for years 05-16. Is there more clearance on the 05's than the 03's?
Check out Banks diff cover. He actually did a study on the covers before he came out with his design.
Wish he came out with the design before I bought my cover.
If you're talking about the Ram-Air cover, agreed, it looks like the bomb. Even has an integral o-ring seal. But it is spendy at $375, and again, how important is the cooling aspect, especially for a truck that sees very little towing?
So, rear differentials have been around for about 100 years. During all that time, you've got the vehicle, construction, farm equipment manufacturers, and axle suppliers doing all these instrumented tests, looking at wear, lubricant breakdown, and temperatures, and have concluded as far as the Superduty series, the lube can be in there for about 100k per the standard service spec. That's longer than I care for.
Banks did a good job looking at the issue, but his design still looks at the critical aspect of lubricant distribution. And he ended up using the same design criteria that have been in play for decades. Like, who knew?
I had a Mag-Hytec; I sold it when Ford came out with their stock aluminum cover once the GVW and towing weights increased. I would suspect that their work going up grades, like Townes Pass and other public sites, or the test track work using torque trailers, showed the need for better cooling at those heavier weights. Of course, we all want to be better than stock.
I also spent a good amount of time at Eaton's test track in Marshall, MI, a neat place. Over on the side was an incline area for differential testing, and the vehicles were set up for instrumentation. Eaton used steel covers.
I sold my Mag-Hytec for almost as much as I paid for it and got the Ford aluminum cover at a good discount. The drain plug is not of interest to me. When putting in new lube, I always preferred when doing a rear lube change to clean out the bottom catch basin, like the water trap in the HFCM. The gasket Mark noted above is a great addition, but even if not, removing the silicone from the mating surfaces has never been a big deal.
The use of my front differential is hours over its 20-year life. I'm with it stock, but that's me.
That's the cover I currently have. Don't know why Ford couldn't have put a drain in it. I also use Lube Lockers front and rear, which have been leak free despite having removed the rear cover half a dozen times at least.
I would prefer to change the diff oil every 20-25k miles, and crack it open every 100k to clean-out the catch basin. Would heat even be a factor if I changed it that often? In the end it really is about the lubricant breaking down due to high temps, is it not?
If you expect 50-100k change intervals, they probably didn't see removing the cover vs a drain plug as a big deal. I do mine at 50k, although on some vehicles, I've gone way past that.
I know you've had differential issues in the past, so I get it.
Yukon Gear and Axle diff cover. No drain on this one, black RTV to seal. I usually keep it cleaner than this, but it’s winter and fluid film is all over the place under there……
Ultimately it is about longevity and failure free operation!
IMO the large aftermarket covers (with drain valves) have only one potential benefit. That benefit is that it makes it simple to drain and refill the differential. Therefore an owner might replace the fluid more frequently, along with periodic cover removal and "cleaning out" of any solids accumulation (say replace fluid every 25k miles and pull cover every 50k miles). Compare this practice to only removing the cover every 50k miles. This potential benefit is a possibility ONLY IF an owner does a better job at preventative maintenance.
Who knows if this will actually add longevity, but it can't hurt.
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You're right.
