So I finally got my Ram Air diff cover in from Banks. I also went with the 75/140 4 pack of Amsoil that can be added on when buying the diff cover. Install was pretty easy, and straight forward, however, I should have just dropped the spare tire to begin with. It would have made the whole process easier, especially since I can sit up under the truck where the spare tire is... Cleaning the RTV sealer off was kind of a pain, especially with the rear sway bar in the way too... but I think I got it pretty good. I love that the Ram Air cover uses an O-ring, however, 20 ft/lbs seems pretty weak when using a huge torque wrench! lol... I may have went a tad over. Also, the easy fill Amsoil packs were super easy to use. Now I am just watching for leaks, otherwise, it's all good to go!


Dana M275 with 3.31 EL gears.


Top down inside comparison. Stock on the left, Banks on the right (obviously).


Side by side comparison. Stock on left, Banks on right.


All finished up. The sight glass is pretty nifty and looking forward to watch if the color starts to change.


I can't really see it from the back. Truck is stock, however, it has the HCTT package, so full 5 pack leaf springs and Dana axle. Stock wheels on 295/70/18 Falken Wildpeaks. And I'm ok that my license place is visible...

 

I have had mine for some time. I did notice one issue with the sight glass. When my truck is parked on a slightly sloped driveway, I can see the level of the oil. When it’s parked level in my garage, the sight glass is empty. I even overfilled it by .3 last time just to see and the oil level was still not showing in the sight glass. Not sure if you have a similar issue, just something to be aware of with this cover.

 

I didn’t measure what I took out and just put three and a half bags back in. It calls for 3.61 quarts and based on the amount of fluid in the pan I drained the old fluid into, it looked about right. I was part just barely nose high, so the sight glass was just over the half full mark. Now parked on level ground I am just barely under the half full mark in the sight glass.

However, one thing I have noticed is that I am having some leaking around several of the bolts. The o-ring was installed properly, and I am most sure I slightly over torqued some of the bolts due to the length of my torque wrench… I have slightly tightened the few that were leaking a little more last night and will see what happens after driving it today. I did slather a good bit of gear oil on the o-ring and the ram air cover and I wonder if I shouldn’t have… I guess if it keeps it up I can drain the fluid into a clean jug so I can reuse it, remove the cover again and start over…

 

Those look great... love the drain plug too... and the sight window.

Yeah I'll pull the trigger and get one eventually for my truck... have to change my rear diff fluid anyways... Ive been running my rear diff fluid about 90k miles. Added high temp rare earth magnets to the bottom of the housing when i changed mine. Also added Lube Gard to it. When i do the Banks diff cover, for schitts and giggles, going to get a sample and send it in to be analyzed. Plus can't wait to see those magnets and how much metal they grabbed...

Love you plate by the way...

 

I did a drain and refill at 4k miles and I am currently at 48.5k I figure I will drain and refill again in 50k since I went with the Amsoil...

Saying that, I am having a hard time keeping it dry. Three times now I have went under and snugged the bolts down a little more. They are pretty tight at this point, and it looks like the small leak is at 2 of the most bottom bolts, one of them being the bolt that went into the spot of the drain plug on the OE cover. I know that the O Ring was installed correctly, and I cleaned the surface pretty good... I hope I am not going to have to drain it and pull the cover off just to check things again... and I don't know how tight is too tight with an O Ring...

 

Man that sucks Chad... good luck with this...

I've got to admit that I do not like the idea of that o-ring on their cover. When I did my drain on mine, I bought a reusable Lube Locker gaskey that worked great and no leaks... I'm probably saying that I don't like that o-ring knowing I have a Lube Locker gasket for mine.

Let us know how you make out.

 

Chad,
You’ve inspired me, I placed an order for my banks cover today. I purchased my 2020 when it was a year old and really haven’t done much to it. I need to change my fluids for this camping season so I figured I do this right! Have you considered an aftermarket pan with drain for your 10R140? That’s next on my list.

So hindsight being 20/20, would you have put some permatex on with that O-ring seal?

Dave

 

That's a great idea Dave...

What do you guys think of me using the Lube Locker with that o-ring in place? That gasket is BA...

 

Just to throw it out there.... I do believe I did everything right when installing it, however, there is most definitely plenty of room for error on my end. I cleaned the diff housing face with a scrapper and then a hand held wire brush, then a clean cloth and rubbing alcohol. The O Ring was definitely installed correctly. A couple of things I wonder about though... I lubed the O Ring pretty liberally with gear oil before putting it on. Maybe I shouldn't have done that? Also, I went slightly over the 20 ft lbs when initially tightening the bolts, and now they are surely over that number since I have been nudging them a little tighter after each trip. I don't know if I have maybe damaged the O Ring by going too tight? And I have no idea if they make a lube locker for the M275, or if it would be ok to use them together, or even the O Ring with some permatex... If it keeps leaking I may call Banks this week just to see what they say.

Saying all of that, I am still excited about it, and also, the oil is still clear!

And @Superdave71 , as for the trans pan, I did that a couple months ago. I went with the blacked out PPE deep trans pan. FWIW, I ended up using 16 quarts to refill it with just the pan drop and filter replacement. It is quite nice knowing that I have the drain plug! It also used an ORing and I have not had any issues with leaks from it. And it would be my suggestion to just use the bolts that come with the pan rather than reusing the OE bolts... I ended up breaking one of those at less than 19 in lbs... thankfully I had not put the fluid in yet and was able to drop the pan back down and get the broken stud out of the hole... those bolts just seem really soft though.

 

As far as gear oil on the o-ring, instructions say..."Apply a small amount of oil to the O-ring and slide the O-ring through your fingers to make sure it’s evenly coated". In regard to the drain plug, you are directed to apply a drop of diff fluid to the plug and install plug but do not use a torque wrench as you will damage the o-ring if you over tighten the drain plug. Just snug it up and it should be good.

 

Just checked Lubelocker's site for available products, still nothing for the Dana M275. When servicing my diffs last year, used the Dana 60 product on the front and also my ladies rides (Yukon (rear) and Cherokee (rear)). Great product and cleaner than the RTV goop. Still not sold on the Banks cover, but I also do not tow regularly, so will likely remain stock.

With that o-ring, if you keep tightening, wonder if it inadvertently create a gap/space of the gasket between bolt holes if the gasket may be pinched due to "torquing". Best of luck solving it.

 

My buddy put the O-ring in for me while I was underneath pulling the stick cover off. Before I put it in the truck I just dipped my finger in the new oil and rubbed it over the O-Ring all the way around. This was I made sure it was seated all the way around and it was lined up.

After driving about 15 miles to work this morning it appears to be dry for the first time. I’ll check it after work again to see what it looks like then. It is considerably warmer out now than this morning so it’ll probably be hotter after the trip home.

I need to just call Banks and see about ordering a spare O-Ring for both, the cover and the drain bolt.

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So the drive home resulted in a dry diff cover! Hopefully the last round of tightening it up got it. I'll continue to keep an eye on it though. Also, I have tried to call Banks to see about just ordering a spare O Ring for the cover and the drain bolt, but the hold time is super long... I let my number so hopefully they will get back to calling me today. I may go ahead and just make it an order an add the map spacer to it too... lol. The shipping is what kills me though.

 

Curious on the rear diff housing the sealing surface looks like it has machining groves which may make it difficult to for a o ring seal perhaps. Having said that, these grooves probably are good for a liquid gasket seal to bond to.

 

That's a good point... I cleaned it pretty good so I don't believe that there is any old sealer still there that is causing it to not seat properly. The only thing that I can think of is either I put too much oil on the O-Ring and the mating surface of the diff cover, or when I torqued the bolts initially I was slightly over the recommended 20 ft/lbs, which caused deformation in the O-Ring. Ironically though, I was watching the install video from AArod last night, and as usual for him, he "torques" everything with an impact... so I would imagine he passed the 20 ft/lbs too... Anyway, I have searched and have not found any other folks having this issue, so I don't know. However, I didn't think about the machining grooves, and I think you may be onto the answer...

Last night I went out and checked it one more time a little more closely and did notice some weeping, so I tightened a few more of the bottom bolts just a little more... Hopefully this dries it up. Banks never called me back last night so I will try to contact them again today about picking up a spare O-Ring set for the cover. The OE cover weeped since new, so if I can get it back to that level, which I believe I am at now, I will call it good and just wait another 30k or so and do another pan drop and fluid change, and just install the new O-Ring then.

I would also like to add that the machining on the Banks logo on the diff cover is also less than great... for the amount of $$ this thing costs, I did expect much nearer perfection, but I guess it doesn't matter. It hard to see unless you crawl under there and get close. But, in comparison, the overall finish of the PPE trans pan was better than this Banks diff cover.

 

I noticed that as well. Sounds logical to me.

My Sterling didn't exhibit those markings, and was perfectly smooth (well, mostly, after I scraped and cleaned). I didn't even lubricate the o-ring on my Banks cover, and it sealed perfectly.