Rear differential covers
I’m getting ready to have the rear diff serviced and am considering adding an aluminum cover with heat sink. Have you gone this route? Does it make any significant difference? I have 155,000 miles...
Forum Discussion
I monitor diff temps. I've maxed out my gauge at 250F during very long pulls. A 7% grade in 100F heat can max it out after about 10 miles.
It can max out in half that distance on a 14% grade (Death Valley westbound).
Conventional gear oil is good for about 230F, and synthetic is good for 275F from what I've found. For some reason the synthetic info is harder to find. I also see a 30F difference in temps running synthetic.
So... I run a finned cover. I've cooked the diff once when I had smaller gears. Also, some finned covers provide additional stiffness too. I've cracked the carrier once on a hard landing.
What I haven't done is put a bung on the stock cover to see if the finned cover actually helps. I suspect it does, since OEMs add them to max-tow packages, or when diffs are undersized (Nissan Titan).
Between the sender port, and easier oil changes, it's been worth it to me, and I just bought another now that I have a larger axle (I broke my Dana 70 again on New Years).
It can max out in half that distance on a 14% grade (Death Valley westbound).
Conventional gear oil is good for about 230F, and synthetic is good for 275F from what I've found. For some reason the synthetic info is harder to find. I also see a 30F difference in temps running synthetic.
So... I run a finned cover. I've cooked the diff once when I had smaller gears. Also, some finned covers provide additional stiffness too. I've cracked the carrier once on a hard landing.
What I haven't done is put a bung on the stock cover to see if the finned cover actually helps. I suspect it does, since OEMs add them to max-tow packages, or when diffs are undersized (Nissan Titan).
Between the sender port, and easier oil changes, it's been worth it to me, and I just bought another now that I have a larger axle (I broke my Dana 70 again on New Years).
