Not sure exactly where this thread belongs.

While backing off an obstacle I hit the bottom of my rear diff on a rock. I thought no biggie, but two days later there was one drop of diff fluid on my garage floor. The bottom of the cover, a little of the carrier and the bottom cover bolt was scuffed.

Do you think that I can take it to the dealer and have them remove the cover, reapply the gasket and bolt and hopefully call it a day?

or

Should I just order an aftermarket diff cover?

or

Is it possible the carrier/third member is screwed and I'm facing a very costly repair?


Any personal experience would help. Are the carrier and cover made out of different metals? Is one softer than the other?

I've been wanting to replace my diff covers, but kept putting it on the back burner. I also have to admit that I was going to replace the front before the rear assuming it was more in harm's way.

THANKS IN ADVANCE

 

You just reminded me that my buddy mentioned that the bolt might be loose. I'm going to check it in a minute.

Would the cover be obviously bent?

I was thinking Dynatrac or Teraflex.


Thanks for the help!

 

The cover is chewed up pretty bad, but so is the carrier.

The bolts are tight.

From the factory, is the gasket liquid or a predetermined shape? Is it possilbe that part of it could have been pulled out? Seems unlikely.

I'm thinking about just ordering the rear cover. I just hope that I dont drop the cash on it and it still leaks.

 

Yeah, I guess I've been lucky for a couple of years now.

I'll give Dave at Northridge a call and see which one I'll pick up....

 

also make sure that you file/sand/take off any lip sticking out before glueing and bolting on any new or redueing the stock cover.

 

jkkat

I know I got all preachy in your flop thread. Hopefully you saw me retracting in the subsequent posts. Thanks for jumping in and offering up suggestions.

I think I'm going to pull the trigger on Riddler diff covers.

 

i like the Riddlers

 

x50 on getting real covers...

and if I were you I would also dot he front cover.. if you bang the front cover against a rock it can bend into your gears.. usually, when you hit the rear it just peels away and leaks.. although in reverse, its the opposite

 

I ended up ordering front and rear "Solid" covers.

They are on sale, so got'em both for a total of $150 shipped. Pretty excited....

 

Well, had a local offroad shop replace both front and rear diff covers.

It cost $275!!! One hour of labor per axle + tax & fluid. Tech had to grind on the inside of each cover to clear the locker actuator. We knew this was needed via the PDF on Solid's web site and included instructions. The front required much more grinding than the rear. I'm happy to have them on, but did not think it would cost sooo much. I should have bought all the tools to do it my self. Guess I was just being lazy.

I'm very happy for this forum. He and I had a lengthy discussion over the amt of fluid to put in there. He would have over filled had I not noted the original fill level.