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Differential cover question, what would you do?

h0wl0ngcanitbe

h0wl0ngcanitbe

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So im dumping some money into my corporate 10 bolts, upgrading to a 4:56 gear ratio. A local CK5er is helpin me do the work:bow:! So anyways im puttin this cash into my truck and im a huge fan of pretty things, this is my DD and i dont need anything heavy duty. What im wonderin is if anyone has had a bad experience with the cheap ol chrome diff covers on like JEGS. Or should i go for somethin a little pricier, i dont mind spendin money if its well spent but that being said i dont want too go all out. What would you suggest for some nice good lookin covers to pair up with my new gears!
 
Personally I don't like the chrome covers, they tend to be pretty cheap, flimsy steel and leak. Of course that has just been my experiences with them, others may say they are fine.

As far as what to use, I really couldn't say. I haven't really looked at heavy duty covers for 10 bolts since I have a 12 bolt rear.
 
well what do you run maybe they make one for a 10bolt? i just wanna upgrade the diff cover while im takin it off anyways. and by upgrade i mean both function and looks. nothin too heavy duty is necessary.
 
I am still running the stock cover. I have plans to upgrade, but I haven't seen anything that has caught my eye to run yet. The odds of me hitting the rear diff cover are pretty slim, so I may never change it.

Now the front I would probably get from Kert at DIY4X, and he may be able to make something up for you to use for the rear, that would look good and be functional.
 
Chrome covers -- be it for heads, i.e. valve covers, transmissions, or diffs ... suck.

The chrome surface isn't perfectly flat, and doesn't bond well to gaskets. If you RTV the HELL out of the gasket they'll usually mate up okay... for diffs and valve covers that's doable, though not for trannies.

You get the feeling I don't like chrome?

Anyway, ideally if you got a chrome cover you'd have the back surface machined, the cost of which is prohibitive unless you own the machine shop. If your stock covers are intact, I'd keep them. I seem to recall Kert selling a DIY cover kit; the outer ring of this kit can make a nice protector against damage to the outside of the cover. (It will require grinding to fit over your stock cover, but it's easily done. I have a modified version of that used as my steering stabilizer mount:

10b-diff-cover.jpg


Strictly speaking, you could presumably have Kert weld up that brace on the front for you, just leaving you the grinding on the inside to do ... and then you have the best of both worlds: no chrome, and low likelihood of damage to the cover ;)

Oh yeah, and the gear ratio is 4.56:1. 4:56 gears would be like a soooper overdrive, 1/14% of your 700R4's OD gear :haha: .... you'd be able to put down about a dozen foot pounds of torque, but you could spin the rear end at about 56000 RPM :haha: [as opposed to many hundreds of foot pounds, and less than 1000RPM.]

-- A
 
Most of the chrome diff covers I have seen have a cheap chrome job done to them which does not hold up, meaning unless you constantly clean and polish it will be solid rust in about a year or two.
 
You say nothing too heavy duty is necessary, then stick with stock.

Ditto on chrome sucking.

Either go heavy duty, or with an aluminum one that will at least help cool the fluid better, but either one is pointless if the truck spends it's time on the street, and not towing heavy loads.

This is one of those "do it right or don't do it" situations if you ask me.
 
You want thick , thick , and thick in the rear . Not only for damage control , but to keep the lip from peeling off . And to add rigidity to the housing .

I tried stock plated rears for a few years , but got tired of redoing the RTV every trip . I finally broke down and got this bulletproof non peeling thick thang :



IM000609.JPG


The fronts are already thicker and less likely to peel off . Just plate it or cover it to keep rocks from getting into it .
 
Kert made me this cover for me. Cheap but effective upgrade.

I did the fancy lettering though :wink1:

111_1118.JPG
 
MTBLAZER89 said:
Kert made me this cover for me. Cheap but effective upgrade.

I did the fancy lettering though :wink1:
Click to expand...

Hey, that looks familiar! Cept my blue is prettier :haha:

And yeah, Pauly, on 14b's particularly the rear wants to peel, so thick ones are practically required ... that dang pumpkin hangs so low it's like a plow.

-- A
 
dremu said:
And yeah, Pauly, on 14b's particularly the rear wants to peel, so thick ones are practically required ... that dang pumpkin hangs so low it's like a plow
Click to expand...

I got a 12 bolt . My axle doesn't hang down too far , the rocks stick up too far :p:

I reversed my colors this year too :

100_0492.jpg
 
As always doc thanks for the heads up, i just kept hearing everyone say "4:56" gears would be my recomondation. So your sayin I need to buy 4:56:1 gear? im gonna pick up the stuff next week from ccor so i gotta make sure i get the right parts. And judging from the responses i think ill keep the stock covers, probably was just wishfull thinkin. After all im a sucker for shinny things:D
 
4.56:1, everyone just drops the :1 because it is the same for all gears. Its just a reference which is used on all gear ratios that we talk about.
 
I really like that set up its functional and looks cool, which i hate to sound that lame but that is really all im after, do you think kert could fab somethin like that up in polished aluminum or chrome?
 
you want pretty? this is pretty....








...stout...












razor%20back%2014.jpg



just paint a stock one...

realize that anyone that knows anything about trucks, etc, will giggle at chrome covers.. I certainly do... leaky cr@p that rusts in 6 months...
 
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