Front diff cover mod.

[REX111]

Got it back from powder coat. Now just have to install it. So far less than $50 to do this.

 

[2018RubyRed]

Most any Ford 8.8 diff cover should fit.

Spicer makes a nodular iron 8.8 differential cover that's low-profile, which I bought from RockAuto



I used a LubeLocker gasket and there's been no leaks

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The housing clears the steering rack just fine.

Do you think you could put that cover on with pulling the housing or the rack? Haven't tried yet, but looks tight

 

[Augster]

Do you think you could put that cover on with pulling the housing or the rack? Haven't tried yet, but looks tight

If you plan to to replace it with an OEM (e.g. weld-on **** yourself), there might be some room if you drop the steering rack; you can unbolt it without removing the hoses and it will give you a couple inches of breathing space, which I had to do to drop the axle, but you could also disconnect it entirely to give you much more room to get your hands up there.

If you don't disconnect the steering rack and plan to install an aftermarket cover, such as the Spicer, I don't know if there's really any room to get to the top bolts because, at least with the Spicer and its ribs, or any cover that protrudes farther forward than OEM, it's very tight up in there. A torque wrench is probably out of the question, though the torque specs are very low for the cover you can probably get away with a "calibrated hand."

If you are committed to changing the cover, you can probably try the techniques I described above to swap it out. If after dropping the rack, if you still don't have enough space for your hands (or you have gorilla hands), well you've already done the work of getting the rack out of the way to start getting the axle out...

I didn't want to deal with the possibility of messing up my steering wheel clock-spring by disconnecting the steering shaft so I only removed the two large bolts to allow me to man-handle the rack enough to find the room. It's still really cramped space.

 

[Vash]

Good idea with welding a **** for a drain plug onto an OEM pan. I dropped the front diff pan the first time I changed the gear oil, but it was a pain.

For my second change, I used a Mityvac 7201 fluid evacuator to suck the fluid out. Very easy and mess free. The fluid evacuator removed just under 2L of oil which is spot on with the recommended fill capacity. After siphoning out all the fluid, I refilled the diff and changed the fill plug to a Dimple magnetic plug. Based on that, I’m not too worried about wear metals accumulating at the bottom of the diff. The 50k mile Amsoil 75w-90 fluid still looked new.

For anyone that wants to replace the fill plug with a magnetic plug, I went with a 1/2” NPT Dimple Magnetic plug. It will protrude a bit more than the stock plug simply due to being a bit longer, but fits and seals fine and has the same 3/8” opening for a square drive socket. The magnetic plug already came with thread sealant on it, but I also put a thin coat of PTFE thread sealant on it just because.

 

[REX111]

haven't forgot about this. I had another project come up that I did. https://www.fordraptorforum.com/threads/pml-11164-prototype-transmission-pan.79951/

hope to have some free time this weekend to install the diff cover.

 

[REX111]

Finally got time to install the cover. This will make future diff fluid changes easy. This was less than $50 to do w/o the cost of the diff fluid.

 

[Guy]

Pretty intense looking shop you got there.

 

[Ruger]

Good idea with welding a **** for a drain plug onto an OEM pan. I dropped the front diff pan the first time I changed the gear oil, but it was a pain.

For my second change, I used a Mityvac 7201 fluid evacuator to suck the fluid out. Very easy and mess free. The fluid evacuator removed just under 2L of oil which is spot on with the recommended fill capacity. After siphoning out all the fluid, I refilled the diff and changed the fill plug to a Dimple magnetic plug. Based on that, I’m not too worried about wear metals accumulating at the bottom of the diff. The 50k mile Amsoil 75w-90 fluid still looked new.

For anyone that wants to replace the fill plug with a magnetic plug, I went with a 1/2” NPT Dimple Magnetic plug. It will protrude a bit more than the stock plug simply due to being a bit longer, but fits and seals fine and has the same 3/8” opening for a square drive socket. The magnetic plug already came with thread sealant on it, but I also put a thin coat of PTFE thread sealant on it just because.

I use the Dimple plug, too. Good results. There is enough splash inside the differential to make it effective.

 

[Turbogoat324]

Finally got time to install the cover. This will make future diff fluid changes easy. This was less than $50 to do w/o the cost of the diff fluid.

View attachment 156246

I love this idea! Wish Ford had thought of this from the factory! Yours looks very clean!

 

[REX111]

I love this idea! Wish Ford had thought of this from the factory! Yours looks very clean!

Thanks. I don’t know why Ford didn’t do this. It makes for easy maintenance.