So I bought the Dana/Ford Racing diff cover for my ‘19 F150, 3.55 gears with E-locker. FR cover comes with a gasket made of some material I’ve never seen before, and some “Grade 8” bolts. You’ll notice the quotations, because as I was installing the cover (to 25 ft-lbs), a couple of the bolts just felt “funny”. On the third one, before my torque wrench clicked, I hear a sickening snap, like pencil wars or watching bad skateboarding videos when ankles end up at right angles to how they normally are. CRAP! Snapped off in the middle of the threads, not even where they began rolling them.
So, partly to cool off before I do something rash, I make a run to town to get some real Grade 8 bolts, and I went ahead and grabbed a new Ford diff gasket and a new 10R80 filter since my trans is due soon also. Thanks Ford, for just two days ago raising the filter cost from $65 to $80! But I digress…
Back home with a new EZ-out kit and legit bolts, the rough snap prevents the drill bit from staying on center, sure to bugger up the housing if I continue… so I feel the rough area where it snapped and decide I can probably tap it with a screwdriver and spin out the stub. Took a couple minutes but sure enough, got the piece out with no drilling and no damage!
Stick the new gasket in between, hold the cover up, feed in the new bolts, and all is well with the world. Fill my new diff cover with 4 quarts of @High Performance Lubricants 75w110 Differential Life… no leaks. Whew! Take it for a nice drive to warm it up, and verify: indeed, the very slight whine only between 50-55mph is gone. Hurrah! Gear wear pattern looks beautiful, grabbed fluid sample to get tested, and wiped out bottom of housing with no metal particles visible.
TL;DR: ‘19 F150 3.5 EB, 74,748 miles. Factory fluid. Replaced with new OEM gasket & Ford Racing diff cover, 1 gallon of HPL 75w110 Diff life, and 12 non-Ford Racing cover bolts! Will probably sample the HPL @ 50k just to see how it’s doing but I’m pretty sure it will be unnecessary.
So, partly to cool off before I do something rash, I make a run to town to get some real Grade 8 bolts, and I went ahead and grabbed a new Ford diff gasket and a new 10R80 filter since my trans is due soon also. Thanks Ford, for just two days ago raising the filter cost from $65 to $80! But I digress…
Back home with a new EZ-out kit and legit bolts, the rough snap prevents the drill bit from staying on center, sure to bugger up the housing if I continue… so I feel the rough area where it snapped and decide I can probably tap it with a screwdriver and spin out the stub. Took a couple minutes but sure enough, got the piece out with no drilling and no damage!
Stick the new gasket in between, hold the cover up, feed in the new bolts, and all is well with the world. Fill my new diff cover with 4 quarts of @High Performance Lubricants 75w110 Differential Life… no leaks. Whew! Take it for a nice drive to warm it up, and verify: indeed, the very slight whine only between 50-55mph is gone. Hurrah! Gear wear pattern looks beautiful, grabbed fluid sample to get tested, and wiped out bottom of housing with no metal particles visible.
TL;DR: ‘19 F150 3.5 EB, 74,748 miles. Factory fluid. Replaced with new OEM gasket & Ford Racing diff cover, 1 gallon of HPL 75w110 Diff life, and 12 non-Ford Racing cover bolts! Will probably sample the HPL @ 50k just to see how it’s doing but I’m pretty sure it will be unnecessary.