Do Diff Covers Work Or Are They Just Bling?

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If anything having drain and fill plugs, some have dipsticks, with added capacity are worth the money.

The ones that are also girdles to preload the main carrier bearings are helpful when trying to make a diff stronger or handle more power than they were designed to handle.
 
Over the last few years the load king Ram 3500’s have a finned aluminum cover

On my smaller truck … I use G2 for half the price he tossed out
1) easy to drain
2) easy to fill
3) has tell tale port to get level precise
4) stiff machined on machined flange, no leaks (whole thing is fairly thick/tough)
5) can sample with clear soda straw (I better put some away along with .38 rounds)
(I do water crossing once in a while)
Mine holds 1/2 quart more … no big deal either way but meets minimum volume requirements

 
Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
If anything having drain and fill plugs, some have dipsticks, with added capacity are worth the money.

The ones that are also girdles to preload the main carrier bearings are helpful when trying to make a diff stronger or handle more power than they were designed to handle.
I think buddy is implying that simply increasing the capacity could change what level the diff ran at, thus increasing parasitic losses. That's why he mentions how the different fill plug location among different manufacturers on the same diff could be explained by pinion angle.

Diff covers are total bling, be it a Mag-Hytec or a transparent one. I'd like to see a deep, finned aluminum trans and oil pan tested to see what effect they have on their respective fluids.
 
Originally Posted By: maxdustington
Diff covers are total bling, be it a Mag-Hytec or a transparent one.
How so?
 
Originally Posted By: maxdustington
Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
If anything having drain and fill plugs, some have dipsticks, with added capacity are worth the money.

The ones that are also girdles to preload the main carrier bearings are helpful when trying to make a diff stronger or handle more power than they were designed to handle.
I think buddy is implying that simply increasing the capacity could change what level the diff ran at, thus increasing parasitic losses. That's why he mentions how the different fill plug location among different manufacturers on the same diff could be explained by pinion angle.

Diff covers are total bling, be it a Mag-Hytec or a transparent one. I'd like to see a deep, finned aluminum trans and oil pan tested to see what effect they have on their respective fluids.


My Mustang came factory with a "bling" diff cover that increases capacity. There are drain and fill plugs on it, but the actual housing still has the fill plug which you take out to set level.

EDIT: To clarify it is just like putting on a larger oil pan. Capacity is increased but the level stays the same.
 
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This is the one on my car. You can actually leave drain and fill plugs out and put on fittings with a pump to run fluid to a cooler up by the radiator like on the Track Pack GT-500s.

If anything it makes regular servicing much easier.
 
Originally Posted by bdcardinal
[Linked Image]



This is the one on my car. You can actually leave drain and fill plugs out and put on fittings with a pump to run fluid to a cooler up by the radiator like on the Track Pack GT-500s.

If anything it makes regular servicing much easier. If you could run a filter the oil would last the life of the vehicle almost.
 
Originally Posted By: CT8
How does the pump hook up And then you could run an oil filter like the big trucks do and neer changethe oil after the break in change.


The GT500s have a remote pump and then lines that run up to a cooler by the manual trans cooler. Corvettes use a similar setup. If it was easy to do I would have already done it just for giggles. Not as much to worry about since I have a Torsen from the factory instead of a Trak-loc clutch type.
 
Originally Posted By: maxdustington
Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
If anything having drain and fill plugs, some have dipsticks, with added capacity are worth the money.

The ones that are also girdles to preload the main carrier bearings are helpful when trying to make a diff stronger or handle more power than they were designed to handle.
I think buddy is implying that simply increasing the capacity could change what level the diff ran at, thus increasing parasitic losses. That's why he mentions how the different fill plug location among different manufacturers on the same diff could be explained by pinion angle.

Diff covers are total bling, be it a Mag-Hytec or a transparent one. I'd like to see a deep, finned aluminum trans and oil pan tested to see what effect they have on their respective fluids.


If you look at what I wrote and the G2 picture … I can get the level where it was using the tell tale port
Think I listed all the benefits to me … as far as bling? You can’t even see mine and I knew that when I bought it
 
Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
Originally Posted By: maxdustington
Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
If anything having drain and fill plugs, some have dipsticks, with added capacity are worth the money.

The ones that are also girdles to preload the main carrier bearings are helpful when trying to make a diff stronger or handle more power than they were designed to handle.
I think buddy is implying that simply increasing the capacity could change what level the diff ran at, thus increasing parasitic losses. That's why he mentions how the different fill plug location among different manufacturers on the same diff could be explained by pinion angle.

Diff covers are total bling, be it a Mag-Hytec or a transparent one. I'd like to see a deep, finned aluminum trans and oil pan tested to see what effect they have on their respective fluids.


My Mustang came factory with a "bling" diff cover that increases capacity. There are drain and fill plugs on it, but the actual housing still has the fill plug which you take out to set level.

EDIT: To clarify it is just like putting on a larger oil pan. Capacity is increased but the level stays the same.
If it came from the factory it cost you nuttin and doesn't fit the context of what we are discussing.

The cost of the cover would pay for a lot of fluid for a rear end with a stock cover. That's probably a more prudent choice, but does not look as cool.
 
Well … mine saves lots of time and mess … and is far easier to change oil (and it really is) … I can factor that in on said lubricant choices and even the container it comes in … AND how often it gets changed …

I lost an entire rear axle over lubricants with only 62k on truck and 30k on lube … cost me $1800 to put an older one in with 50% more miles …
Paid $150 for my G2 BLING that nobody can see … no regrets
 
Diff covers with cooling fins are in a different category than diff covers that add gear oil capacity.


I'm sure Banks finds that adding sump capacity does NOTHING good for a differential.
 
Mine def works. I have been crushing rocks with it for a few years now. Though all that extra gear oil didn't save my S-spring. Oh well, it was an excuse for an upgrade.
 
When NASCAR was qualifying at Talladega or Daytona the transmissions ran only enough oil to create a mist, less drag. Same with the diffs, so you know fluid level for sure makes a difference.
 
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What about diff covers with load bolts that strengthen the bearing caps? Seeing that it's a popular mod for anyone running big power through a GM 10 bolt.
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